Nutrition Science & Dietetics  News


Falk College welcomes prospective students at New York City

07/09/17

Exterior of Lubin HouseOn Sunday, October 1, Falk College will welcome prospective students and family members in the greater New York City metropolitan area to an informational program at 12:00 noon at Syracuse University’s Lubin House, 11 E. 61st Street. A parking garage is available adjacent to the Lubin House building. In addition to the opportunity to meet one-on-one with Falk Admissions Office staff, the program will provide an overview of the college’s academic programs for undergraduates in Food Studies, Human Development and Family Science, Nutrition Dietetics, Nutrition Science, Pre-Health, Public Health, Social Work, Sport Analytics, and Sport Management.

Undergraduate Fall Orange Preview Days are scheduled for Monday, October 9 and Friday, November 10. Online registration for all programs is accessible at on Syracuse University’s website.


Falk College welcomes new faculty and staff

24/08/17
Dayeon Shin Portrait
Dayeon Shin, Ph.D., R.D., Assistant Professor

Falk College is pleased to announce the appointment of one new faculty member, Dayeon Shin, as well as three visiting faculty members, Kate Clancy, Indu Gupta, and Sreekumar Nellickappilly, all joining the the Department of Public Health, Food Studies and Nutrition. Falk also welcomes new staff members who have joined various departments of Falk College in the past academic year, including the Department of Human Development and Family Science, the School of Social Work, and the Office of the Dean.


Congratulations Class of 2017!

09/05/17

Dean Diane Lyden Murphy, along with the faculty and staff of Falk College, congratulates the Class of 2017! We are excited to see where your careers take you. Remember that you are “forever orange” and will always be a part of Falk College and Syracuse University.

We invite you to stay in touch and connect through social media, on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

As alumni, you will now receive FalkTalk, Falk College’s email newsletter for alumni, parents and friends. FalkTalk keeps you up-to-date with news headlines, student highlights, and upcoming events delivered to your inbox at the end of each semester.

Learn how to stay connected to the ‘Cuse Community in regions all around the world

Answer these quick questions on how to reach you after graduation

We have many photos to share that recap some of the celebration events of this past week:

Check out more photos of commencement weekend on Collage or at #SUGrad17.


Creating meaningful food system and policy change

09/05/17
Jennifer Wilkins portrait
Daina Falk Endowed Professor of Nutrition, Jennifer Wilkins, Ph.D., R.D.
At the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Food and Nutrition Expo, Daina Falk Endowed Professor of Nutrition, Jennifer Wilkins, Ph.D., R.D., attended a presentation that prompted her to take action with exciting implications for Syracuse University students.

Presented by the chair of the nominating committee for the Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior, the presentation, “Cooking Skills: This Missing Ingredient in Health Eating?” focused on how food and cooking skills can be empowering, and the important role a food systems approach plays in health and dietary change. Of the presentation, Wilkins notes, “the presenter gave a clear call to action to professionals to become involved to create meaningful food system and policy change.”

And so, Wilkins ran for—and was recently elected—vice president of the Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior (SNEB). Her three-year term will guide the organization’s mission to promote effective nutrition education and healthy behavior through research, policy and practice. This role may offer exciting opportunities for students to get involved as well. “I can foresee a strategy for engaging nutrition and food studies students in ideas for program content and modes of program delivery. Engaging students as session organizers and speakers could be another way to provide exciting leadership opportunities and professional experience,” says Wilkins.

Outside of her new leadership role in SNEB, key projects Wilkins is currently involved in include a master’s project focused on revisions to the Thrifty Food Plan to include a sustainability criteria and analyzed to assess impact on price of the market basket and availability of specific foods in it. She is currently working on a nutritional analysis of the first regional food guide in the United States, the Northeast Regional Food Guide (now updated as MyPlate Northeast) that she created. This guide promotes healthy eating, sustainability, and local food systems. She continues development of a transdisciplinary approach to recommendations for animal food intake based on a maximization of the services farm animals can provide in an integrated farming system.

Dr. Wilkins joined Falk College in 2014 from the Division of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell University where she remains a visiting professor scholar. Her applied research includes: consumer and food system implications of regional dietary guidance.


Joan Christy lecture series presents “Adding Flavor to Heart Health” April 10

21/03/17
Cindy Phillips portrait
Cindy Chan Phillips ‘14, MS, MBA, RD, director of nutrition education for the New York Beef Council

The Falk College nutrition program will host “Adding Flavor to Heart Health,” a culinary demonstration and tasting with Cindy Chan Phillips ‘14, MS, MBA, RD, director of nutrition education for the New York Beef Council, Monday, April 10, 2017 from 5:15 to 7:15 p.m. in the Nutrition Assessment, Consultation and Education (ACE) Center demonstration kitchen, Falk 204, as part of the Joan Christy lecture series.

“Adding Flavor to Heart Health” will discuss the role of protein in managing both weight and overall health, as well as demonstrate how to incorporate lean beef into healthy meals to meet the 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans and add flavor without superfluous sugar, salt, and fat. Recipes to be used in “Adding Flavor to Heart Health” include an easy Mexican beef cornbread muffins breakfast, and a cook once, eat twice dinner of pepper-crusted sirloin with garlic-sherry sauce and Korean-style beef and rice bowl.

“There is no doubt about it, the consumption of beef is a very controversial topic in the U.S.,” says Tanya Horacek, Ph.D., RD, professor in the Falk College Department of Public Health, Food Studies and Nutrition. “Dietary guidelines and dietitians have been recommending that the general public reduce their intake of red meats as one way to improve health outcomes. The reality is most Americans are still eating a lot of meat and as dietitians, we need to figure out how to meet them in the middle.”

Cindy Chan Phillips is a registered dietitian, health communicator and currently the New York Beef Council director of nutrition education. She received her master of science in nutrition science from Syracuse University, her MBA in marketing in San Diego State University, and a chef certificate from Mohawk Valley Community College’s hospitality program.

Cindy has experience in both clinical and community nutrition. She was the primary dietitian of the Critical Care Unit at St. Luke’s Hospital where she provided medical nutrition therapy and nutrition education to improve the clinical outcome for critically ill patients, or patients with acute or chronic disease conditions.

“Cindy Chan Phillips, a Syracuse University alumna, has an elegant way of sharing how we can have beef in a healthy way,” Horacek adds. “Her presentation is engaging, myth busting, and shares some important information and tips for the general public and dietitians working with them.”

The Joan Christy lecture series is made possible by The Christy Food and Culture Fund, established in 2005 through the generosity of Syracuse University nutrition alumna Joan Christy ’78, G’81 to provide support for a lecture series in the nutrition program at Syracuse University.


Tour the Susan R. Klenk Learning Café and Kitchens

04/01/17

Take a virtual tour of the Susan R. Klenk Learning Café and Kitchens, a new hands-on learning laboratory to prepare students with traditional and emerging professional competencies for careers in food, nutrition, dietetics, and public health. The facility includes an experimental food lab kitchen, commercial kitchen, baking nook and café. A video camera system allows faculty and chef instructors to broadcast classes, food demonstrations and seminars from Falk College to anywhere on campus and across the country.

A generous and visionary gift from Falk College alumna, Susan R. Klenk, made the learning café and kitchens possible. A dual major in the School of Education, Klenk pursued a teaching career with the Syracuse City School District. Because her career always revolved around supporting students to help them be successful, she created the Susan R. Klenk Learning Assistantship in September 2009 that allows them to take a leadership role, provide support for classmates and gain valuable management experience.

“Susan Klenk is a true advocate for student learning and a generous visionary whose on-going support makes Syracuse University an extraordinary place to study food. With the opening of the Klenk Learning Café and Kitchens thanks to Susan’s commitment and support, Falk College, which began offering courses in food and nutrition in 1917, is leading the way in preparing students for expanding career opportunities in food,” says Diane Lyden Murphy, dean, Falk College.

The learning café and teaching kitchens set the stage for industry-leading, forward-thinking approaches to food and culture, nutrition, research, and food studies development. Its design fosters creativity and collaboration across a variety of departments, schools and colleges, creating interdisciplinary partnerships that support teaching innovation, student learning, research and scholarship. In addition to unlimited faculty-supervised hands-on experiences, this dedicated space will provide an ideal environment for student-faculty research projects and educational community partnerships that set the SU programs apart.


Nutrition students learn, explore, network at the Food & Nutrition Conference & Expo

30/11/16

This October, 30 undergraduate, graduate and dietetic intern students attended the Food and Nutrition Conference and Expo (FNCE) in Boston, MA and afterward, attended a Syracuse University nutrition alumni reception.

At FNCE, students attended a variety of the 270 educational sessions, explored hundreds of vendors and networked with both dietetic professionals and alumni. “The students were inspired by the breadth and depth of our field and returned with some new ideas and a passion for how they can contribute as nutrition professionals as they move forward,” says nutrition professor Tanya Horacek.

“Attending the 2016 FNCE conference was by far one of the most valuable and exciting experiences of my career thus far as a nutrition dietetics student,” says nutrition student Abigail Moore ‘18. “I met countless inspiring individuals and had a ton of fun getting to speak with other people in the field. I also felt so privileged to be able to sit in on the sessions where the most knowledgeable nutrition professionals in their respective fields spoke about the most current and relevant studies, trends, ideas, and practice applications.”

There were 100 attendees at the alumni reception. “It was so nice to be able to visit with alumni from the various years and see them interaction with current students and dietetic interns,” Horacek adds. The Syracuse University nutrition program will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2017.

The nutrition department supported 9 students with grants to cover the cost of attendance.


Tour Falk College’s Nutrition ACE Center

09/11/16

The Nutrition Assessment, Consultation and Education (ACE) Center is a hands-on learning laboratory that prepares students with traditional and emerging professional competencies critical to effective nutrition practice, thanks to a generous and visionary gift from Falk College alumna, Rhoda Dearman Morrisroe ‘69.

In the ACE Center, students will practice nutrition-focused physical examinations on a new patient simulator. The new facilities will allow for unlimited opportunities for direct practice with indirect calorimetry to measure how many calories someone is utilizing, instead of estimations that use imperfect mathematical equations. Additional enhancements to student learning include class experiences measuring body composition with the BOD POD testing system used extensively in university and medical facilities, the military and health and wellness settings to track body composition.


Get started on a career path that makes a difference with Nov. 4 Information Session

27/10/16

When students think graduate school, they think curriculum, campus, community, but most of all, what the degree will mean for their lives. It’s not until after completing their degree that Falk College graduate students realize the profound difference it made not just for themselves, but for the lives of those around them as they discover new and exciting opportunities to have a positive impact. That’s what a graduate degree from Falk College means: it means our graduates can do more—more for the community, for society, and for the world. And they do!

Join prospective Falk College graduate students interested in child and family studies, food studies, public health, marriage and family therapy, nutrition science, social work and sport management at Falk’s Graduate Program Information Session on Friday, November 4, 2016 from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. in Grant Auditorium in White Hall, part of the Falk College Complex.

The presentation will provide detailed information on Falk College graduate programs in:

  • Child and Family Studies M.A., M.S., Ph.D.
  • Marriage and Family Therapy M.A., Ph.D.
  • Addiction Studies M.A.
  • Food Studies M.S.
  • Global Health M.S.
  • Nutrition Science M.A., M.S.
  • Public Health M.S.
  • Social Work M.S.W.
  • Sport Venue and Event Management M.S.
  • Dual Degree Social Work and Marriage and Family Therapy M.A./M.S.W.

Information and advising will be available regarding Falk’s Certificate of Advanced Studies (CAS) programs including child therapy, trauma-informed practice, addiction studies, food studies and global health.


Falk hosts November 4 Graduate Program Information Session

25/10/16

When students think graduate school, they think curriculum, campus, community, but most of all, what the degree will mean for their lives. It’s not until after completing their degree that Falk College graduate students realize the profound difference it made not just for themselves, but for the lives of those around them as they discover new and exciting opportunities to have a positive impact. That’s what a graduate degree from Falk College means: it means our graduates can do more—more for the community, for society, and for the world. And they do!

Join prospective Falk College graduate students interested in child and family studies, food studies, public health, marriage and family therapy, nutrition science, social work and sport management at Falk’s Graduate Program Information Session on Friday, November 4, 2016 from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. in Grant Auditorium in White Hall, part of the Falk College Complex.

The presentation will provide detailed information on Falk College graduate programs in:

  • Child and Family Studies, MA, MS, PhD
  • Marriage and Family Therapy, MA, PhD
  • Addiction Studies, MA
  • Food Studies, MS
  • Global Health, MS
  • Nutrition Science, MA, MS
  • Public Health, MS
  • Social Work, MSW
  • Sport Venue and Event Management, MS
  • Dual Degree Social Work and Marriage and Family Therapy, MA/MSW

Information and advising will be available regarding Falk’s Certificate of Advanced Studies (CAS) programs including child therapy, trauma-informed practice, addiction studies, food studies, global health, and intercollegiate athletic advising and support.


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