CAES faculty will help lead new NIFA 1890 Center of Excellence for nutrition

CAES faculty will help to lead an 1890 Center of Excellence for Nutrition, Health, Wellness, and Quality of Life, a new, virtual center based at Southern University and funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

NIFA recently awarded the Southern University Agricultural Research and Extension Center $1.68 million to establish the center, whose primary mission is to increase the capacity of 1890s institutions to address health disparities between African Americans and other races through nutrition research, teaching and Extension. All 1890s institutions will share the facility.

“The activities of the Center of Excellence for Nutrition, Health, Wellness and Quality of Life not only will maximize partnerships among Southern University, North Carolina A&T State University and Tuskegee University and strengthen collaborative efforts within and across academic disciplines, but also will enhance student knowledge, leadership and research skills as they relate to food, nutrition, health, and diet disparities,” said Fatemeh Malekian, Ph.D., professor of food science, project director, and director of the Southern Institute for Food, Nutrition, and Wellness at the Southern University Agriculture Center.

“Through intentional and deliberate collaborative efforts, partnerships will also be enhanced with other 1890 institutions and provide opportunities for other land-grant institutions to participate in the future.”

As part of the program, N.C. A&T will use more than $500,000 of the NIFA funds to collaborate with partners at Southern University and Tuskegee University in creating a new facility, an innovative 1890 Center Research and Extension Scholars program, and an 1890 Center Symposium Series.

CAES professors will be leaders in both the center’s research and teaching components.

Shengmin Sang, Ph.D.

Professor Shengmin Sang, lead scientist for functional foods and human health at the Center for Excellence in Post-Harvest Technologies and the project’s research director, will lead the research component to build a new core facility for metabolomics research. The facility will be open to faculty at all 1890 institutions to conduct innovative research in food and nutrition.

Metabolomics refers to the study of small molecules known as metabolites, the compounds present in living organisms’ cells and tissues that spark their actions and reactions. A&T’s new metabolomics center will study food intake and nutritional health outcomes related to underrepresented populations, including those chronic diseases for which African Americans are at high risk.

Sang will work with partners at Southern University and Tuskegee University to collect fecal samples from both lean and obese African American people in North Carolina, Louisiana, and Alabama. Sang’s lab will analyze the samples using the fecal metabolome as the indicator to examine their health status, and to identify biomarkers for diet-related health disparities.

Ramine Alexander, Ph.D.

Ramine Alexander, Ph.D., assistant professor of food and nutritional sciences, will lead A&T’s partnership with the other institutions in the 1890 Center for Research and Extension Scholars program and the 1890 Symposium Series. The scholars program is designed to develop the students’ knowledge, critical thinking ability and leadership skills through their participation in collaborative, professional networking opportunities that emphasize communication, Alexander said.

“These activities are designed to prepare students for the workforce and their preparation for graduate and professional school,” Alexander said. Scholars will also develop their skills to become community health ambassadors and work with research faculty and Extension agents.

Each university will select three students to become 1890 Center Scholars.

The 1890 Symposium will consist of bi-monthly seminars, open to all 1890s institutions, that will focus primarily on diet-related disparities, Alexander said.

“As an intervention scientist, I have a passion for building health equity and conducting research on the determinants of health disparities,” she said. “My research focuses on improving lifestyle risk factors, such as diet and physical activity, that have direct relevance to obesity and chronic disease in Black women and children,” she said. “My work with the program will facilitate the research and didactic training for students to become interdisciplinary researchers and Extension professionals with a focus on diet-related disparities among minority populations.”

“The 1890 Centers of Excellence awards are an effort to increase rural prosperity and economic sustainability of food systems in underserved farming communities,” said NIFA Director Carrie Castille, Ph.D. “These grants will support projects that address critical needs for developing global food security and defense; enhance academic and career activities for students pursuing careers in food and agricultural sciences, and address vital needs in nutrition and health to improve the quality of life of underserved populations.”