GRADUATE COURSES

Offered: Main Campus | Online Campus

This class will review the multi-facets of macronutrient metabolism and application to the prevention and development of common chronic diseases. The clinical applications of nutrient deficiencies and toxicities will also be reviewed. Metabolic alterations associated with obesity, metabolic syndrome, and other diseases will be discussed. The application of evidence-based guidelines and research for nutritional interventions will be discussed through weekly readings and assignments.

Offered: Main Campus | Online Campus | Co-convened with NSC 415L

Course Prerequisites: NSC 415R or NSC 515R (concurrent enrollment required)

Course Fee: $35

NSC 415/515 Lab will use nutritional science and physiology to focus on sport specific menu and food needs for athletes. Content will include menu development and analysis of various menus, recipes and cookbooks designed for athletes. This will encompass designing specific food products and menus that are appropriate for specific sport activities that have special nutritional challenges during training and competition. This course will also include training on dietary and body composition assessment tools, allowing students to use that knowledge while assessing both body composition and food intake of an athlete. Graduate students will be required to complete an additional project described in syllabus.

Offered: Main Campus | Online Campus | Co-convened with NSC 415R

Course Prerequisites: NSC 415L or NSC 515L (concurrent enrollment required)

NSC 415R/515R will use nutritional science and physiology to focus on sport-specific competition and training nutritional challenges and issues. Content will include the nutritional and physiological requirements of various sports; sport-specific cultural influences that affect attitudes towards nutrition; and nutritional challenges faced by athletes training and competing in different sports. This course will also include a review of dietary intake methodologies; body composition assessment; diet analysis; and training table and residence hall menu development and assessment. Graduate students will be required to complete a research project described in syllabus.

Offered: Main Campus | Online Campus

Course Prerequisites: NSC 509

This course will advance understanding of research design, methods, and implementation, interpretation of research findings, and advances in nutrition science research for selected chronic diseases.

Offered: Main Campus | Co-convened with NSC 430L

Course Prerequisites: None

Also offered as MIC 530L. Home department: School of Animal & Comparative Biomedical Sciences.

This course is designed to provide students with the opportunity to pursue advanced techniques related to food science and food microbiology. These laboratory techniques will enable students to objectively evaluate food qualities, microbial activity, and sensory attributes. The class will begin with classroom instruction and lab exercises covering the principles of advanced food microbiology and food chemistry as well as lab principles, procedures, and practices. It will provide an understanding of food processing whether it be thermal, dehydration, low water activity (aw), or acidification and the controls of the process that make the product safe such as temperature, pH, moisture content, aw, or a combination. The interactions between microorganisms and process variables will be used to confirm the commercial safety of the food. Additionally, the students will gain an understanding of the importance of shelf-life on marketability and also how packaging and ingredient options play a role in improving texture and flavor as well as microbial stability during storage. After basic lab exercises to reinforce initial lecture content are covered, in groups of two or three, students will develop a project to pursue for their lab work for the rest of the course. They will develop a product, analyze it for quality attributes and microbial activity during storage, and determine its shelf-life. The product should also have market appeal.

Offered: Online Campus

Course Prerequisites: Student must be enrolled in the Professional Science Masters in Applied Nutrition (PSM-AN)

This course will provide students with tools and competencies for developing, implementing, and evaluating nutrition intervention programs. Course topics include evidence-based behavior change, social determinants of health and wellness, nutrition screening and tools for community settings, using nutrition surveillance data to inform program development, and cultural awareness/bias recognition. Course skill-building will focus on problem identification, conducting needs assessments, developing evidence-based intervention strategies, evaluating program implementation and effectiveness (including planning a budget and seeking/obtaining funding support). Students will select a semester-long course project based on their personal interests and that of a collaborating community entity. Students completing this course will be able to apply knowledge of social, psychological and environmental aspects of eating and food to formulate food and nutrition services that meet the needs of individuals, communities, and populations.

Offered: Main Campus | Online Campus

Course Prerequisites: NSC 501 | NSC 509 | NSC 519

This course focuses on providing medical nutrition therapy for select complex acute and chronic diseases. The course is based on students participating in an in-depth examination and discussion on each topic using an evidence-based approach and related research. Using an online forum, students will discuss assigned topics applying analytic skills to provide robust discussions. Students will also present their research on an assigned topic.

Offered: Main Campus | Online Campus | Co-convened with NSC 445

Course Prerequisites: None

This course explores the theoretical and applied aspects of body composition assessment methods. Students will learn about the limitations and usefulness of laboratory and field methods of assessing body composition in healthy, clinical, and athletic population subgroups. We will address considerations for application of body composition assessment in growth, development, and aging. Students will learn to perform basic anthropometric measures and compute reliability. Students will practice critically evaluating current research related to body composition assessment in a variety of subpopulations. In addition to the quizzes, discussions, assignments and project, graduate students will write at least two study abstracts for each learning module; 10 total. These abstracts will be used to develop the required graduate student review paper (15 references minimum) on new developments in body composition.

Offered: Online Campus

Course Prerequisites: None

This course will provide students with knowledge, tools and competencies related to foodservice systems management to prepare them to lead in institutional foodservice management and entrepreneurial roles. Course topics include recipe/menu development and modification; supply and procurement; food production and service systems; sanitation and safety; quality management; management tools, functions, skills; resource management; and information management and reporting.

Offered: Main Campus

Course Prerequisites: None

Also offered as HPS 560. Home department: Health Promotional Services.

Fundamentals of biochemistry, including proteins, enzymes, carbohydrates and lipids and their metabolic relationships.

Offered: Main Campus

Course Prerequisites: None

Students will gain the ability to craft effective scientific presentations, abstracts, manuscripts, and proposals; practice oral communication in front of an audience and learn (and practice) the peer review process. Students will complete the course with a fundamental understanding of the elements of effective scientific communication, and how to apply these elements to craft effective nutrition science-focused oral presentations (short oral and posters) (Module 1); abstracts, public health relevance statements, and lay summaries (Module 2); manuscripts and grant proposals (Module 3); and constructive and effective evaluation of peers' work will be discussed throughout.

Offered: Online Campus

Course Prerequisites: Students must be enrolled in the Professional Science Masters in Applied Nutrition (PSM-AN).

Students will learn and implement inclusive best practices in nutrition education and counseling to serve diverse audiences in preparation for supervised experiential learning in food, nutrition, and healthcare settings. This course will touch on various theories and best practices in culturally responsive education, counseling, leadership, and communication to help students demonstrate the professional competency required for dietetics professionals by the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND). Students will complete the course with a deeper understanding of the Code of Ethics for the Profession of Nutrition and Dietetics and practice applications that align with the core values of customer focus, integrity, innovation, social responsibility, and diversity, including the influence of personal identities and biases on practitioner interactions. Students will complete written and oral deliverables, including self-assessments, reflections, case studies, and targeted education materials. Students will also begin the process of developing their professional digital portfolios.

Offered: Online Campus

Course Prerequisites: None

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans provide robust guidance on what types of foods to eat, but the public is increasingly asking nutrition and health professionals to weigh in on the safety, ethics and environmental impact of individual foods and food systems. In this course, students will develop knowledge of different agricultural and food production systems, and we will also examine the considerations related to nutrition, food safety, environmental sustainability, and ethics of food production, processing, and distribution. We will also examine emerging and controversial topics that influence consumer food choices and their adherence to dietary recommendations. Students will critically analyze the evidence around common consumer concerns and beliefs regarding food through completion of case studies, persuasive arguments, and communicating evidence-based recommendations to patients, clients, and the public.

Offered: Main Campus | Online Campus | Co-convened with NSC 475

Course Prerequisites: None

Nutrigenomics is the application of genomics to human nutrition. This online course will explore relevant technologies, genetics, and nutrition. Designed by researchers in colleges and centers of excellence, it will be continually updated with the latest information. Graduate-level requirements include Nutrigenomics/Organization of the genome; Advanced Models; Target validation; Mouse models; lab assignments. Advanced discussion board questions (4 total) are due after each unit.

Offered: Main Campus | Co-convened with NSC 478

Course Prerequisites: None

Also offered as HPS 578. Home department: Health Promotional Services

This course is an analysis of nutrition issues concerned with health and disease. Biochemical, physiological, and socioeconomic interactions will be evaluated as they relate to the development, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of nutrition programs and research that affect individuals across the lifespan. Graduate-level requirements include and additional research topic.

Offered: Main Campus

Course Prerequisites: None

Also offered as EHS 584, PCOL 584. Home department: Community, Environment, & Policy.

Introduction to the principles of occupational and environmental health, with emphasis on industrial hygiene aspects of recognition, evaluation, and control of environmental and industrial health hazards. Graduate-level requirements include a comprehensive paper detailing hazards associated with a particular health hazard.

Offered: Main Campus

Course Prerequisites: None

Specialized work on an individual basis, consisting of training and practice in actual service in a technical, business, or governmental establishment. Alternative grading: S, P, F. Course can be repeated.

Offered: Main Campus

Course Prerequisites: None

This colloquium offers an opportunity for graduate students to interact closely with research faculty of the Nutritional Sciences Graduate Program in their current research interest areas. The course is designed to help graduate students appreciate within each research area how the scientific community advances knowledge and understanding of nutrition. Over the scope of a semester, research within 3 current topic areas will be critically examined; each topic area will be given 4-6 weeks and led by a Nutritional Sciences faculty doing research in that area. Two of the topic areas will change annually to incorporate the diverse research conducted related to nutrition. The general format for a topic area is described below. Course can be repeated a maximum of 4 times.

Offered: Main Campus

Course Prerequisites: None

This short course will examine current, rapidly changing topics of immediate relevance to Nutritional Sciences. The topic selected will be presented from different perspectives incorporating cutting-edge basic, clinical, and translational science and will provide information that addresses the prevention and treatment of a nutrition condition where appropriate. An example of a topic would be "The Analysis and Treatment of Obesity." Field trips are required. Course can be repeated a maximum of 4 times.

Offered: Main Campus

Course Prerequisites: None

The Capstone Workshop course is designed to help students: identify potential sites for their capstone courses, develop talking points when discussing the capstone with potential sites, obtain the required affiliation requirements with their site, build knowledge of research requirements through completion of CITI trainings and further develop presentation and writing skills.

Offered: Main Campus

Course Prerequisites: None

Qualified students working on an individual basis with professors who have agreed to supervise such work. Graduate students doing independent work which cannot be classified as actual research will register for credit under course number 599 or 699.

Offered: Main Campus

Course Prerequisites: BIOC 460 or BIOC 462A - BIOC 462B

Analysis of current knowledge regarding the interactions between the intake, absorption, transport, processing, storage, catabolism and excretion of nutrients and the regulation of metabolic homeostasis in the intact organism. Emphasis areas include interrelationships between protein, carbohydrate and fat metabolism and their regulation by dietary, hormonal and genetic factors in humans.

Offered: Main Campus

Course Prerequisites: BIOC 462A | BIOC 462B

This in-class course will deliver information related to bioenergetics and metabolism in normal and diseased states. Research data from pre-clinical and clinical studies clearly indicate that nutrients metabolism plays an important role in determining the development of chronic diseases including obesity and cancer. Given the large percentage of U.S. adults being overweight (~65%) or obese (~33%), and the fact the incidence of chronic diseases (i.e. cancer, diabetes, inflammation) increases with aging, it is important for graduate students to acquire in depth knowledge of how lifestyle and nutrients contribute to energy balance, and how alterations in metabolic pathways influence the susceptibility to developing chronic diseases.

Offered: Main Campus

Course Prerequisites: BIOC 462 (or equivalent) | MCB 410 (or equivalent) | Prior coursework/exposure in signal transduction pathways recommended

The overall goal of this class is to improve students' understanding of how diet influences health and chronic disease risk by examining the biochemical and physiological effects of specific dietary components and overall dietary patterns. This course will use current research materials and in-depth examples or case studies of how nutrition can impact diabetes, inflammatory diseases, cardiovascular disease, and cancer.

Offered: Main Campus

Course Prerequisites: None

This graduate-level course discusses the properties and metabolism of select vitamins and minerals in various species including the chemistry and biochemistry of how they function in organisms, and how deficiencies may result in pathological symptoms. The emphasis is on understanding the basic properties of the vitamins and minerals and their role in nutrition. The application of this knowledge to clinical nutrition will be discussed. Topics include: chemistry and nomenclature, methods of analysis, absorption, transport and storage, metabolism, functions, deficiencies, and toxicities.

Offered: Main Campus

Course Prerequisites: EPID 573A | Statistics (recommended)

Also offered as EPID 645. Home department: Epidemiology and Biostatistics

An overview of the current issues and methods in assessing nutritional status in epidemiological studies. Issues and methods used in international studies and of chronic disease nutrition will be covered. Course can be repeated a maximum of 2 times.

Offered: Main Campus

Course Prerequisites: MCB 410 | BIOC 462A or BIOC 462B (or equivalent)

By understanding the interaction of nutrients or bioactive food compounds with genes, there exists a great potential to personalize and optimize diet for improved human health at an individual or population level. The focus of this class is the application of Nutrigenomics by understanding how providing or restricting the proper food components affects homeostasis in the body at the biochemical and organ systems levels. The ability for nutritionists and healthcare professionals to create an optimal diet requires an understanding of how interactions between nutrients and genes, proteins and metabolic pathways regulate disease pathways. Student obtaining contemporary nutrition training must understand genetic interactions as well as current techniques, mechanisms, and data analysis used in modern science and clinical practices.

Offered: Online Campus

Course Prerequisites: None

Supervised experiential learning in a community nutrition professional setting to meet the required competencies and hours required by ACEND to meet the FEM-Graduate program standards.

Offered: Online Campus

Course Prerequisites: None

Supervised experiential learning in a food service professional practice setting to meet the required competencies and hours required by ACEND to meet the FEM-Graduate program standards.

Offered: Online Campus

Course Prerequisites: None

Supervised experiential learning in a clinical professional practice setting to meet the required competencies and hours required by ACEND to meet the FEM-Graduate program standards.

Offered: Main Campus

Course Prerequisite: NSC 597

Capstone/Final Project I consists of 135 hours of practical professional training with a sponsoring agency/facility. Students will conduct a needs assessment and propose a topic for final project to be completed in NSC 698B. Students will write a progress report which will be presented to the class. Alternative grading: S, P, F.

Offered: Main Campus

Course Prerequisites: NSC 698A

Capstone/Final Project II consists of 135 hours of practical professional training with a sponsoring agency/facility that culminates the Professional Science Master's program and produces a final project. Students will develop a final report on the project objectives, methods, and outcomes. The project will be presented to the class in a presentation form, and a poster will also be produced. Alternative grading: S, P, F.

Offered: Main Campus

Course Prerequisites: None

Qualified students working on an individual basis with professors who have agreed to supervise such work. Graduate students doing independent work which cannot be classified as actual research will register for credit under course number 599 or 699. Alternative Grading: S, P, F. Course can be repeated.

Offered: Main Campus

Course Prerequisites: None

Individual research, not related to thesis or dissertation preparation, by graduate students. Alternative grading: S, P, F. Course can be repeated.

Offered: Main Campus

Course Prerequisites: None

Individual study or special project or formal report thereof submitted in lieu of thesis for certain master's degrees. Alternative grading: S, P, F. Course can be repeated.

Offered: Main Campus

Course Prerequisites: None

Research for the master's thesis (whether library research, laboratory or field observation or research, artistic creation, or thesis writing). Maximum total credit permitted varies with the major department. Alternative grading: S, P, F. Course can be repeated.

Offered: Main Campus

Course Prerequisites: None

Research for the doctoral dissertation (whether library research, laboratory or field observation or research, artistic creation, or dissertation writing). Alternative grading: S, P, F. Course can be repeated.