Mary Murimi, Ph.D., RD, LDN

Graduate Student Training Philosophy

The overarching goal of my lab is progressing research knowledge in developing strategies to combat food insecurity and the related complications. 

Majority of my graduate students are international. An important goal of my advisory is to mentor PhD students in my research team to get the experience and training they need to become independent researchers and experts in the area of interest. PhD students are expected to master the science and art of research design, and develop hypothesis-driven research projects. In addition, they are expected to develop theory-driven interventions to test their hypothesis or assessment findings. It is therefore critical for my PhD students to immerse in their area of interest by performing a thorough literature review. After establishing what is known in their research area, they then identify the gaps and base their research question on those gaps. This process produces a testable hypothesis in consideration with the resources available to conduct the data.  Once all these steps have been determined, the student identifies his/her committee members and the research is started with the scholarly guidance from the committee members.

MS students in my research team, are expected to understand the principles of library research and improve on their writing skills. In most cases the MS students use secondary data from my lab or investigate a short–term research question of interest to the specific students or contribute to research questions that I am interested in. Overall MS students engage in a short, less intensive, research project that allows them to perform meaningful research that contributes to the lab mission. I however do not accept MS non-thesis students. 

Research Interests

1. Understanding the effects of the community environment on the nutrition status of the residents,
2. Identifying coping strategies for food insecurity and Identifying factors that influence dietary behavior, especially among low-income populations.
3. Understanding the underlying drivers for stunting during infancy
4. Understanding the effect of food insecurity on the quantity and quality of breastfeeding
5. Assessing the child feeding practices among different cultures and social economic status
6. Developing high quality complementary foods to fight childhood malnutrition

Education

1996 - Ph.D.  Iowa State University, Human Nutrition
Doctoral dissertation: Selected Factors Related to Calcium Intake and Change in Calcium Intake Resulting From Health Belief Model and Health Locus of Control-based Intervention Among 45-54 year old Women.

1992 - M.S.  Eastern Illinois University, Food and Nutrition/Dietetics
Masters thesis: Infant Feeding Practices and Attitudes of Selected Kenyan Mothers in the United States.

1990 - B.S.  Mundelein College, Food and Nutrition/Dietetics

Courses

• NS 3360 Nutrition Education
• NS 5311 Nutrition Education
• NS 5345 Nutrition and Sustainability of Global Food Supplies

Recent Publications

Park O, Brown R, Murimi M, Hoover L. Let's Cook, Eat, and Talk: Encouraging Healthy Eating Behaviors and Interactive Family Mealtime for an Underserved Neighborhood in Texas. J Nutr Educ Behav. 2018 (In Press).

Murimi MW, Moyeda Carabaza AF, Nguyen B, Saha S, Amin R, Njike V. Factors that contribute to effective nutrition education interventions in children: a systematic review. Nutr Rev. 2018;76: 553-580.

Murimi MW, Kanyi MG, Mbogori TN, Amin MR, Rana ZH, Nguyen B, Moyeda-Carabaza AF. Voices and perspectives of rural Hispanic households on food insecurity in west Texas: a qualitative study. J Hunger Environ Nutr. 2018: 1-18.

Albudayan K, Murimi MW. A Quantitative Study Examining Compliance to the Saudi Schools Nutrition Policy and Alignment to the Institute of Medicine Standards in Boys' Public High Schools in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Eastern Mediterr Health J. 2017 (In Press).

Nguyen B, Murimi MW. An After-School Cultural and Age-Sensitive Nutrition Education Intervention for Elementary Schoolchildren. J Nutr Educ Behav. 2017;49: 877-880.e1.

Murimi M. Targeting Influencers of Behavior in Nutrition Education. J Nutr Educ Behav. 2017;49: 533.

Murimi MW, Moyeda-Carabaza AF. Effective nutrition education and communication for sustainable maternal and child health. Proc Nutr Soc. 2017;76: 504-515.

Murimi M. Volunteerism: A Win-Win Undertaking. J Nutr Educ Behav. 2017;49: 89-90.

Murimi MW, Kanyi M, Mupfudze T, Amin MR, Mbogori T, Aldubayan K. Factors Influencing Efficacy of Nutrition Education Interventions: A Systematic Review. J Nutr Educ Behav. 2017;49: 142-165.

Murimi MW, Kanyi MG, Mupfudze T, Mbogori TN, Amin MR. Prevalence of Food Insecurity in Low-Income Neighborhoods in West Texas. J Nutr Educ Behav. 2016;48: 625-630.

Murimi MW, Chrisman M, McAllister T, McDonald O. Fostering Healthy Lifestyles in the African American Population. Health Educ Behav. 2015;42:109-116

Murimi MW, Chrisman M, Hughes K, Taylor C, Kim Y, McAllister T. Effects of School-Based Point-of-Testing Counselling on Health Status Variables among Rural Adolescents. Health Educ J. 2015;74: 1-11