Nutrition

The mission of the Department of Nutrition is to improve human health through enhanced nutrition.The department strives to accomplish this goal through research aimed at improved understanding ofhow diet influences health, the dissemination of new knowledge about nutrition to health professionalsand the public, the development of nutritional strategies, and the education of researchers and practitioners.

The Department of Nutrition providestraining and research opportunities in basicscience relating to nutrition and in epidemiologicaspects of nutrition as they affectpublic health. Nutrition policy and the evaluationof nutritional interventions are longstandinginterests of the department, particularlyas they concern the populations ofLatin America, Africa, Asia, and the UnitedStates. Department research ranges frommolecular biology to human studies of cancerand heart disease, including the conductof population-based intervention trials. Students learn and use the latest techniques inbiochemistry, physiology, biostatistics, epidemiology,and related fields. Departmentalresearch, whether basic or applied, is relevantto human health.

Current research covers a wide range of topics,including large prospective studies ofdietary factors in relation to heart disease,cancer, diabetes, and ophthalmologic disease;development of methods to assessnutritional status by analysis of body tissue;the interaction of nutritional factors withgenetic determinants of disease; the interactionof nutritional factors and infectiousagents; nutritional influence on blood pressure;effects of nutrition programs on themental and physical consequences of malnutrition;nutritional determinants of blood lipid factors; lipoprotein metabolism; molecular mechanisms of diabetes and obesity;regulation of the intra- and intercellulardelivery of macromolecular nutrients; andthe molecular mechanism leading to atherosclerosisand thrombosis.

Degree Programs in Nutrition

As described below, the department offerstwo doctoral programs. The first is a programleading to the doctor of science (SD)or doctor of public health (DPH) degree innutrition, with concentrations in eithernutritional epidemiology or public healthnutrition. The second is a doctor of philosophy(PhD) program in biological sciences inpublic health (nutritional biochemistry/cardiovascularbiology). Applicants to the PhDprogram who hold a clinical degree in medicine,veterinary medicine, or dentistry mayprefer to follow a different curriculum leadingto the SD degree in nutritional biochemistry.This option may be available byspecial arrangement with the department.No master’s degree programs are available.

Doctor of Science in Nutrition/Doctor of Public Health

The concentration in nutritional epidemiologyor in public health nutrition, leadingto the SD or DPH degree, provides rigoroustraining in epidemiology and biostatisticsas well as the biological aspects of nutrition.The overall objective of the nutritionalepidemiology concentration is to enablestudents to investigate relationships between diet and disease. Students in publichealth nutrition combine behavioral scienceswith biologic and quantitative approaches to design and evaluate nutritionprograms, policies, and the disseminationof nutrition research.

Graduates are prepared for careers asresearch scientists in academic institutions,private-sector organizations, and publichealth agencies in state, national, and internationalsettings. Recent graduates are nowworking at universities, research foundations,pharmaceutical companies, the National Cancer Institute, and the AmericanCancer Society.

Applicants must have a strong backgroundin biology and mathematics. An MD orother professional health-related degree isdesirable but not required. Applicants forthe DPH program must have or be in progress toward an MPH degree and must alsohold an advanced degree in a basic publichealth discipline.

For the nutritional epidemiology concentration,one of the two required minors mustbe in epidemiology; for the public healthnutrition concentration, students completeone minor in quantitative methods (biostatisticsor epidemiology) and one minor in abehavioral science relevant to the developmentof public health programs and policies(for example, society, human development,and health). 

Admission to a joint program with theDepartment of Epidemiology requires theapproval of both departments, and applicantsshould contact the Department ofNutrition before making formal application.All students in a joint program with Epidemiology must satisfy the major requirementsof both departments, complete aminor acceptable to both, and write a dissertationon a topic concerning both nutritionand epidemiology.

For the SD and DPH programs, funding maybe available through the NIH-supportedTraining Program in Nutritional Science forstudents with previous doctoral degrees.

Doctor of Philosophy in Biological Sciences in Public Health (Nutritional Biochemistry/Cardiovascular Biology)

Students wishing to study cellular andmolecular biology or physiology as it pertainsto major problems in public healthshould apply to the PhD program offeredby the Division of Biological Sciencesthrough the Harvard University GraduateSchool of Arts and Sciences. The PhD programin nutritional biochemistry offers rigorous training in biochemistry, cell biology,and metabolism, allowing students towork toward solving nutritional and metabolicproblems in the laboratory. Studentsin cardiovascular biology learn to use cutting-edge technologies from molecular biology,biochemistry, and genetics to criticallydissect the mechanisms underlying cardiovascular diseases such as heart attacks,strokes, heart failure, atherosclerosis, andcongenital heart disease.

Related Offerings

• MPH concentration in family and community health
• Nutritional epidemiology area of interest, department of epidemiology

Contact Information

For more information about research andtraining in nutrition, please contact: 

Colleen Bertrand
Academic Services Coordinator
Department of Nutrition
655 Huntington Avenue
Boston, MA 02115
Phone: 617-432-1851
Fax: 617-432-2435
Email: cbertran@hsph.harvard.edu
Web: http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutrition 

For the PhD Program in Biological Sciences in Public Health, online submissions are encouraged, using the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) application form available at the web address below:

Web: http://www.gsas.harvard.edu/hils/admissions_apply.html