The Department of Nutrition and Health Science is committed to delivering exceptional educational experiences and advancing our respective disciplines through research and service to develop evidence-based practices that promote optimal health while respecting the unique qualities of diverse populations.
We depend on the generous support of community partners, alumni, and friends to augment the diverse, real-world opportunities to our students in the accredited undergraduate programs of Public Health, Dietetics, Radiography, and Respiratory Therapy. At the graduate level, we deliver two MS programs, one in Nutrition and Dietetics which is enriched with an accredited Dietetic Internship. We are in year three of our new MS in Health Science, concentration in Biostatistics and Epidemiology.
Teaching in the Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences uses a plethora high-impact practices, including immersive learning, research, study abroad opportunities, service learning, and considering diverse perspectives.
Many activities in classes in the accredited Public Health program take the students into the community. These photos depict students engaged in the Muncie community as well as Public Health Day at the statehouse.
Our accredited Dietetics program expands learning opportunities through simulation labs.
Research in The Department of Nutrition and Health Science continues to expand providing many undergraduate and graduate students with opportunities to be involved. Assistant Professor Nimish Valvi works with students on a Center for Disease Control (CDC) supported project. Assistant Professor Bryant Keirns leads a student research team in nutrition and cardiometabolic disease and obesity areas with funding from the American Heart Association, the Mango commodity board and NIH via Indiana University School of Medicine. Professor Jean-Marie Place pursues scholarship in the area of child and maternal health, with the goal of improving health in Muncie and surrounding communities; she is funded by Indiana Minority Health Coalition via Purdue University, and Urban Light Community Development Corporation. Assistant Professor Natalie Keirns leads the “BEACH Lab” to study psychosocial factors like stress and the risks of chronic disease and continues her collaboration with investigators from Brown University. Assistant Professor Tengfei Ma and his students study the microbiome and child health. Your support of the Department of Nutrition and Health Science will enable our research programs and laboratories to grow, providing important learning and professional development opportunities for students.
Many of our graduate students in the Nutrition and Dietetics program find relevant graduate assistantship work experiences across the university in areas such as the Healthy Lifestyle Center, to support themselves during the coursework phase of the Master’s program. Your gifts to scholarships can help support these students during the internship phase of the program which does not allow outside employment.
Students in our department join in extracurricular career-relevant activities through the Ball State Dietetics Association, the Eta Sigma Gamma Health Education Honorary Society and the Respiratory Therapy club. The collegial faculty and staff are also active on campus and support athletic events, Cardinal Kitchen Food Bank, homecoming, the Splash ’n Dash Duck Race, and host NHS Weeks of Welcome Taco Building Dinners, and any and all opportunities to decorate our department suite.
This year we seek to support the Nutrition and Health Science General Fund (6901), but we embrace giving to any of our student scholarships and research support funds.
