Course Listings

NRAK 204: Epidemiology for Nutrition Professionals

Description:

The primary purpose of this one-semester hybrid-learning course is to teach students basic epidemiologic concepts and methods and to introduce them to techniques, including dietary assessment methods that are used in human nutrition research. Students will learn to calculate and interpret basic measures of disease frequency and measures of effect, will be introduced to methods for recognizing and addressing sources of error in human studies, and will learn the basics of study design and implementation in nutrition research. Discussions of recent publications will be used to help students apply their understanding of abstract concepts and specific quantitative methods to the interpretation and critique of published work. Research reports from students' countries of origin as well as from other areas will be selected for discussion.

Credit:

1

Instructor:

Harris

Term:

Second Term

NRAK 205: Nutritional Biochemistry with Community/Clinical Applications: Macronutrients

Description:

Students will explore the fundamental roles of nutrients in biological systems and the implications of nutrient biological functions on food and nutrition policy. Particular emphasis will be placed on the function of nutrients as defined by their chemistry, interrelations among nutrient functions, mechanistic approaches in the analysis of nutrient-disease relationships, and recent advances in the basic sciences related to nutrition and nutrient function. The course will integrate examples of community, clinical and public health policy applications throughout each of the two terms. Published journal articles from the peer reviewed literature, case histories, and public policy documents will form the basis for critical review and discussion.

Credit:

1

Prerequisites:

General nutrition, biochemistry, and mammalian physiology.

Instructors:

Ausman, Lichtenstein & Saltzman

Term:

First Term

NRAK 206: Micronutrients: Interventions, Programmes and Policies

Description:

The primary focus of this course is on improving vitamin and mineral nutrition in developing countries: public health policies, programs, and interventions policies related to assuring adequate micronutrient nutrition across the lifecycle. Major learning objectives are for students to gain an understanding of the following:

1. introductory knowledge on the major challenges involved in translating scientific knowledge on micronutrient nutrition into population level policies and interventions in developing countries with an emphasis on the Middle East and North Africa Region;
2. the functional consequences of deficiencies of micronutrients across the lifecycle;
3. food fortification, supplementation and improving diets
4. key elements and priorities of the programs and technical assistance in improving micronutrients from major regional, and international agencies and technical projects including WHO UNICEF, UN-WFP, UN- FAO, GAIN, ICCIDD, USAID-A2Z, CIDA, IZinCG, MI, IDPAS, SCN, HKI and others;
5. essential tools and guidelines needed for intervention and policy planning and support and how to use for improving micronutrient related policy and programme intervention design and evaluation.

Credit:

1

Instructor:

Gleason

Term:

First Term

NRAK 207: Statistics for Nutrition Professionals

Description:

Primary purpose of the course is to teach students how to understand and evaluate statistical results presented in health and nutrition journals. This one-semester course will provide students with an intermediate level understanding of how biostatistics and social science statistics concepts and methodologies are interpreted and presented in published research articles. Topics will include basic experimental design, descriptive statistics, graphical displays, hypothesis testing, nonparametric tests, OLS regression, logistic regression, analysis of variance and covariance, and how to interpret interactions and multiple comparisons.

Credit:

1

Prerequisites:

A college level mathematics course.

Instructor:

Houser

Term:

First Term

NRAK 208: Management of Health and Nutrition NGOs

Description:

Key management concepts and principles for managing nutrition and health programs and organizations will be addressed to equip students to function as program directors and project managers. Case studies and readings will be used to convey a practical understanding of how to manage and coordinate business functions to achieve the goals and objectives of the organization. This course will deal with for-profit, but focus mainly on nonprofit organizations. Topics will include business and project planning, management control systems, financial management, budgeting, performance measurement, pricing and marketing of services, operations management and cost analysis. The course is designed to provide practical tools in areas we believe students need to acquire skills. The course is designed to develop an awareness of how each of these management functions interact and impact the organization.

Credit:

0.5

Instructor:

Hastings

Term:

Second Term

NRAK 209: Nutrition Research Planning and Communication

Description:

This one half credit course provides an overview of, an introduction to and some practice with key areas and skills related to research that are needed for completion of the Masters Degree thesis project that is a requirement for the degree. This course complements two one credit “tools†oriented courses in the program that focus on nutrition related epidemiology and nutrition related statistics. Nutrition Research Planning and Communication is focused more generally, introducing the full range of research types that reside in the field of nutrition in relation to the problem based research agendas needed in most countries of the Middle East and North Africa. This course also provides students with an overview of the general process required by all types of research with closer focus on those aspects they will need to work with on the thesis project that is a requirement for this degree.

Credit:

0.5

Instructor:

Gleason

Term:

Second Term

NRAK 210: Monitoring and Evaluation of Nutrition and Food Security Programs

Description:

There is consensus within the nutrition community that inadequate project monitoring and evaluation (M&E) represent a major constraint in domestic and international programmatic efforts to address problems of malnutrition. The absence of sound M&E processes in large numbers of nutrition projects, despite continued evidence of their value in assessing and improving project performance, suggests that many project planners and managers may not yet have the necessary skills or understanding to develop and operate such systems. This course, designed in a hybrid-learning format, is intended to help address this need by training future specialists residing primarily in the United Arab Emirates.

Credit:

1

Instructor:

Coates

Term:

Third Term

NRAK 211: Food Policy Fundamentals

Description:

This course represents an introduction to food concepts for students enrolled in the RAK hybrid Masters in Nutrition Science and Policy (MNSP). It is a signature of any degree from the FSNSP that students gain an understanding of a mix of policy and biological science issues in their studies. Most of the RAK hybrid MNSP is focused on bench and clinical applications, but some exposure to the principles and practice of policy formation is essential for a well-prepared nutrition professional. This half-credit course will give students limited but critical exposure to issues in food policy, and allow them to understand the role of nutrition scientists in contributing to food policy debates, as well as the ways in which food policy affects their ability to function as clinicians and researchers.

Credit:

0.5

Instructors:

Rogers and Webb

Term:

Third Term

NRAK 219: Food Science Fundamentals

Description:

This course will provide students a broad overview of certain aspects of both the U.S. and worldwide food supply. This course is intended to provide students with an understanding of:

1. the basic groups of foods in the food supply and their nutrient profiles;
2. the effects of harvesting, processing and storage;
3. the important issues affecting food safety.

Credit:

0.5

Instructor:

Ausman

Term:

Third Term

NRAK 300: Master's Thesis

Description:

Faculty will oversee the selection of, scope of, and mentoring for a thesis project. The thesis will consist of seven sections:

1. introduction (statement and significance of an hypothesis to be tested, a research question to be addressed, or the framing of a meta-analysis;
2. literature review;
3. methods;
4. thesis chapters or sections;
5. conclusion;
6. bibliography;
7. appendix.

The thesis will be written up following a formal content template defined by the school.

Credit:

1.0

Instructors:

Webb and colleagues

Term:

Third Term

NRAK 305: Nutritional Biochemistry with Community/Clinical Applications: Micronutrients

Description:

Second Term of a Two-Term Sequence.

Students will explore the fundamental roles of nutrients in biological systems and the implications of nutrient biological functions on food and nutrition policy. Particular emphasis will be placed on the function of nutrients as defined by their chemistry, interrelations among nutrient functions, mechanistic approaches in the analysis of nutrient-disease relationships, and recent advances in the basic sciences related to nutrition and nutrient function. The course will integrate examples of community, clinical and public health policy applications throughout each of the two terms. Published journal articles from the peer reviewed literature, case histories, and public policy documents will form the basis for critical review and discussion.

Credit:

1

Prerequisites:

General nutrition, biochemistry, and mammalian physiology.

Instructors:

Ausman, Lichtenstein, & Saltzman

Term:

Second Term