About Me

Naima is an Amazighi native of Morocco. She grew up in South of Morocco and her family owned a dairy and other livestock farm, wheat, and corn fields for many years. She completed part of her undergraduate studies in Morocco then moved to France where she completed her BS, then an MS and PhD from Sorbonne University in physiology, nutrition, metabolism and endocrinology with research focused on adipose tissue development, dietary and genetic obesity using cell and animal models. After earning her doctorate, she moved to the US and completed postdoctoral training at Harvard School of Public Health, funded by a Juvenile Diabetes Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship in diabetes and molecular nutrition. Prior to moving to TTU, she was a tenured Professor and Co-director of the Obesity Research Center at the University of Tennessee (UT) Knoxville and UT Institute for Agriculture (with appointments in Nutrition, Animal Science and Family & Consumer Sciences departments), where she worked for over 19 years on metabolic diseases and anti-inflammatory mechanisms of dietary bioactive compounds using animal models. She was recruited to TTU as a senior strategic hire in nutrition and obesity in the College of Human Sciences to help establish the department of Nutritional Sciences. She was the Founding Director of the Obesity Research Institute and served as Associate Vice President for Research, until she was appointed Inaugural Executive Director for the Institute for One Health Innovation, jointly established and funded by TTU and TTUSHC in July 2024. She currently serves as the 2025-2026 President of the American Society for Nutrition.

Instruction

Taught classes in nutritional biochemistry, diet and chronic/metabolic diseases, diet-gene interactions, genetic regulation of metabolism, and grant writing.

Research

Her research has mostly focused on obesity and other metabolic diseases with emphasis on anti-inflammatory and microbiome-related mechanisms of dietary bioactive compounds and botanicals. She has now extended her research program into mechanisms of environmental factors on metabolic and brain health, with emphasis on Microplastics/nanoplastics (MNPs) and pollutants/contaminants as well as effects of food processing/processed food on metabolism, microbiome and ultimately metabolic outcomes.

Service

Naima has served on several university, regional, national and international committees and professional associations. She is a Fellow of several Societies including the American Society for Nutrition (as Distinguished Fellow, DFASN), the American Heart Association (FAHA), The Obesity Society (FTOS) and the National Academy of Inventors (FNAI). She served multi-years as member of NIH Study sections, namely the Clinical Obesity and Diabetes sections (CIDO/HSDO), chaired the Lipids peer review committees of AHA, and served on the statewide Live Smart Texas (LST) dedicated to obesity prevention. She served for several years on the ASN Board of Directors and is currently the 2025-2026 President of the American Society for Nutrition, the Premier global nutrition science society with over 8,000 members. She has been a member of the National Academies Board on Agriculture & Natural Resources since 2022. She is also a member of the steering committee for the North American One Health University Network (NAOHUN).