One of my aims when I came to Cal Poly was to engage in nutrition research in low income counties and to provide global nutrition experiences for under- and graduate-students in the classroom and in the “field”. I have provided in-field volunteer opportunities to work in malnutrition clinics in Malawi and Sierra Leone to more than 70 undergraduate and graduate students.
I retired recently but continue teaching half-time; I love nutrition students at Cal Poly!
Favorite things to do when I am not working: walking on the beach, being with grandchildren, wine tasting, trying new recipes, and book clubs.
I still love research: My recent research is focused on identifying ways to support appropriate weight gain and to optimize birth weight in moderately malnourished pregnant women in Africa. Other work includes systematic reviews of literature on combined impact of pregnancy/lactation and malnutrition in HIV infected women on maternal and infant outcomes; meta-analysis of resting energy expenditure in HIV-infected persons; diet and infant/young child feeding practices and their effect on the development of overweight and obesity in low income Latino populations in the central Coast (CA). Recently during 10 months in Malawi (2019), I was a co-PI conducting a survey of hospital malnutrition in the two largest hospitals in Malawi (650-1000 bed hospitals). We plan to identify factors contributing to malnutrition in adult and pediatric populations. We hope to investigate the combined effect of prior food insecurity on hospital malnutrition as well.