Department of Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise

HNFE's mission is to discover, translate, and disseminate health-related advances in the nutrition, food, and exercise sciences.

Our faculty promote health and wellness with an emphasis on translational science, service to the community, and providing quality education for students.  We continuously foster innovation in research, education, and regional outreach to improve the nation's health. 

HNFE's unique fusion of nutrition and exercise sciences positions us as a leader in education, prevention, research, and translational studies.  We're examining the psychosocial aspects of health, behavioral interventions, human performance, and youth and adult weight management with a focus on chronic disease and prevention.

Recent News:

• Rob Grange was notified that his review on exercise and Duchenne muscular dystrophy, "Exercise and duchenne muscular dystrophy: Toward evidence-based exercise prescription" was one of 2011's top 10 downloads from Muscle and Nerve. His co-authors were Dr. Chad Markert from Wake Forest, Dr. Faby Ambrosio from the University of Pittsburgh, and Rob's  former Master's student, Dr. Jarrod Call, who completed his Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota and is now at UVa as a post doc. 
  

• Paul Estabrooks and collaborates just had an article published in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association. The article highlights the role behavior and psychosocial issues play in preventable deaths and disability as well as in the escalating health care costs in the US.
  

• Paul Estabrooks organized a Featured Symposium at the Society of Behavioral Medicine Annual Meeting in New Orleans with Russ Glasgow and Brad Hesse from the National Cancer Institute and Alex Krist from VCU. The symposium highlighted their work on identifying and implementing actionable information on behaviors such as physical activity and dietary intake for use in electronic health records. The presentations can be found here. 
  
• Heather Cox was awarded the Distinguished Dietitian of the Year Award for Virginia at the annual VDA meeting on March 26.
  
• The Zoellner - Hill Community Behavioral Lab launched the Dan River Partnership for a Healthy Community website and showcased their research.
  
• Congratulations to Jessica Schultz: She was awarded the 2012 Outstanding Senior for both HNFE and CALS.

More News & Information from the department...