The PhD in human nutrition is a three-year, 74-credit-hour program designed to align with the goals and objectives of the National Institutes of Health’s National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS). As such, the program supports the training and development of researchers and leaders in the field of nutrition by focusing on developing the skills needed to perform bench-to-bedside-to-community research. Graduates of the PhD in human nutrition will be experts in nutrition research methodologies and translational nutrition, thereby efficiently advancing the field of nutrition through research to improve human health.
In accordance with the goals of the National Institutes of Health NCATS to implement and promote translational science approaches that foster collaborative bench-to-bedside-to-community approaches, a student who has completed this doctoral program in human nutrition will demonstrate mastery of:
1) Translational nutrition – Demonstrate proficiency in nutrition techniques that are integrated across discrete areas of nutrition research methodologies into a cohesive research agenda that moves nutrition research from the laboratory to the patient/community.
2) Communication - Effectively communicate nutrition information, evidencing the ability to evaluate and interpret current research for presentation to the academic, scientific, and/or the lay community.
3) Nutrition research practice – Demonstrate an understanding of relevant laboratory analyses methodologies, metabolic assessment techniques, and statistical research methodologies appropriate for developing strong, competitive research proposals.
4) Independent research – Demonstrate the ability to support an independent career in research by successfully developing and implementing a research protocol, gathering data to effectively test the hypothesis (or hypotheses), and analyzing and interpreting the data.
5) Effective educators - Demonstrate skills of effective classroom presentation of nutrition-related information.
Application Deadline: February 1. Admission decisions for Fall term will be made in mid-February.
Contact Information: Before applying, it is recommended that you contact the director of the PhD Program in Human Nutrition, Dr. Linda Knol, at [email protected] or 205-348-8129.
For additional information, please visit the program webpage at http://www.nhm.ches.ua.edu/phd-in-human-nutrition.html