Big Data, Technology, and Personalized Nutrition
Mediterranean Diet and Epigenetic Changes
August 27, 2020
In exciting new research from the Friedman School's Jiantao Ma and Alice H. Lichtenstein, diet quality may affect our health by changing DNA methylation levels. This hypothesis has been tested using animal models, but has not been well-studied in humans.
Menu Labeling Law Will Add Years of Healthy Living
June 11, 2020
BOSTON (June 9, 2020, 9:00 a.m. EDT)—The national law requiring chain restaurants to include calorie labels on menus is estimated to prevent tens of thousands of new heart disease and type 2 diabetes cases—and save thousands of lives—in just five years, according to a new study estimating the law’s impact.
The model also estimated that the law would produce $10-14 billion in healthcare cost savings and another $3-5 billion in societal cost savings, such as from prevented lost productivity, over a lifetime. 
Reflections on My Time at Friedman
January 10, 2020
My first year at the Friedman School was a whirlwind.
‘Report card’ on diet trends: low-quality carbs account for 42 percent of a day’s calories
September 24, 2019
Older people, those with lower income, and those with less education face greater hurdles
Our Food Is Killing Too Many of Us: NYT Op Ed
October 11, 2019
Friedman School Dean Dariush Mozaffarian, and Former US Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman co-wrote an op-ed recently published in the New York Times. Addressing rising healthcare costs and an increase in cardiovascular disease in the US, they propose taking a long overdue look at America's dietary habits.
The op-ed also includes numerous nutrition policy proposals, and examples of recent successes.
Benefits of a US salt reduction strategy to US food industry
July 30, 2019
July 24, 2019— New research, published in The Milbank Quarterly, highlights the potential health and economic impact of the United States (US) Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) proposed voluntary salt policy on workers in the US food industry.
Excess salt consumption is associated with higher risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Globally, more than 1.5 million CVD related deaths every year can be attributed to excess dietary salt intake. 
Not Enough Fish, Too Much Processed Meat
November 14, 2019
A new analysis published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics indicates that US adults eat as much processed meat and as little fish as they did 18 years ago, despite public health guidelines to the contrary
Beyond Self-Check Out: How Grocery Stores Are Incorporating Tech
June 4, 2019
“I'm sure the folks at Amazon are thinking of creative ways of using Amazon Prime to identify customers and to pull all the data that they know about them to make sure that they offer the products that I want when I want," says Norbert Wilson, a professor at Tufts School of Nutrition. “I wonder if that automation will reach all people equally and successfully.”
New study estimates preventable cancer burden linked to poor diet in the U.S.
May 22, 2019
A new modeling study estimates the number, proportion, and type of specific cancers associated with the under or overconsumption of foods and sugar-sweetened beverages among American adults. The analysis is one of the few to focus on the modifiable risk factors for cancer connected to food intake in the United States.
A Scientist and an Entrepreneur
May 20, 2019
When Silvia Berciano Benitez had the opportunity to join the Nutrition & Genomics Lab at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (HNRCA) in 2016, she moved from her native country of Spain to Boston to pursue her research goals in the field of Personalized Nutrition.