Progress 08/15/08 to 08/14/13
Outputs
Target Audience: The target audience for this National Needs Fellowship has been doctoral-level graduate students in the filed of nutrition at University of California Davis in a multidisciplinary graduate group. The grant specifically sought to provide opportunities to enhance research and leadership skills to three outstanding individuals, especially encouraging underrepresented minorities, in preparation to assume position of leadership to address critical societal issues in nutrition, diet and obesity. The target audience has been met through the grant program, via financial support of three deserving students who have completed or are near completion of their doctoral studies, who participated in additional coursework for the award goals in scientific ethics, and who were able to undertake additional research and training activities during their doctoral studies (such as international fieldwork, specialized training in analytical methodology, and specialized training in community-based participatory research methods). Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? The project provided the Fellows an opportunity to have enhanced experiences as a doctoral student in the UC Davis Graduate Group in Nutritional Biology. Each completed the specific NNF award requirement of a graduate level scientific ethics course. This course was multi-disciplinary, including students from biology graduate groups across campus, and afforded opportunities to develop interdisciplinary insights and interactions. Each of the fellows selected a faculty mentor from the program collaborator group who had specific expertise within the two major emphases of the NNF award program. Thus, the students received cutting-edge mentorship in the critical need areas. Each of the students also utilized the travel award funds to have opportunity for experiential training that might otherwise not be available to them. Alison Keenan arranged for a three month "externship" in a colleague's laboratory in Europe who provided specialized analytic metabolomic training to extend her knowledge and skills. Lacey Baldiviez utilized the funds to be able to conduct additional field research in Africa for her dissertation and to expand her project to address the impact of supplemental iron on malaria susceptibility. Gretchen George completed a specialized course through another university campus on effective methodologies for community-based participatory research, which she utilized in her dissertation research and will continue to use in her present academic position. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? The results of this project have been disseminated through internal campus channels (among various graduate groups, and discussions with the campus Graduate Diversity Officer), through publications which have been published, and the program will be acknowledged in future publications which will be submitted as Gretchen George and Lacey Baldiviez actively submit manuscripts from their dissertations. Additionally, the program director has discussed the program and positive results with faculty of other campuses who are engaged in recruitment and retention of diverse students and increasing the graduate level pipeline for diverse students in the agricultural and STEM fields. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The major activities of the project have been completed and the specific objectives were met. The objectives were: 1) provide award support for three outstanding doctoral students, especially encouraging underrepresented minorities; 2) provide cutting-edge academic and research training through high quality mentors which will enable students to assume professional positions in a variety of settings; and 3) promote development of future leaders in the nutrition field through opportunities for experiential learning. The two general themes of research in this training program were: 1) dietary and physiologic influences on healthy weight regulation and chronic disease risk, and 2) metabolomics, analytical chemistry and nutritional modeling. The award supported 3 students: Ms. Alison Keenan - Dr. Keenan has completed her PhD from UC Davis with an emphasis on examining effects of polyunsaturated fatty acids on lipid metabolism using analytic metabolic profiling approaches. She is currently a post-doctoral research scientist at the Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Computational and Integrative Biology. Ms. Gretchen George - Dr. George completed her PhD in summer 2013 on the topic of obesity risk-reduction strategies in underserved youth populations, specifically the effects of a summer camp featuring nutrition and physical activity, and is currently an Assistant Professor of Nutrition at San Francisco State University. Ms. Lacey Baldiviez - Lacey is in the last year of her program, completing her dissertation evaluating the impact of food-based nutrient supplements on infants and mothers in developing countries, particularly effects of iron on infectious disease susceptibility. The project time line for the trainee management plan was met and the Fellows performance in the graduate program and their accomplishments were as good as and often exceeded that of their peers. Each of the student Fellows who has graduated has successfully leveraged their program successes to obtain a professional position for their career development.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2012
Citation:
Jamil KM, Brown KH, Jamil M, Peerson JM, Keenan AH, Newman JW, Haskell MJ. Daily consumption of orange-fleshed sweet potato for 60 days increased plasma beta-carotene concentration but did not increase total body vitamin A pool size in Bangladeshi women. J Nutr 142:1896-1902, 2012.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2012
Citation:
Dewey KG, Baldiviez LM. Safety of universal provision of iron through home fortification of complementary foods in malaria-endemic areas. Adv Nutr 3:555-559, 2012.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2012
Citation:
Kaiser LL, Schneider C, Mendoza C, George G, Neelon M, Roche B, Ginsburg D. Development and use of an evaluation tool for taste-testing activities by school-aged children. J Acad Nutr Diet 112:2028-2034, 2012.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2012
Citation:
Keenan, AH, Pedersen TL, Fillaus K, Larson MK, Shearer GC, Newman JW. Basal omega-3 fatty acid status effects fatty acid and oxylipin responses to high-dose n3-HUFA in healthy volunteers. J Lipid Res, 53:1662-1669, 2012.
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Progress 08/15/08 to 08/14/09
Outputs
The first year of the grant is completed and the student fellows have been selected and appointed to the grant. Fellows include two continuing students early in their academic career who demonstrated outstanding qualifications and one newly recruited student with excellent potential. The first year student, Gretchen George, has a career objective to focus on chronic disease risk factor reduction strategies in underserved populations. She will be taking courses and defining her dissertation research during the upcoming year. The progress during the past year of the other two fellows in the program: Lacey Baldiviez has completed the core coursework, will be taking her doctoral qualifying exam in the upcoming year, and is beginning her dissertation research evaluating the impact of food-based nutrient supplements on infants and mothers in developing countries. Alison Keenan very recently passed her qualifying exam and is conducting dissertation research examining effects of polyunsaturated fatty acids on adipose cell metabolism using metabolic profiling approaches. The activities which were expected to take place during year 1 of the Trainee Management Plan timeline have been accomplished. Two of the three students have completed more than 2/3rds of the prescribed coursework, and the third student who is in her first year of graduate school is on track for her core coursework and selection of minor area of emphasis, as well as faculty mentor selection. Two of the three students already have identified faculty mentors and their dissertation research is underway. All 3 student Fellows are expected to participate in multidisciplinary campus centers, complete ethics training, and be developing leadership and policy skills, in addition to scientific expertise during the upcoming year 2 grant period. PRODUCTS: none OUTCOMES: No measurable outcomes of the project have occurred during the first year of the project grant. It is expected that the progress, experiences and successes of the NNF fellows during their graduate program will be compared to the general graduate group in nutritional biology propulation and used to improve graduate training for all program students if warranted. It is expected that the development of interdisciplinary and experiential learning opportunities for the NNF fellows will expand opportunities to other graduate program students in nutritional biology. DISSEMINATION ACTIVITIES: A brief communication about the grant award, the fellows and their activities is under development. This will be posted as a spotlight on the nutrition department and graduate group in nutritional biology websites in the near future. This will share the program activities and outcomes with the campus, external stakeholders, prospective students and public. FUTURE INITIATIVES: No future initiatives were planned during the past year, as this is just the first year of the project grant.
Impacts
The impacts of the project have not yet been realized yet, as this is just the completion of the first year of the project.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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