Faculty

• Jeanne P. Goldberg, Ph.D., R.D.
  Program Director
  

  Professor of nutrition and director, Center on Nutrition Communication. As center director, Dr. Goldberg oversees the graduate program and related research.

  Dr. Goldberg, a member of the Tufts faculty since 1977, coauthored a twice-weekly nationally syndicated newspaper column that appeared in more than 160 newspapers for over twenty years as well as a monthly column in Weight Watchers magazine. She is a consultant on consumer issues to the food industry.

• Walter Carl, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication Studies at Northeastern University. Dr. Carl's research focuses on social interaction in organizational contexts, specifically in terms of how relational networks serve as the basis for facilitating change.

• Christina Economos, Ph.D., assistant professor of nutrition, combines her interests in nutrition and exercise physiology in studies of the relationships between body composition, diet, and health through the life cycle. Dr. Economos is dedicated to the continuous development of communication strategies and public health policies that deal with these complex issues.

• Timothy Edgar, Ph.D., is an associate professor and graduate program director for Health Communication at Emerson College. He also is an associate adjunct clinical professor in Community Health at the Tufts School of Medicine. His primary research interests are in the areas of explaining illness and the development of core competencies for health communication professionals.

• Sara Folta, Ph.D., is an adjunct assistant professor at the Friedman School. Her research interests center on the use of behavior change theory to create health communications for a variety of target audiences. She has been involved with Shape Up Somerville and the StrongWomen -- Healthy Hearts pilot project.

• Aviva Must, Ph.D., is director of the MS-Nutrition/MPH Program in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health at Tufts University School of Medicine. Dr. Must's research focuses on the epidemiology of long-term consequences of pediatric obesity and on school-based interventions.

• Miriam E. Nelson, Ph.D., is director of the John Hancock Center for Physical Activity and Nutrition and associate professor at the Friedman School. Her research interests focus on nutrition and physical activity on health promotion and disease prevention in mid-life and older women. She is the founder of The Strong Women Program, a nationwide community strength training program for women, and is the author of the international best-selling Strong Women book series.

• Christine P. Smith, M.S., R.D., is a freelance writer and former senior editor of the Tufts University Health & Nutrition Letter.

• Jill Shuman, M.S., R.D., E.L.S., holds a master's degree in communications and is certified as an Editor, Life Sciences. She has more than twenty years experience in the communication of issues related to nutrition, medicine, and science. She is a past president of the American Medical Writers Association and is the recipient of many writing awards and commendations.

• James Tillotson, Ph.D., is a professor of food policy in the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy and an adjunct professor of international business at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. Professor Tillotson's research interests include global and domestic food industries and governmental policies influencing those industries.

Program Advisory Board

The Master's Degree Program in Nutrition Communication is under constant review by an advisory board chaired by Anita Owen, M.A., R.D., a past president of the American Dietetic Association and of the American Dietetic Association Foundation. The board's involvement ensures that both the academic program and the applied experiences provide students with the skills necessary to meet the demands of the rapidly growing nutrition communications field. The professional specialties of board members reflect the wide range of employment opportunities available to program graduates.