Saqr Bin Mohammed Al Qasimi Professorship in International Nutrition
The Saqr Bin Mohammed Al Qasimi Professorship in International Nutrition was established in 2007 to foster the development of new and relevant knowledge to serve the nutritional needs of Ras Al Khaimah, the region, and the world.
Lynne M. Ausman, D.Sc.
Lynne M. Ausman, D.Sc., is the Saqr Bin Mohammed Al Qasimi Professor in International Nutrition, as well as a professor at the Friedman School and a scientist in the Cardiovascular Nutrition Laboratory at the HNRCA. Her general research focus has been on effects of dietary fat, cholesterol, and fiber on coronary artery disease and colon cancer; nutritional primatology. Dr. Ausman is also the director of the Master of Nutrition Science and Policy degree program, a unique blended learning program.
Bergstrom Foundation Professorship in Global Nutrition
The Bergstrom Foundation Professorship in Global Nutrition was established through the generosity of the late Joan Bergstrom, J62, former university trustee and Friedman School board chair, her husband, Gary, and son, Craig, through the Bergstrom Foundation to recruit and launch the career of a young faculty member who seeks to address vital global issues such as malnutrition, hunger, food insecurity, and famine.
Sean B. Cash, PhD
Sean B. Cash, PhD, is the Bergstrom Foundation Professor in Global Nutrition. He is an applied economist who studies the economics and policy of food, nutrition, agriculture, and the environment. His research focuses on how food, nutrition, and environmental interventions and policies affect both producers and consumers. Ongoing and recent projects in this area include the efficacy of food label and price interventions as public health and environmental tools; children’s food choices in commercial and school environments; and how point-of-sale health messaging impacts consumers’ demand for food.
Dignitas Professorship
The Dignitas Professorship was established through the generosity of Cristiana Falcone Sorrell, N01, F01, Tufts Trustee and Friedman School board member, to promote research, education, and action that seeks to alleviate human suffering worldwide.
Erin Coughlan de Perez, PhD
Erin Coughlan de Perez, PhD, is the Dignitas Associate Professor at the Feinstein International Center. Her general research focus on extreme events and climate risk management around the world. She works with humanitarian teams on the development of early action protocols to avoid disaster impacts, and researches the adoption and effectiveness of climate change adaptation measures. Dr. Coughlan de Perez also maintains a technical advisor position at the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre.
Stanley N. Gershoff Professorship of Nutrition Science and Policy
The Stanley N. Gershoff Professorship was established in 2001 to endow a chair in honor of Dr. Stanley N. Gershoff, founding dean of the Friedman School. This endowed fund is used to support a faculty member at the Friedman School who demonstrates the expertise to implement the integration of nutrition science and nutrition policy.
Alice H. Lichtenstein, D.Sc.
Alice H. Lichtenstein, D.Sc., is a senior scientist and director of the Cardiovascular Nutrition Laboratory at the HNRCA, as well as the Stanley N. Gershoff Professor of Nutrition Science and Policy at the Friedman School. Dr. Lichtenstein’s general research focus is on assessing the interplay between diet and heart disease risk factors, specifically addressing issues related to trans fatty acids, soy protein and isoflavones, sterol/stanol esters, novel vegetable oils differing in fatty acid profile and glycemic index, in postmenopausal females and older males.
Henry J. Leir Professorship in Food Security
The Henry J. Leir Professorship in Food Security at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy was established in 2016 to enable the school to recruit or retain a distinguished scholar/practitioner who is an acknowledged leader in the field of food security. The appointee will carry out groundbreaking research, set new scholarly agendas, and supervise graduate students who themselves produce life-changing research. The position is intended to make a real difference in the way food insecurity, famine, and starvation are addressed around the world.
Daniel Maxwell, PhD
Daniel Maxwell, PhD, is the Henry J. Leir Professor in Food Security. He leads the research program on food security and livelihoods in complex emergencies at the Feinstein International Center. His recent research focuses on the re-emergence of famines in the 21st century, as well as famine early warning and humanitarian information systems more generally. Dr. Maxwell also researches the localization of humanitarian action and the impact of crisis on social connectedness and mutual support networks, as well as livelihood systems under stress and resilience programming. He teaches courses on humanitarian action and humanitarian policy, and on famine, livelihoods and resilience.
Jean Mayer Professorship in Nutrition
Established in 1981 through the generosity of Henry J. Leir, the Jean Mayer Professor of Nutrition honors Jean Mayer’s work in nutrition and the alleviation of hunger.
Dariush Mozaffarian, MD, DrPH
Dariush Mozaffarian, MD, DrPH, is a cardiologist, Dean and Jean Mayer Professor of Nutrition at the Friedman School, and Professor of Medicine at Tufts Medical School. Dr. Mozaffarian has authored more than 400 scientific publications on dietary priorities for obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases, and on evidence-based policy approaches to reduce these burdens in the US and globally. He has served in numerous advisory roles including for the US and Canadian governments, American Heart Association, World Health Organization, and United Nations. His work has been featured in a wide array of media outlets including the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, National Public Radio, and Time Magazine. In 2016, Thomson Reuters named him as one of the World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds.
Previous Holder:
Irwin Rosenberg, 1994–2015
Alexander McFarlane Professorship of Nutrition
The Alexander McFarlane Professorship was established in 1986 by Best Foods, a subsidiary of CPC International, in honor of Alexander N. McFarlane, A34, H80, J60P.
Patrick Webb, PhD
Patrick Webb, PhD, is the Alexander McFarlane Professor of Nutrition. His expertise lies in food policy analysis, agriculture systems, international nutrition programming, and emergency relief. His ongoing research involves humanitarian policy and practice, development policy, micronutrient deficiencies, food system development, aflatoxins and nutrition outcomes, and implementation science. Dr. Webb is engaged in research and policy guidance around the globe as Director for USAID’s Feed the Future Nutrition Innovation Lab (fieldwork ongoing in Nepal, Uganda, Malawi, Bangladesh, Egypt and Cambodia), and leads the US government’s Food Aid Quality Review (cost-effectiveness trials in Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone and Malawi).
Previous Holders:
John C. Hammock, PhD, 2001–2007
J. Larry Brown, 1996–2000
Stanley N. Gershoff, PhD, 1988–1996
Neely Family Professorships
The Cam Neely Foundation wishes to deepen the partnership between Tufts Medical Center and the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy in order to bring cutting-edge nutrition care and education to patients with cancer, inflammatory diseases, and autoimmunity. On behalf of The Cam Neely Foundation and as part of this larger vision, the donor will establish two professorships at the Friedman School that support faculty leaders of academic distinction whose focus includes the creation and translation of research related to nutrition, cancer or inflammation, and clinical care.
Fang Fang Zhang, PhD
Fang Fang Zhang, PhD, is the Neely Family Professor. She is a cancer epidemiologist with experience in conducting population-based studies to investigate the role of nutrition in cancer prevention and control. In the past few years, she has led pioneer studies investigating patterns of weight gain during and after cancer treatment and associated risk factors such as dietary intake and levels of energy expenditure in pediatric survivors of acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the most common cancer diagnosed in children.
The second professorship is not currently awarded.
New Balance Chair in Childhood Nutrition
The New Balance Foundation established the New Balance Chair in Childhood Nutrition in 2004 to support a faculty member at the Friedman School who has demonstrated expertise and credentials in childhood nutrition.
Christina Economos, PhD
Christina Economos, PhD, is the dean ad interim, a Professor, and the New Balance Chair in Childhood Nutrition. She also holds professorships within the Tufts Medical School and Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life at Tufts University. She leads a research team housed at the Friedman School studying behavioral interventions, strategic communications, and promotion of physical activity to reduce childhood obesity. As the principal investigator of large-scale research studies, Dr. Economos has generated over $50 million in funding with a goal to inspire behavior, policy, and environmental change to decrease obesity and improve the health of America’s children.
Irwin H. Rosenberg Professorship
The Rosenberg Professorship was named in honor of Irwin H. Rosenberg, former dean of the Friedman School of Nutrition, in recognition of his efforts to create the Feinstein International Center at Tufts University. This professorship is awarded to the director of the Feinstein Center and advances the mission of the University to make a difference in our world through the application of science and research to policy. It was made possible through the generosity of a significant group of donors: the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; Aaron Foundation; Bergstrom Foundation; Feinstein Foundation; the Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman New York Foundation for Medical Research Inc.; and the Leir Foundation, Inc.
Paul Howe, PhD
Paul Howe is the Irwin H. Rosenberg Professor. As the Director of the Feinstein International Center, he is responsible for the overall direction of the center. Paul’s career has focused on addressing the problems of hunger and famine. He worked with the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) for more than 17 years. In his last WFP assignment, he served as Country Director in Nigeria. Prior to that, he worked with WFP in Afghanistan, Uganda, and Laos and at the headquarters in Italy. Even while serving as a senior leader in WFP, Paul kept up his research and publication activities on these topics.
Paul received a Bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and a Master’s degree from Princeton University. He earned a doctorate from the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex, completing a thesis focused on famine in what is now South Sudan.
Previous Holders:
Gregory Gottlieb, 2017–2021
Peter Walker, 2006–2014
Teri and Barry Volpert Family Professorship in Nutrition, Agriculture, and Sustainable Food Systems
The Teri and Barry Volpert Family Professorship in Nutrition, Agriculture, and Sustainable Food Systems was established in 2018 by the Volpert Foundation to promote research, education, and action that promotes sustainable agriculture and improves human health.
Timothy Griffin, PhD
Timothy Griffin, PhD, is the Teri and Barry Volpert Family Professor in Nutrition, Agriculture, and Sustainable Food Systems; Chair of the Division of Agriculture, Food and the Environment; and teaches classes on U.S. agriculture, agricultural science and policy, and the linkage between food system domains. His current research focuses on assessment of sustainability across environmental, social and economic metrics, regional food systems, and climate change impacts on agriculture. He supervises doctoral students conducting research on topics ranging from precision agriculture to food access to water rights.