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Program Support - Department of Nutritional Sciences

Student Scholarships are most important in these difficult economic times; our students need assistance more than ever. In order to attract and retain the best students, the Program must provide competitive scholarship packages. Often when these bright students are accepted to multiple programs, they must choose the school where they are offered the most comprehensive scholarship package.

Research Equipment is needed throughout the Department. With two newly hired research faculty members, we must update our research technology and equipment. Dr. Susan Sisson comes to us from the Pennington Obesity Research Center in Baton Rouge. She is interested in how diet and physical activity interact to affect the development of obesity. This is an exciting field, given that very little has been done to investigate the interaction of these two parameters. Her laboratory needs include accelerometers to accurately measure activity levels, as well as a variety of software programs to look at various aspects of communities, such as parks, sidewalks, eating establishments, and schools.

Our second new faculty is Dr. Holly Hull, who is coming to us from St Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital, Columbia University, in Manhattan. She is interested in how maternal diet and weight gain influences newborn body weight and subsequent obesity development. Again, this is a very exciting field, as we are able to measure the body composition of newborns at OUHSC, a unique capability. Her laboratory needs a low temperature freezer for the storage of blood samples. She also needs laboratory supplies to complete the analysis of blood samples she will be collecting during her first year at the College.

Foods Laboratory Equipment is a must as we train our students with commercial grade equipment in order to prepare them for the Dietetic profession. We have expanded from four stations in the old building to having ten stations in our new laboratory. This requires new equipment and all the accessory items and cooking utensils for those stations.

The Nutritional Sciences Annual Fund assists with many projects. One function of this fund is to help the Department plan to invite guest speakers and lecturers for our students, as well as a nationally recognized speaker for National Allied Health Week each November. Funding is limited, however this is another great opportunity for our students to learn.