Predoctoral Training Grant in Academic Nutrition

The Training Grant in Academic Nutrition brings together the intellectual and physical resources of the Harvard School of Public Health and Harvard Medical School, fostering close interactions between trainees and faculty, including 31 preceptors. The Principal Investigator, Dr. Frank Hu, and Co-Principal Investigator, Dr. Christopher Duggan, have established strong and vigorous pre- and postdoctoral programs. The Training Program has successfully recruited an outstanding cadre of applicants including many MDs who demonstrate intellectual promise and dedicated commitment to nutritional science research. Our program provides training in four key areas: Nutritional Biochemistry/Genomics/Metabolomics/Microbiome, Human/Clinical/Global Nutrition, Nutritional Epidemiology, and Public Health Nutrition. Our overall goal is to incorporate concepts, approaches, and scientific tools from both basic and applied science so that trainees are able to transcend conventional specialty boundaries. We have created a highly integrated program to fulfill the training needs for nutritional scientists in the 21st century.  This Training Program is designed both for individuals who have recently completed their undergraduate degree and are now entering a formal doctoral program, and for physicians and graduates of other doctoral programs who will enter an intensive research training program with options to obtain formal doctoral degrees. The degrees offered are the PhD in Nutritional Biochemistry under the program in the Biological Sciences of Public Health and the PhD in Nutritional Epidemiology or Public Health Nutrition under the program in Population Health Sciences. For MD fellows, we offer a unique Master’s Program in clinical investigation. Regardless of track, all degree candidates must successfully complete didactic coursework involving both basic biochemical and molecular concepts and advanced training in quantitative sciences, including epidemiology and biostatistics. All trainees participate in demanding “hands-on” preceptor-guided nutritional science research guided by scientists who are at the “cutting edge” of their fields. Graduates of this program have established a strong record of publication and success in obtaining grants.

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This program brings together the intellectual and physical resources of Harvard School
of Public Health and Harvard Medical School to provide multidisciplinary classroom and research experiences that transcend traditional specialty boundaries. Training positions are requested for individuals pursuing doctoral degrees in nutrition and for persons, especially MD’s, who have recently graduated and are seeking postdoctoral training.