Seminars + presentations

Details 

Tuesdays during fall and spring semester
11:45 a.m.-12:45 p.m. (ET); official class time 11:25 a.m.-12:40 p.m.
100 Savage Hall

Topics

  • 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 Ph.D. candidates

Fall 2026 speaker series

September 1

Dr. Sander Kersten

Nutritional Sciences, 

Cornell University

September 8

Dr. Karl Lewis

Biomedical Engineering, 

Cornell University        

September 15 (Virtual)

Dr. Kahlilia Morris-Blanco

Cell & Developmental Biology, 

University of Pennsylvanis

September 22

Dr. Joseph McFadden

Animal Science, 

Cornell University        

September 29 (Virtual)

Dr. Elizabeth Bhoj

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania

October 6

Dr. Iwijn De Vlaminck

Biomedical Engineering, 

Cornell University

October 20

Dr. Nathalie Trottier

Animal Science, 

Cornell University        

October 27

Dr. Buz Barstow

Biological & Environmental Engineering, 

Cornell University

November 3

Dr. Pamela Chang

Chemical Biology, 

Cornell University        

November 10

Janet Clay White Lecture

Dr. Cristina Palacios

Dietetics & Nutrition, 

Florida International University        

November 17

Dr. Fenghua Hu

Molecular Biology and Genetics, 

Cornell University        

December 1

Pritchard Lecture Series

Dr. Christopher Duggan        

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health        

Details

These seminars are sponsored by the division's Program in International Nutrition. They are held Thursdays during the fall and spring semesters. The full schedule is available on the Program in International Nutrition (PIN) website.

The seminar is informal and intended to generate discussion, broaden the international nutrition network at Cornell, and bring together people with an array of 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. Designed to expand graduate students’ perspectives to include diverse aspects of global research on nutrition and related fields, 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.

Questions? Contact the pindirector [at] cornell.edu (Program in International Nutrition director).

Topics

Presentations reflect:

  • interdisciplinary scope of fields relevant to global food, nutrition, health, food systems, poverty and development, particularly in low-income countries.
  • research focused, but also policy, practice or current issues related to field

Spring 2026 speaker series

All Spring PIN Seminars will be held on Zoom
Thursdays | 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM ET
Zoom join link: https://cornell.zoom.us/s/94680509885?pwd=QXlOZWhQTWMxUUxFSzhEL1JQOTIyUT09
Meeting ID: 946 8050 9885 | Passcode: 752457

February 5, 2026 | Add to Calendar
Dr. Diego Moretti, PhD, Professor of Nutrition, Swiss Distance University of Applied Sciences (FFHS), University of Applied Sciences of South Switzerland (SUPSI)
“Iron metabolism in high altitude residents: is there a need to adapt recommendations?”

March 5, 2026 | Add to Calendar
Dr. Nathaniel Cole, PhD, Postdoctoral Associate, Cornell Joan Klein Jacobs Center for Precision Nutrition and Health, Ithaca, NY

March 19, 2026 | Add to Calendar
Dr. Barry M. Popkin, PhD ‘74, W. R. Kenan Jr. Distinguished Professor, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
“The first decade of global food policy: the past, the present and the future”

April 9, 2026 | Add to Calendar
Dr. Jane Hirst, MBBS, MPH, PhD, Program Director, Women's Health, The George Institute for Global Health, Clinical Chair in Global Women's Health, Imperial College London
“Protecting Women and Girls from Climate Change”

April 30, 2026 | Add to Calendar
Vanessa Garcia Larsen, PhD, Chief, Risk Factors and Nutrition Unit, Department of Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health, Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)
"The Acceleration Plan to Stop Obesity in the Americas”

Ph.D. candidates must give a presentation and defense of their doctoral dissertation in the final requirement to earn a Ph.D. Details for each presentation will be posted below when it becomes available. 

Ph.D. Candidates

Contact thednshelpdesk [at] cornell.edu ( DNSHelpdesk) when you have scheduled your exam and we will help you promote your talk.

Learn more about the Ph.D. process, including thesis deadlines, requirements, scheduling and taking your exam and submitting your thesis/dissertation.

The Undergraduate Honors Research Symposium takes place each May.

Our Honors Program is designed to challenge research-oriented NS, HBHS, and GPHS majors and the symposium is the final requirement.

Past presentations

  • Information Avoidance in Decision Making: Do Avoidance Tendencies and Motives Vary by Age?
  • Adolescents' Proxy Reports on Obesity-Related Parenting Practices: Factorial Validity and Reliability Across Four Behavioral Domains
  • Thinking About Health Status?
  • Neighborhood Support and Wellbeing: Does College Belonging Matter?
  • The Creation of a Database for the Heme Iron Content of Foods and Preliminary Nutrition Analysis of the First 75 Participants of FeGenes Study 
     
professor and two students smile in front of a colorful backdrop

Endowed lectures

Through the generosity of donors, we are grateful to be able to present the following named lectures.
 

This lecture is held biennially and is open to the Cornell community and the public, free of charge. No registration is required for this event.

Recent speakers

  • Dr. Kevin Hall, Ph.D.
  • Saikrupa Das, Ph.D.
  • Eric Verdin, M.D.
  • David Sinclair, Ph.D., A.O.

About 

Established in 1985 through an endowment gift by Dr. McCay’s wife, Jeannette McCay, who also authored his biographical memoirs in 1994. 

This lecture is open to the Cornell community and the public, free of charge. No registration is required.

Recent speakers

  • Herman Pontzer, Ph.D.
  • Sharon M. Donovan, Ph.D., R.D.
  • Tim Spector, M.D.
  • Regan Bailey, Ph.D.

About

Sponsored by the Klingenstein Pritchard Scholarship Program and dedicated to human nutrition, from conception through weaning on to adulthood and honors those who have made significant contributions to human nutrition. 

This lecture is open to the Cornell community and the public, free of charge. No registration is required.

The Cornell University Division ofNutritional Sciences & Dietetics Association Proudly Present The 2026 Dorothy M.
Proud Lecture:
Speaker: Alison Steiber PhD, RDN
Position: Chief Impact Officer of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
Title: Addressing Malnutrition through a Food as Medicine Lens
Time: Tuesday March 24th at 4:45 PM in MVR G151
Followed by a catered reception from 5:45- 6:15 in the
Location: MVR Commons

Recent speakers

  • Carrie Cotwright, Ph.D.
  • Tamara Melton, M.S., R.D.N.
  • Karen Collins, M.S. ’84, R.D.N., C.D.N., F.A.N.D.
  • Faye Berger Mitchell, R.D., L.D.N.

About

In 1984, the Division of Nutritional Sciences received a generous gift from Professor Emeritus Dorothy M. Proud to enhance the undergraduate program. It was her wish to emphasize all dimensions of the undergraduate program, with special attention given to professional education in dietetics. With that in mind, and with gratitude to Dorothy, the students of the Cornell University Dietetics Association (CUDA) host this event biennially.

Dorothy Proud received her B.A. from Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, and her M.A. in administrative dietetics from the University of Minnesota in 1930. She worked at Western University Hospital's Department of Dietetics as the assistant director of the department and director of the dietetic internship program before joining the faculty of Cornell's College of Home Economics in 1942 as an extension specialist in institution management. She was appointed assistant professor in 1946, associate professor in 1949, and emeritus professor upon her retirement.

This lecture features an expert in the field of community nutrition and is open to the Cornell community and the public, free of charge. No registration is required.

Recent speakers

Heather A. Eicher-Miller, Ph.D. 

Darcy Freedman, Ph.D., M.P.H.

Josiemer Mattei, Ph.D., M.P.H., F.A.H.A.

Katherine Alaimo, Ph.D.       

About

This event is held biennially and is hosted by the DNS extension faculty. It celebrates the life and interests of Janet White, who received a master's degree in nutritional sciences from Cornell in 1961. Janet is recognized for her contributions to community outreach and especially her contributions to child nutrition education as a Cornell Cooperative Extension agent for Monroe County. 

Dedicated to bringing to campus a nationally renowned speaker, innovator or leader in nutrition for the benefit of our undergraduate students.

Wolitzer seminar poster

Recent speakers

Marion Nestle, Ph.D.

Dr. Mona Hanna

Lawrence Haddad, Ph.D.

About

This lecture series is a gift from Joyce Lindower Wolitzer ’76 and Steven Wolitzer.