- GGNB Alumni
Class of 2013
Major Professor: Kathryn Dewey
Upon applying to UC Davis and entering graduate school, I was interested in Nutritional Biology for all of the usual domestic reasons; obesity seemed to be a never-ending battle, chronic diseases plaguing society, and a genuine concern about health, weight control, and improving the American diet. But once I immersed myself in the curriculum of UC Davis and the Program in International & Community Nutrition (PICN), I realized that the state of global malnutrition was a much more profound and under-recognized situation. The afflicted populations deal with simple obstacles that can easily be overlooked such as hand-washing, water sanitation, and exposure to devastating pathogens. It is our concern, as population nutritionists, to creatively attack these obstacles, cooperate with governments and foreign health systems, and to improve the lives and productivity of people we may never even see.
My research interests are in the area of oxidative effects of iron supplementation in pregnant and lactating women in malaria-endemic regions. We aim to analyze biomarkers of oxidative stress and DNA damage during pregnancy and lactation among women in Ghana comparing different quantities of iron as well as different forms of delivery. Iron-deficiency anemia, malarial infection, maternal morbidity and mortality, iron status of the infant and infant outcomes may all be affected by iron intervention strategies.