Personalized Nutrition

Catalog description

This course will grapple with how and where nutrition should fit in an emerging era of precision medicine, by exploring the challenges of malnutrition and the growing epidemic of metabolic disease (e.g., obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer). Based on the disciplines of molecular science, dietetics, epidemiology, and data analysis (including artificial intelligence), the course will investigate and reflect on the causes and consequences of malnutrition, and how dietary or nutrient choices can be personalized to prevent metabolic disease. Major themes include the molecular determinants of differences among individuals and nutritional contributions, malnutrition and metabolic disorders, and the application of personalized nutrition in disease prevention. This course affords students the ability to critically examine and evaluate the principles of the scientific method, model construction, and use the scientific method to explain natural experiences and phenomena.