The Division of Nutritional Sciences Seminar (NS 6190)  Beginning in the Fall 2021 semester, this seminar series will be held on Tuesdays from 11:25am - 12:40pm.

No registration is required. Email DNSHelpdesk@cornell.edu for Zoom details.

The Division invites seminar speakers based on criteria that include:

• presentation of cutting-edge research

• coverage of topics across the Field of Nutrition and concentrations (Molecular, Human, International, Community Nutrition)

• internal sources such as faculty presentations, NIH training grant trainees, thesis presentations by PhD candidates

The Seminar in International Nutrition (NS 6980) Beginning in the Fall 2021 semester, this seminar series will be held on Thursdays from 11:25am - 12:40pm.

Registration via EventBrite is required to attend this event.

This weekly seminar is based in the Division of Nutritional Sciences (DNS) but is open to all and is attended by faculty and graduate students from various fields who have an interest in global food, nutrition, health, poverty and development, particularly in low-income countries.

The seminar features speakers from DNS and other parts of Cornell, as well as external speakers. Presentations cover a wide range of topics, reflecting the interdisciplinary scope of fields relevant to nutrition, health, food systems, and development in low-income settings. This is intended to expand graduate students’ perspectives to include diverse aspects of global research on nutrition and related fields, and to broaden the international nutrition network at Cornell.

Most presentations are research-oriented (including graduate student research) and others address policy, practice, or current issues in the field. Seminar topics vary each semester. Past topics have included infant and young child feeding, maternal mortality, technology in global health, infectious disease, policy and program implementation, monitoring and evaluation, biofortification, food systems, agricultural and soils research, obesity prevention, mycotoxins and stunting, and climate change implications for nutrition. A preliminary schedule of presentations for this semester appears below. Changes may occur in this schedule, depending on speaker availability, and will be shared through a listserve.

The seminar is informal and intended to generate discussion and bring together people with an array interests and knowledge related to nutrition, including scholars and practitioners in agriculture, public health, human development, biomedicine, communication, development sociology, demography, economics, policy, and technology. Students are most able to achieve the learning objectives if they engage actively in the seminar, asking questions and connecting with speakers and audience members.

Take a moment to learn more about the Program in International Nutrition or contact us at DNSHelpdesk@cornell.edu with any questions or suggestions.

The final requirement in earning a PhD is the completion and defense of the doctoral dissertation, which involves the PhD candidate giving a presentation. Dates, times, locations and speaker information for dissertation seminars will be posted here as that information becomes available.

If you are a PhD candidate in the Division of Nutritional Sciences and would like to learn more about thesis deadlines, requirements, scheduling and taking your exam and submitting your thesis/dissertation, please visit the Graduate School's page Thesis & Dissertation. Please let the DNSHelpdesk know when you have scheduled your exam so we may help you advertise your talk.

The Honors Program in the Division of Nutritional Sciences is designed to challenge research-oriented NS, HBHS, and GPHS majors with strong academic records. Students may conduct Honors research within or outside DNS.

The Honors Program is a structured research-based experience that focuses and builds on a student’s ongoing research, and involves:

• NS 3980, an introductory course in research (fall junior year for spring graduates)
• Successful application to the DNS Honors Program (spring junior year for spring graduates)
• A multi-semester independent research project, mentored by a faculty PI (junior and senior years)
• Completion of a written thesis that reports the research (final two semesters)
• Oral presentation of research at the DNS Undergraduate Honors Symposium (final semester

The DNS Undergraduate Honors Research Symposium takes place annually in May.  The Spring 2021 DNS Undergraduate Honors Research Symposium took place on Monday, May 17th, 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

• Information Avoidance in Decision Making: Do Avoidance Tendencies and Motives Vary by Age? | Stephanie Deng (Mentor: Dr. Corinna Loeckenhoff)
• Adolescents' Proxy Reports on Obesity-Related Parenting Practices: Factorial Validity and Reliability Across Four Behavioral Domains | Gabe Fuligni (Mentor: Dr. Roger Figueroa)
• The effects of Toxoplasma gondii on Olfactory Sensitivity and Behavior | Jun Park (Mentor: Dr. Margaret Bynoe)
• The Role of SIRT5 in Regenerating and Mature Skeletal Muscle | Rebekah Epstein (Mentor: Dr. Martha Field and Dr. Anna Thalacker-Mercer)
• Understanding the Dynamics of Family Drug Treatment Court in Tompkins County | Pearlanna Zapotocky (Mentor: Dr. Laura Tach)
• A structured literature review, meta-analysis and mediation analysis exploring the use of daily self-weighing to reduce systolic and diastolic hypertension | Melvin Alexander (Mentor: Dr. David Levitsky)
• Thinking About Health Status? | Pauniz Salehi (Mentor: Dr. Robert Sternberg)
• Proportions of leukocyte cell types in bovine colostrum and their dynamics as colostrum transitions to mature milk | Jessica Cha (Mentor: Dr. Sabine Mann)
• Inhibition of ITK Amplifies Proinflammatory Cytokine Expression in a Murine Model of Saccharopolyspora rectivirgula-induced Hypersensitivity Pneumonitis | Alexia Kim (Mentor: Dr. Avery August)
• Glymphatics-on-a-chip to Reconstitute Alzheimer’s Disease Pathogenesis | Paul Soden (Mentor: Dr. Esak Lee)
• Neighborhood Support and Wellbeing: Does College Belonging Matter? | Amber Tan (Mentor: Dr. Marlen Gonzalez)
• The Creation of a Database for the Heme Iron Content of Foods and Preliminary Nutrition Analysis of the First 75 Participants of FeGenes Study | Fernanda Nunes (Mentor: Dr. Kimberly O’Brien)
• DHRS7: A Candidate for Thermogenic Activation in Brown Adipose Tissue | Seldoen Oshoe (Mentor: Dr. Joeva Barrow)

Many DNS students participate in research through an independent study or employment, with or without applying to the DNS Honors Program. Read more about getting involved in undergraduate research and about DNS faculty research. 

Check out Recent DNS Honors Theses for a list of past presentation titles, presenters and mentors.

Through the generosity of benefactors, we are grateful to be able to present the following named lectures:

• The Dorothy M. Proud Lectureship
• The Janet Clay White '61 Lecture
• The Clive M. McCay Lectureship
• The Joyce Lindower Wolitzer '76 & Steven Wolitzer Nutrition Seminar
• The Pritchard Lecture Series in Human Nutrition