Doctor of Philosophy in Nutrition and Exercise Physiology - Nutrition

The PhD in Nutrition and Exercise Physiology with Emphasis in Nutrition provides training in the distinct core nutrition knowledge described by the Graduate Nutrition Education Committee of the American Society for Nutrition: general research skills, structure and biochemical and metabolic functions of nutrients and other dietary constituents, food, diets, and supplements, nutritional status assessment, nutrition and disease, nutrition interventions and policies, and, analytical skills. Graduate students also receive training in laboratory research, seminar preparation and delivery, scientific writing, problem solving and research grant writing. Graduate study in nutritional sciences at the University of Missouri offers the advantage of interdisciplinary nutrition research that is facilitated via the many research centers at MU, including Food for the 21st Century (F21C), the Botanical Center, the Life Sciences Center and the MU Nutritional Center for Health (MUNCH).

Nutrition is, by definition, an applied and multi-disciplinary science that integrates other disciplines such as biochemistry, physiology, biology, psychology, sociology, and economics. A primary research focus in the department of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology is the role of diet in the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases that are prevalent in the United States today: obesity, the metabolic syndrome, diabetes, immune disorders, neurodegenerative diseases, and osteoporosis. Specific dietary components being studied for their role in human health include protein, calcium, vitamin D, copper, iron and nutraceuticals. Another important research area is the determinants of eating behavior, including neuro-psychological, sociologic, and economic factors. Investigative approaches include epidemiology, clinical trials, human studies, experimental and transgenic animal models, and cultured cell models.

Minimum GPA 3.0 in science and math classes
Prerequisites Entering students are expected to have undergraduate training lecture and laboratory courses in general and organic chemistry and biology a two-semester course in biochemistry and an upper-level human nutrition course
toefl 100 pbt 600