Department of Nutrition

Department website: https://nutrition.tamu.edu/

Department Head: D. Threadgill

Graduate Advisor: L. Johnson

The graduate program in Nutrition is administered by the Department of Nutrition, and its membership includes faculty from Nutrition, Food Science & Technology, Kinesiology and Sport Management, the College of Pharmacy and the College of Medicine.

The graduate program in Nutrition offers the opportunity for advanced studies in human nutrition. The program is designed to allow students to build a strong research expertise in nutritional sciences as well as obtain advanced knowledge of basic and applied nutrition. Participating faculty members have research programs that address nutrient bioavailability, energy metabolism and performance, biochemical interactions and molecular nutrition. Programs are also available in social nutrition.

Courses of study lead to the Master of Clinical Nutrition, Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy degrees. Courses for the degree programs are selected from the various departments to serve the needs of the graduate student. Questions about the graduate degrees in nutrition can be directed to the graduate advisor at lauren.johnson@ag.tamu.edu.

Nutrition

NUTR 613/ANSC 613 Protein Metabolism

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. Basic concepts and recent advances in protein metabolism in animals with emphasis on physiological and nutritional significances; discussion of protein digestion; absorption of peptides; absorption, synthesis and degradation of amino acids; hormonal and nutritional regulation of protein turnover; determination of protein quality and requirements. Prerequisite: BICH 411 or BICH 601 or equivalent or approval of instructor. Cross Listing: ANSC 613/NUTR 613.

NUTR 618/ANSC 618 Lipids and Lipid Metabolism

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. Chemical nature of various classes of lipids and lipid-derived hormones; absorption and metabolism of fatty-acids and lipids; regulation of lipid biosynthesis and obesity; relationship between lipid metabolism and cholesterol homeostasis; lipids as hormones. Prerequisite: BICH 410 or approval of instructor. Cross Listing: ANSC 618/NUTR 618.

NUTR 631 Clinical Practice Skills in Dietetics

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. Application of evidence-based practice to the Nutrition Care Process for clinical diagnoses and conditions; demonstration of clinical practice skills as a component of nutrition assessment, nutrition intervention, monitoring and evaluation. Prerequisites: Enrollment in Master of Clinical Nutrition Program.

NUTR 632 Nutrition in Disease

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. Human nutritional requirements in health and disease, emphasizing effects of disease states on intake, digestion, absorption, metabolism and excretion of nutrients; relationship of diet to development of certain diseases.

NUTR 636 Nutritional Physiology of Vitamins and Minerals

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. Fundamental nutritional significance of fat-soluble and water-soluble vitamins and minerals to human metabolism, cell biology and physiology; micronutrients will be grouped by metabolic function or biochemical and physiological actions. Important dietary sources, absorption, storage, metabolism, biochemistry, deficiency and toxicity of individual nutrients in this context. Prerequisite: Graduate classification in Nutrition.

NUTR 641/ANSC 641 Nutritional Biochemistry I

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. Integration of the intermediary metabolism of glucose, amino acids and lipids with nutrition, physiology and pathophysiology in animals; regulation of metabolic pathways in cells, tissues and the whole body under normal and disease conditions; functions of vitamins and minerals in nutrient metabolism and health. Prerequisite: BICH 411 or BICH 604. Cross Listing: ANSC 641/NUTR 641.

NUTR 642 Nutritional Biochemistry II

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. Integration of nutrition, biochemistry and other life sciences focusing on nutrients and their needs in healthy and unhealthy individuals; macronutrients and their metabolism and the pertinent regulation; nutrient sensing and signaling pathways; nutritional and hormonal regulation of gene expression; commonly used nutritional and biochemical assays. Prerequisites: NUTR 475, BICH 410 or equivalent.

NUTR 645/POSC 645 Nutrition and Metabolism of Vitamins

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. Chemistry and metabolism of the fat soluble and water soluble vitamins and their roles in animals; integrates cellular biochemistry and metabolism of the vitamins in vertebrate animals. Prerequisites: POSC 411 or ANSC 303/NUTR 303; BICH 410 or BICH 603. Cross Listing: POSC 645/NUTR 645.

NUTR 650/POSC 650 Nutrition and Metabolism of Minerals

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. Nutritional significance of minerals in animal metabolism; chemical, biochemical and physiological role of minerals and homeostatic control in animal metabolism. Prerequisites: POSC 411 or ANSC 303/NUTR 303; BICH 410 or BICH 603. Cross Listing: POSC 650/NUTR 650.

NUTR 654 Nutrigenomics and Precision Nutrition

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. Fundamentals of genetic variation and diet nutrients; dietary and nutrient impacts on gene expression and relationship to individual genomes; investigation of disease treatment through improved nutrition; the role of health through precise nutrition. Prerequisites: Graduate classification; undergraduate or graduate nutrition and genetics courses.

NUTR 655 Nutrition and Healthy Aging

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. Fusion of biology of aging and geriatric nutrition; different aging theories, pathophysiology of aging and age-related diseases, nutritional needs of older adults, nutritional impacts on lifespan and healthspan and nutritional interventions for healthy aging. Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

NUTR 671 Evidence-Based Practice and Synthesis Methods

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. In this course, we will learn how to systematically identify the best available research on topics of clinical or public health interest, and critically review and appraise literature in the nutrition and allied health fields. We will also learn methods of comprehensive syntheses of research evidence. Rigorous review methods will be highlighted, such as searching for potentially relevant articles; selecting primary articles using explicit, reproducible criteria; appraisal of studies; quantitative data synthesis; and, interpretation. Prerequisites: Biostatistics course, NUTR 202 or instructor permission; graduate classification.

NUTR 681 Seminar

Credits 0-1. 0-1 Other Hours. Oral reports and discussions of current research and developments in nutrition designed to broaden understanding of problems and to stimulate research.

NUTR 684 Professional Internship

Credits 0 to 16. 0 to 16 Other Hours. Experience in application of formal training to a commercial operation under supervision of operations manager and designated faculty member; investigation of matter of mutual interest and report results in a professional paper approved by the graduate committee.

NUTR 685 Directed Studies

Credits 1 to 4. 1 to 4 Other Hours. Directed study of selected problems emphasizing recent developments in research techniques.

NUTR 689 Special Topics in...

Credits 1 to 4. 1 to 4 Other Hours. Special topics in an identified area of nutrition. May be repeated for credit.

NUTR 691 Research

Credits 1 to 23. 1 to 23 Other Hours. Investigations leading to thesis or dissertation in various areas of nutrition.

Beathard, Karen M, Instructional Professor
Nutrition
PHD, Texas A&M University, College Station, 2021

Chapkin, Robert S, Professor
Nutrition
PHD, University of California at Davis, 1986

Davis, Teresa A., Professor
Nutrition
PHD, University of Tennessee, 1980

Estrela, Sylvie, Assistant Professor
Nutrition
PHD, University of Edinburgh, 2015

Gilmore, Alicia, Clinical Associate Professor
Nutrition
MS, Oklahoma State University, 2002

Guo, Shaodong, Professor
Nutrition
PHD, Peking University, Beijing China, 1995

Hastings, Waylon James, Assistant Professor
Nutrition
PHD, The Pennsylvania State University, 2020

Johnston, Bradley C, Associate Professor
Nutrition
PHD, University of Alberta, 2009

Lee, Grace, Assistant Professor
Nutrition
PHD, Texas Tech University, 2022

Racine, Elizabeth, Professor
Nutrition
DrPH, Johns Hopkins University, 2003

Riviere, Aaron, Clinical Assistant Professor
Nutrition
MS, Texas A&M University, 2023

Ross, Alta Catharine, Professor
Nutrition
PHD, Cornell University, 1976

Seguin-Fowler, Rebecca, Professor
Nutrition
PHD, Tufts University, 2008

Smith, Dana Renee, Clinical Assistant Professor
Nutrition
PHD, Texas A&M University, 1992

Sun, Yuxiang, Professor
Nutrition
PHD, University of Manitoba, 2000

Suzuki, Masako, Assistant Professor
Nutrition
PHD, Gifu University, 2002
BVM, Iwate University, 1998

Threadgill, David W, Professor
Nutrition
PHD, Texas A&M University, 1989

Vanden Brink, Heidi K, Assistant Professor
Nutrition
PHD, Cornell University, 2019

Windham, Meghan E, Clinical Assistant Professor
Nutrition
MPH, University of Texas School of Public Health, 2010

Wu, Chaodong, Professor
Nutrition
PHD, Beijing Medical University, 1998
MD, Hubei College of Chinese Medicine, 1992

Wu, Chia Shan, Instructional Associate Professor
Nutrition
PHD, University of Auckland, 2005

Xie, Linglin, Associate Professor
Nutrition
PHD, Kansas State University, 2008
MD, Tongji Medical University, 2000

Zhang, Ke, Associate Professor
Nutrition
PHD, Kansas State University, 2008