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Public Health Nutrition

Degree Offered: MPH

My Life: Sarah Eichberger

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Meet Sara Eichberger. Sarah worked for seven years as a dietitian before coming to Minnesota to further her expertise in public health nutrition.

Our Public Health Nutrition (PHN) program is designed to meet the needs of students who want graduate training in health promotion, disease prevention, program development, and nutrition interventions.

Our faculty are internationally recognized for research in obesity prevention, child and adolescent nutrition, eating disorder prevention, nutrition epidemiology, and nutrition intervention.

In addition to the traditional public health nutrition degree, we offer students the opportunity to gain expertise in an interdisciplinary concentration such as global health, complementary and alternative medicine, public health policy, and health disparities.

For students interested in becoming Registered Dietitian, we offer a Coordinated Master’s Program. Our program also offers students interested in global health the opportunity to complete a Peace Corps experience as part of their masters program.

Full- and Part-time program

You may pursue your MPH on a full-time or part-time basis, but please note that the majority of the courses are offered only during the day. (Note: The Coordinated Master’s Program must be taken on a full-time basis.)

Questions?

Browse the links at right to learn more about our program and to read about our faculty, students, and alumni. For specific questions, please contact Shelley Cooksey at epichstu@umn.edu.

Thank you for taking the time to explore our program and for considering the University of Minnesota. We look forward to receiving your application.

Want to meet with a coordinator?

Email epichstu@umn.edu to set up an appointment.

Welcome!

Our program, one of the oldest in the country, was officially founded in 1963 by Ruth Stief. However, the University’s contributions to the field of public health nutrition date back to the 1940’s when Ancel Keys began his work to describe the health effects of semi-starvation, develop the K-ration for the military, and identify the Mediterranean Diet as useful in the prevention of cardiovascular disease.  Our faculty continue to study the links between diet and health and are passionate about training our students to be future leaders in public health nutrition.

In addition to being the current Director for the Public Health Nutrition program, I teach PubH 6910: “Critical Review of Research in Public Health Nutrition”, and PubH 6348: “Writing Research Grants”. My research interest is focused on examining the roles of nutrition and physical activity in the prevention of chronic diseases, particularly type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, throughout the lifespan. I attempt to maximize scientific value through studies of ethnic and cultural differences within and between populations, and the use  of both observational and experimental study designs.

- Mark Pereira, PhD

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