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NUIP Friends and Family,
Amidst the craziness that the Covid pandemic was inserting into our operations, the 2021-2022 school year included a 7-year departmental evaluation by the Graduate School. Needless to say, I approached this review—my first as a department chair—with anxiety and apprehension.
I couldn’t have been more pleased by the assessment of the internal and external reviewers. I note a few of their comments below:
- young and vibrant department
- uniformly strong morale; faculty have a strong esprit de corps; united in the mission of the department
- strong presence campus-wide; small but mighty
- dramatically expanded its research funding base; highly successful grant applications; continuous excellence in research; working on impactful problems and achieving wide recognition; new faculty form a collaborative and synergistic research enterprise
- able to recruit excellent trainees
- incredible success establishing on campus PhD and MS program; PhD students well-published and many supported by competitive fellowships
- CMP program has a long history of high-quality education and of producing graduates who make important contributions to the workforce; CMP faculty are valued by the enrolled students; should be commended for its leadership in dietetic education
- equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) efforts were commended by multiple stakeholders; an impressive number of EDI activities and initiatives
- praise and appreciation for department staff from PhD students, CMP students, and faculty
I was (am) very proud.
Nonetheless, they did provide important recommendations for the still young department, which we will incorporate into our strategic plan. They noted the critical importance of expanding our faculty base, commenting that “the group has not reached a critical mass of investigators” and “for the program to achieve its goal of becoming a nationally recognized department, a strategic plan for consistent recruitment of research faculty…would be necessary.” That message was received!
The department is in a strong position and is achieving excellence in all of its missions. However, we mustn’t rest on our laurels. Our students and stakeholders need us now more than ever. I am confident that our students, staff, and faculty will continue to deliver.
Thanks to all of you for your valued contributions to our endeavors.
Regards,
Scott
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As we enter the new academic year, we say goodbye to a tremendous friend and advocate. This summer, Dave Perrin hung up his graduation robe and set sail into the great retirement sea. Dave has been an innovative leader that inspired excellence through his creativity and example. He had a transformative impact on the College of Health and our department. We will miss him greatly. | |
Captain Dave Perrin donning his NUIP retirement gifts (cap, sunglasses, and pipe) while setting out to sea on his new party barge | |
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Dean Perrin with NUIP students at the
2022 Spring Banquet
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Sustaining Research Excellence | |
NUIP’s research portfolio has undergone a major expansion, exemplified by the increase in annual research funding over the last several years (see Figure). Department scientists deploy the latest methodologies to understand how nutrient metabolism influences health and disease. | |
NUIP Welcomes a New Team of Academic Leaders | |
Dr. Jordan, our new Associate Chair, endeavors to "promote collaboration for the continual innovation of our academic programs in a diverse and inclusive climate, thereby empowering students to become exceptional leaders who champion health across communities.” | |
Dr. Woodruff, our new CMP Director, notes that “everything we include in our program is purposeful, and I want our students to actively understand how all aspects will support them to become extraordinary registered dietitians in the future.” | |
Shannon Jones, the new Director of the University of Utah Center for Community Nutrition, has been a tremendous advocate for people experiencing homelessness and has been instrumental in developing and expanding the Center's programs and supporting its impressive record of impact and excellence. | |
Celebrating NUIP's Graduates
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Nutrition and Integrative Physiology trains leaders in dietetics and nutrition and metabolism research. Programs impart knowledge in a culture that produces exceptional graduates. Students come from a broad variety of backgrounds and experiences and display academic excellence, community service, and leadership potential. The department’s diverse class of students experience a dynamic learning environment that prepares them to serve all community sectors. | |
The PhD program in Nutrition and Integrative Physiology has graduated 17 talented students since launching in 2016. Most graduates are now conducting rigorous postdoctoral fellowships on the metabolic basis of disease. Pictured below are representatives of the third NUIP PhD graduating class at our post-convocation reception. | |
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From the left: Drs. Jae Min Cho, Ashley Pyne, Pari Mokhtari, Lacie Peterson, Annelise Poss, and Prasoona Karra.
Not pictured Synneva Hagen-Lillevik and Jenna Link
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The Coordinated Master's Program in Nutrition and Dietetics prepares graduates who will advance the field of dietetics, enhance health and prevent chronic disease, and translate research into real-world solutions. Pictured below is our 2022 graduating class. This cohort began their academic journey during the heart of the global pandemic and demonstrated outstanding fortitude, perseverance, and adaptability. They are certainly well prepared to enter the dietetic profession with a deep commitment to health and community. | |
Scott Summers Named Distinguished Professor | |
NUIP Department Chair Scott Summers was designated a Distinguished Professor by the University's Office of the Sr. Vice President for Academic Affairs. “Dr. Summers is a highly accomplished scientist and scholar who is also providing exemplary leadership,” said College of Health Dean David H. Perrin. “This recognition follows his recent naming as the William J. Rutter, PhD, Presidential Endowed Chair in Biochemistry. Both are testimony to the significant contributions he is making to the U and to advancing our understanding of diabetes and other metabolic diseases.” It's the second such award for the College of Health and another milestone in Summers' impressive career.
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Woodruff Receives Early Career Teaching Award
The University Teaching Committee selected NUIP faculty member and CMP director Dr. Kary Woodruff as a recipient of the University of Utah’s Early Career Teaching Award for 2021-2022. This award “is given to outstanding young faculty members who have made significant contributions to teaching at the University of Utah.”
As part of the recognition, Dr. Woodruff was featured on a University banner in Salt Lake City. Check it out if in the neighborhood of 1300 E. South Temple.
Listen to Dr. Woodruff on The Scope Radio as she shares sustainable ways to eat healthfully.
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Coordinated Master's Program Students Continue to Shine
on RD Credentialing Exam
In 2022, CMP graduates achieved a first-time pass rate of 93% on the credentialing exam to become a registered dietitian, which far surpasses the national pass rate average of 71%!
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New Sustainability Rotation
Teaming with Dairy West and other community partners, NUIP dietetic students spent a week exploring food systems and production. This new rotation in their summer training focuses on the many questions around food and how our choices impact the health of our communities…and the planet.
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NUIP's Latest Inductee
to AHSE
The Academy of Health Science Educators (ASHE) inducted Assistant Professor Theresa Dvorak as a 2022 ASHE Fellow. Theresa joins NUIP faculty members Thunder Jalili, Julie Metos, Kristine Jordan, and Staci McIntosh as Fellows in this important educational scholarship community.
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An Award-Winning Culinary Medicine Team!
The Academy of Health Science Educators selected the NUIP Culinary Medicine Team to receive the 2022 Interprofessional Education Team Award. Pictured above is Program Director Theresa Dvorak (left) sharing her knowledge in the teaching kitchen.
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#6 Ranking in per Faculty Grant Funding!
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70 faculty members: 10 tenure-track, 24 career-line, 35 adjunct, and 1 emeritus
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7 post-doctoral fellows
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80 graduate students: 38 PhD students, 32 CMP, and 10 MS
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17 PhD graduates to date (and still counting)
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229 students performing a nutrition minor
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#6 ranking amongst Nutrition Science Departments in per Faculty Grant Funding
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~113k people served by the University of Utah Center for Community Nutrition
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It’s a Holland Hat Trick: College of Health Professor Gets Three Grant Notifications in One Day!
Imagine a cure for diabetes--a disease that afflicts one in 10 Americans. It might not happen in our lifetime, but the work of William Holland, PhD, an Associate Professor in the Department of Nutrition & Integrative Physiology at University of Utah Health, is getting us closer.
In 2022, Holland received three grant notifications in a single day, ~$2.7 million in funding for his laboratory. The awards are from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, the American Diabetes Association, and SymbioCellTech, LLC. Perhaps most impressively, his goals with these projects are "to overcome the limitations around diabetes detection and treatment” and "change the future for my children and nieces so they grow up with more health and less medicine."
Read More
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Playdon and Colleagues Receive $4.5M to Find Obesity-Cancer Link
At least a quarter of colorectal cancers are attributable to obesity, a condition characterized by insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, and type 2 diabetes. These metabolic perturbations may each contribute to colorectal malignancies. NUIP Assistant Professor Mary Playdon led a team of investigators that received a $4.5M U01 grant from the National Cancer Institute to investigate the role of ceramides as drivers of metabolic dysfunction and intestinal tumor formation.
Ceramides are products of fat and protein metabolism that accumulate in individuals with obesity or dyslipidemia and are strongly linked to insulin resistance. Dr. Playdon’s team will leverage large-scale, international epidemiologic cohorts and a Utah bariatric surgery clinical cohort (led by Co-I Dr. Anna Ibele) to investigate associations of ceramides with colorectal cancer risk, and animal models to study the efficacy of new ceramide-lowering interventions. The study could identify new therapeutic approaches for colorectal cancer prevention.
Other principal investigators on the grant are Dr. Scott Summers, NUIP Chair, and Dr. Neli Ulrich, Executive Director of the Comprehensive Cancer Center at the Huntsman Cancer Institute. Utah was one of five sites that received funding from this grant program, and the institutions will form a consortium that applies diverse approaches to dissect the factors that drive the obesity-cancer link.
Read More
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Pictured Mary Playdon, PhD presenting findings from a recently completed pilot study: Time Restricted Eating among Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Women at risk of Endometrial Cancer: TIMESPAN | |
Ceramide Levels Predict Diabetes Outcomes Following Gastric Bypass Surgery | Recent NUIP PhD graduate Annelise Poss found that a newly developed clinical test could help doctors more accurately predict whether individuals who undergo gastric bypass surgery will experience a remission of type 2 diabetes. | | | | |
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Velayutham Lab Featured on the Cover of Molecular Nutrition & Food Research
Work from the Velayutham Lab was highlighted on the cover of Molecular Nutrition & Food Research. Their article "Dietary Blueberry Ameliorates Vascular Complications in Diabetic Mice Possibly through NOX4 and Modulates Composition and Functional Diversity of Gut Microbes" demonstrates how berry consumption suppresses vascular inflammation and increases the abundance of commensal microbes in diabetic mice.
Read More
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Pictured: UUCCN volunteers at a community event | |
The University of Utah Center for Community Nutrition (UUCCN)
The UUCCN educates members of the local community about diabetes and healthy lifestyle choices. Programs include evidence-based workshops, food demonstrations, and group discussions for school-aged youth, underserved lower-income families, and people experiencing homelessness. It also works to establish community partnerships to increase access to healthy foods for underserved communities.
Since launching in 2017, the UUCCN has reached over 113,000 individuals across Utah, Montana, Nevada, Arizona, and Idaho!
UUCCN Webpage
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2022 Food is Medicine Conference Registration is Open! | The Food is Medicine Conference is a continuing education conference hosted by the University of Utah Center for Community Nutrition designed for healthcare professionals who are looking to better incorporate nutrition into their clinical practice. | | | |
Pictured above: SWOOP Hawk at one of our school events in West Jordan, Utah. Pictured below: Jodie Parker, Health Education Specialist for the Utah State Board of Education | |
CRUSH Diabetes & Team Thrive
Better Together
Our school-based programs, CRUSH Diabetes & Team Thrive, make a difference through partnership and collaboration. Jodie Parker, Health Education Specialist for the Utah State Board of Education, shares:
"The University of Utah Center for Community Nutrition team has been an essential resource for health education teachers in Utah. Through the Center for Community Nutrition team’s work, Utah teachers have evidence-based curricular resources aligned with the Utah Core Standards for Health Education. In 2017-2019, they helped revise the nutrition standards to be medically accurate and updated to use current science-based language and practices.
Utah students will learn how to select foods that fuel their bodies and prevent disease beginning in kindergarten. In middle school, teachers have free access to the CRUSH Diabetes program, which provides an evidence-based curriculum that aligns with the Core Standards for Health Education in both nutrition and disease prevention. Utah teachers have been able to attend several hands-on learning sessions to better utilize CRUSH (and Team Thrive for high school) curricular resources in their classrooms. As the Health Education Specialist for the Utah State Board of Education, I am grateful for the ongoing support and innovation from the University of Utah Center for Community Nutrition."
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Pictured right to left: Amy Loverin MS, RD, CD and Madeleine French, MS, RDN | |
Team Thrive for the Win!
Congratulations to NUIP faculty Madeleine French and Amy Loverin for their award-winning poster presentation at the Utah Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Annual Meeting! Their poster entitled " Team Thrive: A novel, behavior-based diabetes prevention program for high school students" was recognized in the Professional category.
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Family Food Matters is a new UUCCN offering that teaches families about eating healthy and incorporating movement into their daily routines. The three online lessons cover Healthy Eating, A Healthy Home Environment, and Family Movement. Each lesson consists of one video, one research summary, and one tip sheet for parents. A link to the Family Food Matters webpage is below. | | | |
EQUITY, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION | |
Committed to fostering belonging and justice
NUIP students, faculty, and staff participated in several pipeline programs that provide community engagement and research experiences for undergraduate and high school students.
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Pictured are our NUIP EDI Student Representatives. Left to right: Sarah Puig-Holzman, CMP student, and Emmanuel Kofi Addo, PhD Candidate | |
Working in and with the Community | |
Sarah Puig-Holzman participating in the "Defining Your Path" Program for high school seniors that were preparing to enter the U. Sarah shared healthy eating tips and discussed dietetics as a profession. | | |
Emmanuel Kofi Addo presented on a College of Health Professional Panel for the Biomedical Research Inclusion & Diversity to Grow Excellence in Science – Undergraduate Program for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (BRIDGE UP–HBCU). | | |
Pictured left is NUIP Associate Director, Communications, Sarah Elizabeth Garza-Levitt, along with the Student Affairs Leaders at the ribbon cutting ceremony in April 2022 | |
The Basic Needs Collective
The Basic Needs Collective (BNC) is here to help! The BNC provides a central location for resources related to finances, food, housing, health insurance, financial management, legal services, mental health, and more. Located in the basement of the A. Ray Olpin Student Union, the BNC offers virtual and in-person resource support. Learn more and view their hours on their webpage.
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Humans of the U: Faith Bowman, NUIP PhD Student - @theU | "The path of my journey is built on culture infused with inquiry. I was born to be a beholder of pipette and pen, a caretaker of the traditional and contemporary, a forever expert and novice. As a proud Indigenous scholar from the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Nation, I am committed to being a bridge between Indian Country and the scientific community." | | | |
A Powerful Partnership with Big Results
In 2020 NUIP Associate Director, Communications Sarah Elizabeth Garza-Levitt led efforts to found the health campus FEED U Pantry satellite in the Eccles Health Science Education Building (EHSEB) and partnered with University Hospital Nutrition Care Services on a food recovery project.
Over 25,000 lbs. of food were recovered and distributed through the pantry!
Pictured at the pantry is CMP 2nd Year student Nikole Pruess with student volunteers stocking donations.
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NUIP Spring Banquet Awards | |
- Preceptor of the Year - Ashley Hagensick, M.Ed., RD
- The E. Wayne Askew Graduate Researcher Award - Chrissa Petersen, MS, RDN
- Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher Award - Sophie Stephens
- Distinguished Alumnus - Cynthia Wilson, MS
- Teacher of the Year - Anandh Pon Velayutham, PhD
- NUIP Special Service Award - Carisse Winegar
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Distinguished Teacher of the Year - Sydney Abbott, MS, RD
- New Investigator Award - Amandine Chaix, PhD
- Inclusive Excellence Student Award - Sarah Puig-Holzman
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- NIH-T32 (Metabolism Predoctoral Fellowship) - Marisa Brothwell
- NIH-F31 (Predoctoral Fellowship) - Samuel Bloom
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National & Regional Student Recognition | |
- Recipient of the 2022 Cardiovascular Section Research Recognition Award from the American Physiological Society - Md Torikul Islam
- UAND Outstanding Dietetic Student in a Coordinated Program - Sara Saltzgiver
- Award of the Reproduction and Fertility Lay Summary Prize for the paper "Pathophysiology and Management of Classic Galactosemic Primary Ovarian Insufficiency." - Synneva Hagen-Lillevik
- Annual Society for Reproductive Investigation Meeting Award for Best New Investigator Poster Presentation - Sophie Hochhauser
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Kara Sephel - A Triple Threat
- Recognized as the 2022 College of Health Outstanding Graduate Student
- Received the CMP Constance J. Geiger Award for the Outstanding Clinical Dietetics Student of the Year
- Awarded the NUIP & University of Utah Center for Community Nutrition Volunteer of the Year. Kara served over 100 hours volunteering in many capacities through the University of Utah!
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NUIP CMP alumnus and clinical dietitian Alex Hernandez, MS, RD was featured by KUTV in a story about The Wellness Bus!
Watch at KUTV
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Dr. Julie Metos, NUIP Professor and founder of our Center for Community Nutrition, shared in Good Notes about their focus on community engagement, public health policies, and programs related to healthy nutrition.
Read More
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Dr. Will Holland teamed with Dr. Marcus Pezzolesi to identify a rare genetic mutation that drives diabetic kidney disease. Read more in the article "One family’s genetic mutation may help improve diabetes care."
Read More
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Dr. Thunder Jalili, NUIP Director of Graduate Studies, was interviewed on dietary supplements by HealthDay Now.
Watch the recording
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NUIP faculty participated in "Diabetes & U: How we are working to create a future free of diabetes." They shared a few tips and tricks to improve health, and leading researchers talked about their latest discoveries.
Watch the recording
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NUIP faculty Dr. Jim Martin shared in a Simon Fraser University Sports Analytics Seminar about their published work in demand modeling of cycling.
Watch the recording
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Dr. Tanya Halliday, NUIP Adjunct Professor & Assistant Professor in Health and Kinesiology, was featured in the New York Times article "How exercise affects your appetite."
Read More
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Dr. Kent Lai, NUIP Adjunct Professor & Professor in the Division of Medical Genetics (Pediatrics), was interviewed by the Rare Diseases Clinical Research Network (RDCRN).
Read the spotlight
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Dr. E. Wayne Askew, Emeritus Professor and former chair, and Dr. Thunder Jalili co-presented on "Nutrition for Healthy Aging: Beyond Broccoli."
Watch the recording
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NUIP faculty members Amy Loverin and Madeleine French were interviewed on Good Things Utah about the new UUCCN program Family Food Matters.
Watch the recording
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NUIP Professor Thunder Jalili was interviewed on The Scope Radio about how men might navigate the confusing market of dietary supplements using research, not promises.
Listen to the session
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NUIP Assistant Professor Mary Playdon was at the Utah State Capitol advocating for diet and lifestyle change to achieve @Lesscancer with Senator Riebe and Dr. Tricia Petzold.
#WorldCancerDay2022
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