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Dietetics and Nutrition BS

Researchers from RIT and the University of Rochester Medical Center are taking a closer look at nutritional factors during pregnancy and in infancy associated with severe tooth decay in young children.

RIT is offering a new master’s degree in dietetics and nutrition to prepare graduates to become registered dietitian nutritionists with a deep understanding of food as medicine. The two-year graduate program will start in the fall and enrollment is open now.

RIT’s College of Health Sciences and Technology is preparing for significant growth with a new streamlined organizational structure. The move clarifies direct reporting and aligns the college with the university’s model of grouping programs under departments.

Zoraa Victor, a fourth-year student in the dietetics and nutrition BS program in the Wegmans School of Health and Nutrition, will spend six weeks studying the plant-based Mediterranean diet at Perrotis College in Thessaloniki, the second largest city in Greece.

Brenda Abu, assistant professor in RIT’s Wegmans School of Health and Nutrition, seeks to understand the effect pica, iron deficiency anemia, and food insecurity have on maternal health during pregnancy. Pica refers to excessive craving and/or eating of non-food items, such as, clay, soil, paper, ice, and paint chips.

Barbara Lohse, head of RIT’s Wegmans School of Health and Nutrition, hopes to reach 10,000 New Yorkers with free resources promoting healthy nutrition and lifestyle tools that have been tested and shown to be effective.

For fourth-year dietetics and nutrition student Abigail Morrissey, sports nutrition is more than academics—it’s about debunking misinformation about food and body size that promotes unhealthy eating habits among young women athletes.

Industrial Design students envisioned solutions for utilizing waste in the apple and dairy industries for the international Biodesign Challenge.

RIT undergraduates Jewel Amrich and Courtney Casteen in the College of Health Sciences and Technology are on the frontline of a national clinical trial focused on preventing the risk of heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, and stroke through lifestyle management.

Intersections: The RIT Podcast, Ep. 50: Contentious battles are often fought over the dinner table around what and how much a child should eat. RIT researcher Barbara Lohse, head of the Wegmans School of Health and Nutrition, and colleague Ellyn Satter have rigorously tested and validated a common-sense approach to identify and prevent nutrition risk in children.

RIT’s College of Health Sciences and Technology began the year under new leadership with Dean Yong “Tai” Wang. Wang joined RIT in January from the University of Texas at Tyler. His research focuses on rehabilitative biomechanics related to wheelchair locomotion and Tai Chi exercise.

The best-practice approach, known as the Satter Division of Responsibility in Feeding, has now been rigorously tested and peer reviewed. The questionnaire will become a standard parent survey for professionals and researchers working in the early childhood development field, predicts lead researcher Barbara Lohse, director of RIT’s Wegmans School of Health and Nutrition.