Brief Bio

I am a Clinical Assistant Professor and registered dietitian with an emphasis in medical dietetics. In addition to teaching clinical classes in the hospital, long-term care, and laboratory settings, I also teach maternal and pediatric nutrition. I am a board member of the Utah Dietetic Association. I am also involved in clinical research trials. Specifically, I am collaborating with Intermountain Medical Center in researching warfarin use in atrial fibrillation patients.

Daren Cornforth is professor of food sciences and currently serves as food science program director. He teaches food chemistry and assists with the food laws and regulations course. His current research includes development of new fresh meat modified atmosphere packaging technology, and evaluation of natural antioxidants (milk mineral, spice extracts) to inhibit oxidative rancidity in cooked meats.

The position is hosted by the Dairy Technology and Innovation laboratory. My primary roles as a research scientist are to arrange for funding for projects, publish manuscripts, and analyze data related to a variety of projects. Primary areas of interest are omega-3 fatty acid functions and inclusion into foods and food safety.

Conly L Hansen, P.E., Ph.D. is a Professor of food sciences and biological engineering and Director of the Center for Profitable Uses of Agricultural Byproducts at Utah State University. His BS and MS degrees are in mechanical engineering and his Ph.D. degree in Agricultural (Food) Engineering was earned at Ohio State University. He was elected a Fellow by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers and has won awards from that organization for development of the Induced Blanket Reactor (IBR) technology. He has published widely and been an invited speaker and consultant internationally. He holds eight patents. Dr. Hansen directs graduate student research on a variety of topics, including production of methane and hydrogen gas through anaerobic digestion, and beneficial uses of algae grown on waste. He is a partner in Hansen Energy and Environment, a company dedicated to research on waste and energy management.

20 years experience in Dairy/Food Processing

QA Manager during most of that time

Dairy Processing specialist for the Western Dairy Center

Devise and carry out dairy processing experiments for research projects in the WDC and DTIL.

Marlene Israelsen is a Clinical Assistant Professor and the Academic Advisor in the Nutrition, Dietetics, and Food Sciences Department. She teaches NFS 1020: The Science & Application of Human Nutrition, NFS 2020: Life Cycle Nutrition, and helps supervise clinical experiences for Dietetic students. Her professional interests include child nutrition, weight management, diabetes education, women’s health, and cystic fibrosis. She enjoys the outdoors and loves hiking, camping, horseback riding, and rodeos.

Michael Lefevre arrived as a USTAR professor at USU's Center for Advanced Nutrition in September of 2007, from the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Louisiana where he served as Chief of the Division of Functional Foods Research, as well as professor in the Division of Nutrition and Chronic Diseases. He was also an adjunct professor at the School of Human Ecology at Louisiana State University. Dr. Lefevre is a fellow of the American Heart Association, belonging to the Council on Arteriosclerosis; the Council on Nutrition, Metabolism and Physical Activity; the Council on Epidemiology and Prevention; and is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Institute of Food Technology. Additionally, he serves as a consultant for a number of major food corporations and commodity groups. He earned his doctorate in nutrition with a minor in physiological sciences from the University of California Davis. Dr. Lefevre’s major research interests are in the role of diet in the prevention and delay of chronic disease, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cognitive decline with ageing.

Dr. Martini is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences. She studies the physiochemical and functional properties of food constituents and their relationship with sensory perception. By expanding our knowledge of how lipds crystallize under different conditions and learning to control crystallization, our laboratory works to improve sensory attributes of fats and emulsions and applies this to developing new food science technology that will lead to healthier food products for consumers.

I run the Distance Dietetic Internship through Regional campuses and Distance Education. It is the biggest internship in the country (or tied for biggest) and we specialize in training dietitians to work in school foodservice management. I have students all over the country, travel to see them and their preceptors.

For more information please check

http://distance.usu.edu/intern/

Dr. Ilka Nemere is a Professor of Nutrition Science and Director of the Nutrition Science Program. Her duties include conducting research for publication in peer-reviewed journals, submitting grant propposals, training graduate and undergraduate researchers, reviewing manuscripts and grant proposals, serving on committees, teaching Endocrine Aspects of Nutrition Science, Molecular Methods in Nutrition Science, and Graduate Seminar.

Janette Smith teaches the following undergraduate and graduate dietetics courses: NFS 1020, 3600, 4750, 6750, 6770, 6780, 6900, 7800. Other responsibilities are clinical supervision at Logan Regional Medical Center and director of the Master of Dietetics Administration Program . Research interests include international nutrition and public health.

Dr. Marie Walsh, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor at Utah State University in the Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences. Her research interests are in the areas of dairy protein and enzyme chemistry, immobilization technology for microbial detection and food bioprocessing and food product development. She teaches classes in Dairy Chemistry, Food Proteins, Food Enzymes, and Food Product Development.

Dr. Robert Ward is an Assistant Professor of Nutrition and Food Sciences. His research interests include potential beneficial bioactivities of the milk fat globular membrane, effects of diet on systemic lipid metabolism (including meat and milk), and small molecule metabolomics. The Ward lab is equipped with a GC-MS and GC-FID, and research activities primarily focus on measuring fatty acid from all lipid classes as well as small molecules from various biological and food matrices.

Heidi Wengreen, RD, PhD is an Assistant Professor of Nutrition at Utah State University. She completed her PhD in Nutrition and Food Sciences with an emphasis in nutritional epidemiology from USU in 2002 and joined the faculty there in 2003. Dr. Wengreen’s research interests include examining associations between nutrition and health and disease across the lifespan. Dr. Wengreen has examined associations between protein intake and hip fracture and dietary patterns and cognitive decline and dementia among aging populations in Utah. She is a co-investigator of the Cache County Study on Memory, Health and Aging, a large prospective study of genetic and environmental factors associated with risk of Alzheimer’s Disease and other dementias. In addition, Dr. Wengreen has received funding from the Department of Education to improve the nutritional education and environment for children attending school in the Cache County School District. She has collaborated on the development of the Viva Vegetables! curriculum, a sensory-based food-focused curriculum used in the Cache County School district to teach children about the benefits of eating vegetables through hands on learning experiences. Dr. Wengreen is a member of the American Dietetic Association, the Society for Epidemiologic Research and the American Society of Nutrition. She has authored 7 peer-reviewed publications in the area of diet and disease.