Texas Tech University

Nutritional Sciences Newsletter Texas Tech

 

Table of Contents

Departmental Announcements
Learn about new faculty appointments; find out who defended their theses and dissertations; check lab updates. Read More »

Student Achievements
Be impressed by the many accomplishments of our TTU NS students. Read More »

Faculty Achievements
See our faculty members who received prestigious awards from local, regional, national, and global organizations. Read More »

Publications and Invited Lectures
Our students and faculty made countless presentations and publications.
Read More »

In the Media
An impressive amount of high-quality exposure for TTU. Read More »

GNO Events
See what your Graduate Student Organization has been up to! Read More »

Contact Us
Tell us your comments and suggestions. Email the editor (wei-lin.huang@ttu.edu) whenever you receive awards or funding; appear in media; have lab updates, publications, presentations or other achievements you want to share. We are looking forward to hearing from you.

From Here, It's Possible

Student Spotlight

Samudani Dhanasekara Samudani Dhanasekara is a Ph.D. student in the Obesity and Metabolic Health Lab in the TTU NS Department. Samudani received her MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine & Bachelor of Surgery) in the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. She had 3-years of practice experience as a physician before she joined Texas Tech University. Samudani came to TTU and joined Nutrition & Nanomedicine Lab in 2016 Spring to work with Dr. Shu Wang. Her Master's Thesis was about the imaging intimal macrophages in atherosclerotic lesions using CD36-targeted nanoparticles. After finished her Master Degree, Samudani started working in clinical nutrition field with Dr. Nikhil Dhurandhar for her Ph.D. degree.

Samudani is a methodical student with high efficiency on works. She had a poster presentation and oral presentation in the Experimental Biology 2016. Over the three years, she has collaborated in several publications. In addition, Samudani has received 10 scholarships from the TTU Department of Nutritional Sciences and Graduate School from 2016 to 2019. Now she is working on her dissertation, which is about the dietary patterns and metabolic effects of egg consumption. Her ultimate goal is to combine nutrition and obesity management to help people in need.

 

Department Announcements

New Faculty Appointment

  • Shannon Galyean, Ph.D., RDN, LDCongratulations to Shannon Galyean, Ph.D., RDN, LD, on her new position as Assistant Professor in the Department of Nutritional Sciences. Dr. Galyean has been a dietitian since 2001 with the majority of that time in bariatric surgery. In addition, she has long-standing dietetic practice in cardiac, diabetes, renal, enteral nutrition, pediatric, geriatric, and weight management. Dr. Galyean will be part of the Nutrition & Metabolic Health Initiative (NMHI) team and work closely with the Optifast program at NMHI.

Graduate Level Dietetic Interns completed 1,200 hours internship

  • Graduate Level Dietetic Interns completed 1,200 hours internship As we wrap up the semester, Graduate Level Dietetic Interns from the Nutritional Sciences Department are wrapping up over 1,200 supervised practice hours in clinical, community, and management rotations. The next step for these students is a passing a national registration exam in order to obtain the credentials of Registered Dietitian Nutritionist. Thanks to Shelley Fillipp, Dietetic Internship Director and Lori Kiker, Assistant Dietetic Internship Director for the work and care that goes into setting up rotations for over 20 interns in Lubbock, Amarillo, Midland/Odessa, and San Angelo. Because of those efforts and the hard work of our interns, we have a history of approximately 90% employment rate within 3 months of completing their internship. We will also have 16 of those interns receiving their graduate degrees in December as well. Congrats to our students and directors!

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

  • Kembra Albracht-Schulte
    • Degree: Ph.D.
    • Defense Date: October 11, 2018
    • Dissertation Title: Hepatic Mechanisms of Eicosapentaenoic Acid (EPA) Supplementation in Mice and Identification of Biomarkers in Humans with Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD)
    • Dissertation Committee: Dr. Naima Moustaid-Moussa (Committee Chair), Dr. Latha Ramalingam (Committee Co-chair), Dr. Shu Wang, Dr. Nishan Kalupahana, Dr. Jacalyn McComb, and Dr. Shaikh Rahman
  • Sanjoy Saha
    • Degree: Ph.D.
    • Defense Date: October 12, 2018
    • Dissertation Title: Effect of a nutrition education intervention with or without a school garden on improving fruit and vegetable consumption among elementary school children in Lubbock, Texas
    • Dissertation Committee: Dr. Wilna Oldewage-Theron (Committee Chair), Dr. Mary Murimi, Dr. John Dawson, Dr. Sara Dodd, and Dr. Conrad Lyford

Lab Updates

Behavioral Medicine & Translational Research Lab (Dr. Binks)

  • BMTRGraduate students, Sharmin Akter, Wei-Lin Huang and Eduardo Gonzalez participated in pediatric oncology awareness annual walk event on September 29, 2018 to promote NMHI program.
  • Free Body Fat Assessment & up to $20 Compensation for Research Study. Call/email if interested: 806-742-5194, bmtrlab@ttu.edu

Nutrition & Nanomedicine Lab (Drs. Wang, and Hao)

  • Nutrition and Nano medicine Lab TTUDr. Zeynep Goktas received grant support from Turkey TUBITAK 2219 Program and joined the Nutrition & Nanomedicine Lab as a visiting associate professor. Dr. Zeynep Goktas is a tenured associate professor at Hacettepe University.
  • Yujiao Zu and Shu Wang have successfully finished the NSF Southwest I-Corps Node, and have been recommended to the NSF national I-Corps program.

Dr. Mary Murimi's Community Nutrition Lab

  • Dr. Murimi Lab: Sarah New MeberNew Member:
    • Sarah Sprayberry is a first-year Ph.D. student in Dr. Murimi's lab. Sarah received her bachelor's and master's degrees from Texas A&M University in Animal Science. She is interested in nutritional issues that are found in developing countries and how she can utilize knowledge of agriculture to develop interventions that will increase the nutritional and health status of residents in developing areas.

Obesity and Metabolic Health Lab (Drs. Dhurandhar, Hegde, Shin)

  • Obesity and Metabolic Health LabNew Member:
    • Harsh Shah is the first year Ph.D. student in Obesity and Metabolic health lab. His supervisor is Dr. Vijay Hegde. Harsh obtained his Bachelor's and Master's Degree in Biochemistry. He was a Temporary Assistant professor in The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, India for three years before joining TTU. His research interest is to understand the metabolic syndrome and related disorders.
  • Dr. Hegde presented in the section of Making Obesity Less Complicated in Obesity Week 2018.

Dr. Allison Childress' Lab

  • Dr. Allison Childress LabNew Member:
    • Eduardo Gonzalez is the first-year master's student working under the tutelage of Dr. Allison Childress and he is a recently graduated physician from Mexico. Eduardo carried out his undergraduate studies at the University of Houston, where he majored in Biology and minored in Chemistry. Eduardo wishes to pursue a medical specialty in either Family or Internal Medicine upon concluding his graduate studies at TTU. He intends on becoming a primary care physician focused on implementing nutrition in the prevention and treatment of obesity and its associated comorbidities.

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Student Achievements

  • Yasaman Jamshidinaeini, Ph.D. student
    • Selected as the fellow in 2018-2019 TEACH (Teaching Effectiveness And Career enHancement) Program. The TEACH program assists Ph.D. students in developing teaching skills and exploring faculty roles.  

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Faculty Achievements

  • Dr. Nikhil Dhurandhar
    • Received TTU Faculty Excellence Award in Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity.
    • Dr. Dhurandhar was appointed as the Helen DeVitt Jones Endowed Chair. The Helen DeVitt Jones Endowed Chair will lead the nutrition and obesity-related research and translational projects to give practical benefits to the Lubbock community. https://goo.gl/NnD58q
  • Dr. John Dawson
    • Dr. Dawson was the Co-Chair in 2018 Obesity Week of the Basic Science and Beer Lightning Talks section.

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Publications and Invited Lectures

Students' Posters

  • Siddik A, Peddibhotla S, Patkar P, Das B, Weiss L, Dhurandhar NV and Hegde V. A MetAP2 Inhibitor Suppresses Adipogenesis, Yet, Enhances Glucose Uptake. Annual Scientific Sessions of The Obesity Society at Obesity Week 2018, Nashville, TN; 2018.
  • Akheruzzaman M, Patkar PP, Shin AC, Hegde V, Dhurandhar NV. E4orf1 protein reduces adiposity-associated hyperinsulinemia independent of insulin sensitivity. Annual Scientific Sessions of The Obesity Society at Obesity Week 2018, Nashville, TN; 2018.

Professors' Posters

  • Dawson JA, Rana Z, Huang W-L. Systematic Review of the Addictiveness of Sugar. Annual Scientific Sessions of The Obesity Society at Obesity Week 2018, Nashville, TN; 2018.
  • Hegde V, Peddibhotla S, Shastri AA, Das BC, Dhurandhar NV. Translation of Hypoglycemic Activity of an Adenoviral Protein to a Potential Anti-diabetic. Annual Scientific Sessions of The Obesity Society at Obesity Week 2018, Nashville, TN; 2018.
  • Gamage S, Peddibhotla S, Reddy PH, Dhurandhar NV, Hegde V. Improvement in Glycemic Control in mice of Different Age Groups. Annual Scientific Sessions of The Obesity Society at Obesity Week 2018, Nashville, TN; 2018.

Journal Articles

  • Napier C, Oldewage-Theron WH, and Makhaye B. Predictors of food insecurity and coping strategies of women asylum seekers and refugees in Durban, South Africa. Agriculture and Food Security. 2018; 7:67. https://goo.gl/aauptv
  • Oldewage-Theron WH, Abu BAZ, Nguyen B, and Saha S. Food insecurity and food access among seniors in Lubbock, Texas. Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition 2018. https://goo.gl/UeEvgK
  • Oldewage-Theron WH, Duvenage SS, Egal AA, and Lyford C. Comparative analysis of the factors contributing to the sustainability of a food and nutrition intervention: Two case studies from South Africa. Evaluation and Program Planning. 2018; 71:51-7. https://goo.gl/Nfwr9c
  • Oldewage-Theron WH, Egal AA, and Grobler C. Metabolic syndrome of free-living elderly from Sharpeville, South Africa: a prospective cohort study with 10-year follow-up. Journal of aging research and clinical practice. 2018; 7: 100-106. https://goo.gl/zmVrsT
  • Oldewage-Theron WH and Egal AA. The effect of consumption of soy foods on metabolic syndrome in women: a case study from peri-urban Qwa-Qwa, South Africa. South African Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2018; 1 (1): 1-6. https://goo.gl/P1SQVU.
  • Jayarathne S, Stull AJ, Miranda A, Scoggin S, Claycombe-Larson K, Kim JH, and Moustaid-Moussa N. Tart Cherry Reduces Inflammation in Adipose Tissue of Zucker Fatty Rats and Cultured 3T3-L1 Adipocytes. Journal of Nutrients. Nutrients. 2018 Oct 25; 10(11). doi: 10.3390/nu10111576.
  • Khandelwal S, Boylan M, Spallholz JE, and Gollahon L. Cytotoxicity of Selenium Immunoconjugates against Triple Negative Breast Cancer Cells. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2018, 19(11), 3352.
  • Islam N, Wang S, Warzywoda J, Fan Z. Fast supercapacitors based on vertically oriented MoS2 nanosheets on plasma pyrolyzed cellulose filter paper. Journal of Power Sources. 2018:400:277-283.
  • Islam N, Houque MN, Zu Y, Wang S, Fan Z. Carbon Nanofiber Aerogel Converted from Bacterial Cellulose for Kilohertz AC-Supercapacitors. MRS Advances. 2018:3:855-860.

Published Chapters in Books

  • Spallholz, Julian E. "Chapter 15 Selenomethionine and Methioninase: Selenium Free Radical Anticancer Activity." METHIONINE DEPENDENCE OF CANCER AND AGING: Methods and Protocols, HUMANA, 2018, pp. 199–210.

Invited Lectures by Professors

  • Wilna Oldewage-Theron, Ph.D., RD (SA)
    • American Soybean Association/WISHH Affordable Protein Supply workshop. 'Protein nutrition and health education at school.' Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN. July 31, 2018.
    • 8th Africa Nutritional Epidemiology Conference. 'Food security and malnutrition – are the elderly as vulnerable as women and children?' Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. October 3, 2018.

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In the Media

Professors in Local Media

Dr. John Dawson

  • Texas Tech Today on September 7, 2018 entitled "Study Shows Association Between Perceived Social Status and Eating Behaviors". https://goo.gl/4pY2fu
  • Everything Lubbock.com on September 8, 2018 entitled " TTU study shows association between perceived social status and eating behaviors". https://goo.gl/TX3aFw

GNO Events

GNO Ice Cream Social

The GNO president, Makenzie gave the updates on past GNO events and announced about the future events. GNO members celebrated the beginning of the semester with frozen yogurt and games together on September 14, 2018.

GNO

Lubbock Heart Walk

GNO participated in 2018 Lubbock Heart Walk on October 13 at Texas Tech Frazier Pavilion. The event was held by American Heart Association to support the fight against heart disease and stroke.

GNO Heart Walk Lubbock

Human Sciences Day

GNO participated in Human Sciences Day on October 19, 2018. Human Sciences Day is an event for students to learn about different organizations and departments in the college, as well as other resources available to students.

GNO Human Sciences Day

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Editor of Nutrition Matters at Texas Tech

  • Editor - Wei-Lin Huang, BS
  • Editorial Assistant – Hannah Olvera, undergraduate student

Nutritional Sciences