Opportunities in the Nutrition and Food Sciences Research Challenges and the Next Generation of Investigators (1994) / Chapter Skim
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7 EDUCATION AND TRAINING IN THE NUTRITION AND FOOD SCIENCES
7 EDUCATION AND TRAINING IN THE NUTRITION AND FOOD SCIENCES
Pages 209-236
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From page 209... ...
Many professionals have been trained at both the undergraduate and graduate levels in nutrition or food science. However, a substantial number of prominent nutrition and food scientists have developed their professional identification later in their careers, frequently at the postbaccalaureate level and not uncommonly at the postdoctoral level.
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From page 210... ...
Current institutional infrastructures need to be examined as the nutrition and food sciences advance to meet the research challenges identified in this report in the basic biological sciences of nutrition, food science and engineering, the clinical nutrition sciences, and the behavioral and social sciences of nutrition. The expertise required to meet these challenges goes beyond the traditional qualifications of faculty in nutrition, food science, medical school, or public health programs.
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From page 211... ...
Another approach for extending the boundaries of nutrition or food science departments into related disciplines is to hire faculty from those disciplines into the department. This is a good method to ensure integration of related disciplines into the curriculum when the department is large enough to accommodate this diversity.
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From page 212... ...
The best undergraduate programs in the nutrition and food sciences draw upon the biological, chemical, physical, and behavioral sciences to help students unclerstancI the interrelationships of nutrition, food, and health and to develop critical-thinking and problem-solving skills. We believe that faculty should identify nutrition and food science undergraduates who intend to go to graduate school and ensure that their coursework follows this model, encourage them to specialize, anct offer all students opportunities to conduct independent research under the guidance of a professor.
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From page 213... ...
These students may need to take advantage of opportunities outside their institution to receive specialized training in the nutrition and food sciences. Summer Training Programs Summer courses in the nutrition and food sciences could provide great opportunities to acquaint undergraduates both nutrition en c!
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From page 214... ...
Competitively awarded fellowships would allow selected undergraduates to gain experience at nutrition departments and food science departments or at the five Human Nutrition Research Centers (EINRCs) and five Regional Research Centers (RRCs)
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From page 215... ...
However, when financial resources are reduced or limited, nutrition departments walk a tightrope between the potential loss of "practitioner" faculty and the need to maintain a rigorous, science-oriented major. IFT requirements for programs in food science are more general, compared to ADA certification requirements, but they too reduce the flexibility of undergraduate programs and may diminish the enthusiasm or ability of faculty in the vanguard of their field to develop and introduce demanding academic courses at the early stages of a student's career.
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From page 216... ...
In abolition, it would ensure that nutrition and food science majors trained in the best research-oriented departments would enjoy the benefits of an exciting and rigorous undergraduate major and still have a reasonable chance of passing the R.D. qualifying examination.
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From page 217... ...
Doctoral students in nutrition science or food science may have research dissertation topics as diverse as the interaction between a nutrient and a nuclear receptor leading to gene transcription to the influence of food selection practices on the nutritional status of migrant farm workers. TABLE 7.1 Example of a Doctoral Program for Nutrition Science Prerequisites Bachelor's degree with a strong background in the biological and physical sciences Recommended Courses Advanced Metabolism and Biochemistry Carbohydrate and Lipid Nutrition Mammalian Phvsiologv ~ J Mineral Nutrition Nutritional Sciences Seminar Proteins and Amino Acid Nutrition Research Planning and Ethics Statistical Methods Vitamin Nutrition Areas of Specialization Nutritional Biochemistry This specialization may require additional courses in biochemistry, molecular and cell biology, immunology, genetics, and endocrinology.
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From page 218... ...
Food Safety This specialization m cay require additional courses in chemistry, biochemistry and molecular biology, physiology, toxicology, microbiology, and environmental engineering sciences. Graduate education programs in nutrition and food science departments (separate or combined)
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From page 219... ...
It is useful for potential students to determine the diversity of options and philosophies of the research faculty for their graduate work. Academic Structures for Education in the Nutrition and Food Sciences Many different academic structures have been used to provide education and training in the nutrition and food sciences.
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From page 220... ...
Frequently, food science departments do not offer large survey courses unless they are linked to nutrition science. As with nutrition departments, food science departments are aided, particularly at the graduate level, by
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From page 221... ...
Combined Departments of Nutrition and Food Sciences Combined departments of nutrition and food science evolve from mergers of a variety of academic units, frequently joining faculty with similar interests from home economics or foo(ls, biochemistry, and commodity-based departments emphasizing food processing (e.g., horticulture, poultry science, and dairy chemistry)
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From page 222... ...
in nutrition science often craws strength from the course offerings that already exist for medical students, including courses in biochemistry, physiology, cell biology, microscopic anatomy, histology, microbiology, and immunology. Whereas the nutrition curricula of medical schools are typically less rich in didactic instruction for graduate students than the curricula of nutrition departments in nonmedical settings, the opportunities for research in biomedical nutrition are often very strong.
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From page 223... ...
Doctorates awarded in molecular biology have steadily increased between 1979 and 1992. The number of doctorates awarded in cell biology 180 ·60 .40 a, ~ 120 4,1 ·00 ° 80 o _ 60 o o Z 40 20 ~ ~7' + Nuiritlon Schoc" | ~ Food Sciences | 1970 1972 1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 Year FIGURE 7.1 Number of doctorates awarded in the United States in the nutrition and food sciences, 1970-1972.
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From page 224... ...
The nutrition and food sciences are probably ahead of many other areas of science and engineering in regard to recruiting women. Table 7.5 presents doctorates awarded in the seven fields described above by race and ethnic background for selected years.
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From page 225... ...
Doctorates have been awarded to an increasing number of temporary residents in this country over the past several decades in most of these seven fields. This trend is particularly pronounced in the food sciences, where the number of doctorates awarded to temporary residents exceeds those awarded to U.S.
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From page 226... ...
citizens and permanent residents only.
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From page 227... ...
citizens Permanent residents Temporary residents Unknown Biochemistry U.S. citizens Permanent residents Temporary residents Unknown Cell Biology U.~.
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From page 228... ...
Clinical Nutrition Investigators Clinical nutrition has been traditionally concerned with basic knowIedge relating to the diagnosis and treatment of diseases that are affected by the intake, absorption, and metabolism of food constituents. These concerns have been expanded to include health promotion and disease prevention, thus underpinning the emphasis on prevention that characterizes current discussions of health-care reform.
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From page 229... ...
Thus, these students may have strong backgrounds in the biological sciences and basic human nutrition but lack opportunities to develop expertise in a field of social science, such as social and cultural anthropology, psychology, behavioral science, political science, health policy, communication science, or health education. In the future, schools of public health should consider offering two emphases within their graduate nutrition programs.
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From page 230... ...
In all cases, graduate students in public health nutrition should have access to a department with ongoing research in basic human nutrition. Food Scientists and Technologists At the graduate level in food science, research is typically conducted in specific scientific areas such as engineering, chemistry, microbiology, biotechnology, or food safety.
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From page 231... ...
Comparable figures for USDA support in FY 1992 were $2.3 million. These sums are grossly inadequate to attract a new generation of outstanding investigators to the nutrition and food sciences investigators who, for example, can take advantage of the biological revolution that is opening up new opportunities to study fundamental life processes at the genetic and molecular levels or who can integrate this knowledge with applications in clinical nutrition and public health.
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From page 232... ...
Recipients are biomedical scientists, clinicians, and others who carry out supervised research to broaden their scientific backgrounds and expand their potential for research in healthrelated areas. Each applicant must arrange to work with a sponsor who is affiliated with an institution that has the staff and facilities needed for the proposed training.
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From page 233... ...
U.S. Department of Agriculture Training of scientists for careers in human nutrition and food science is supported primarily through the National Needs Graduate Fellowships Program and the Agricultural Research Enhancement Awards.
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From page 234... ...
While the overall graduate curriculum in a nutrition or food science department is expected to have a strong bias toward cellular and molecular biology, biochemistry, and systems physiology (or toward the physical sciences for food engineers) , the behavioral sciences also serve as key disciplines.
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From page 235... ...
The role of this monitoring committee would be primarily to ensure adherence to the philosophy of the combined pre- and postdoctoral program. The national monitoring committee should be composed of extramural scientists who are expert in the nutrition and food sciences, since agency and foundation administrators might not be sufficiently knowledgeable to prevent abuses.
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From page 236... ...
In this second scheme, formal instruction in nutrition or food science would be required. In nutrition, such courses should emphasize experimental nutrition and systems physiology; in food science, they should emphasize food engineering and food chemistry.
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