Faculty
Core Faculty in the Center for Human Nutrition
![Parul Christian Parul Christian](/sites/default/files/styles/people_card_360/public/images/140.jpg?h=19343526&itok=49a7FAxw)
Parul Christian, DrPH '96, MSc, studies how to improve maternal and child nutrition and prevent micronutrient deficiencies with effective solutions in low-income settings.
![Laura Caulfield Laura Caulfield](/sites/default/files/styles/people_card_360/public/images/121.jpg?h=4e8d6f4c&itok=u2FDxlul)
Laura Caulfield, PhD, researches nutrition problems affecting maternal, infant, and child health in the United States and globally.
![Joel Gittelsohn Joel Gittelsohn](/sites/default/files/styles/people_card_360/public/images/263.jpg?h=16b768a2&itok=cJTfQGfs)
Joel Gittelsohn, PhD, MS, is a medical anthropologist and public health nutritionist who develops programs to improve food access and reduce risk for chronic diseases.
![Jean Humphrey Jean Humphrey](/sites/default/files/styles/people_card_360/public/images/326.jpg?h=8b4b92cc&itok=uT45tcaw)
Jean Humphrey, ScD '92, conducts research on finding feasible solutions to the underlying causes of undernutrition, morbidity, and mortality of infants and young children in low-income countries.
![Julia Wolfson Julia Wolfson](/sites/default/files/styles/people_card_360/public/images/4077.jpg?h=f8c987b2&itok=ttmw4G31)
Julia Wolfson, PhD '16, MPP, studies individual, structural, and policy factors that influence food choices, diet quality, and diet-related health outcomes.
![Mika Matsuzaki Mika Matsuzaki](/sites/default/files/styles/people_card_360/public/images/4036.jpg?h=7af828d2&itok=5R8VtsfI)
Mika Matsuzaki, PhD, MPH, MS, is a life-course epidemiologist studying how policies, built environments, and equity affect nutrition-related chronic diseases and obesity.
![Yeeli Mui Yeeli Mui](/sites/default/files/styles/people_card_360/public/images/3910.jpeg?h=16b768a2&itok=RynuIRwp)
Yeeli Mui, PhD '17, MPH, examines structural interventions to address food system issues and advance health equity through the lens of urban policy and planning.
![Amanda Palmer Amanda Palmer](/sites/default/files/styles/people_card_360/public/images/2655.jpg?h=d9d3c991&itok=gERZK8Lk)
Amanda Palmer, PhD ’11, MHS ’06, studies interventions that may help to improve nutrition and protect the health of infants and children in low- and middle-income countries.
![Kerry Schulze Kerry Schulze](/sites/default/files/styles/people_card_360/public/images/623.jpg?h=748b4459&itok=dvyY1ncZ)
Kerry Schulze, PhD ’03, MS, studies micronutrient status biomarkers, particularly for mothers, infants, children, and adolescents in nutritionally compromised populations.
![Andrew Thorne-Lyman Andrew Thorne-Lyman](/sites/default/files/styles/people_card_360/public/images/3360.jpg?h=c63721b7&itok=K9O3AJJ7)
Andrew Thorne-Lyman, ScD, MHS ’97, conducts research on food systems to identify solutions that improve the nutrition and health of vulnerable populations in domestic and international contexts.
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Sarah Baker, MSPH '15, studies nutrition status of mothers and their babies through laboratory assessment of biological fluids
![Shelley Walton Shelley Walton](/sites/default/files/styles/people_card_360/public/images/3833.png?h=f9b37c79&itok=efFAjqo7)
Shelley Walton, MPH, RD, is a nutritionist and maternal and child health specialist focusing on improved nutrition and food security implementation in vulnerable populations.
![Ellina Wood, MPH, RDN](/sites/default/files/styles/people_card_360/public/2023-10/woodellina.jpg?h=3e353c31&itok=2YOCShO2)
Ellina Wood, MPH, RDN is a nutritionist examining how to improve nutrition and diet-related health outcomes among populations in low-resource settings
Affiliated Faculty
![Martin Bloem Martin Bloem](/sites/default/files/styles/people_card_360/public/images/1574.jpg?h=50d9ab18&itok=4oVnWQp7)
Martin Bloem, MD, PhD, has devoted his career to improving the effectiveness of public health and nutrition programs through applied research, focusing particularly on low- and middle-income countries.
![Robert Black Robert Black](/sites/default/files/styles/people_card_360/public/images/61.jpg?h=16b768a2&itok=2OjW4i6C)
Robert Black, MD, MPH, is an epidemiologist who researches maternal and child health and nutrition in low- and middle-income countries to improve survival, health, and development.
![Daniel Erchick Daniel Erchick](/sites/default/files/styles/people_card_360/public/images/2800.png?h=a86c353d&itok=4ta_SXCB)
Daniel Erchick, PhD ’17, MPH ’12, conducts community-based epidemiologic research to evaluate low-cost interventions to improve the health of mothers and infants globally.
![John Groopman John Groopman](/sites/default/files/styles/people_card_360/public/images/282.jpg?h=e2cc304e&itok=5shZ556m)
John Groopman, PhD, research involves the development and application of molecular biomarkers of exposure, dose, and effect from environmental carcinogens.
![Eliseo Guallar Eliseo Guallar](/sites/default/files/styles/people_card_360/public/images/844.jpg?h=300cca96&itok=V8zcASEr)
Eliseo Guallar, MD, DrPH, is interested in understanding the role of environmental factors in the development of cardiovascular and other chronic diseases.
![Christopher Heaney Christopher Heaney](/sites/default/files/styles/people_card_360/public/images/2595.jpg?h=fbdea0a2&itok=mI8KWIm-)
Christopher Heaney, PhD, MS, and his team, developed a saliva-based test that accurately detects the presence of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 from small samples of saliva.
![Joanne Katz Joanne Katz](/sites/default/files/styles/people_card_360/public/images/363.jpg?h=1d16878e&itok=8q0Nh6BW)
Joanne Katz, ScD ’93, MS, is an epidemiologist with expertise in maternal, neonatal, and child health and extensive work experience in Nepal and other South Asian countries.
![Sara Benjamin Neelon Sara Benjamin Neelon](/sites/default/files/styles/people_card_360/public/images/3086.jpg?h=69189783&itok=hY6RkQds)
Sara Benjamin-Neelon, PhD, JD, MPH, is an attorney and child nutritionist who examines early life predictors of obesity and other chronic diseases with a health equity lens.
![David Paige David Paige](/sites/default/files/styles/people_card_360/public/images/526.jpg?h=cc217466&itok=19QLuXWU)
David Paige, MD, MPH ’69, shaped the WIC nutrition program, focuses on clinical nutrition, health outcomes for low birthweight & premature infants, racial disparities in health.
![Krishna Rao Krishna Rao](/sites/default/files/styles/people_card_360/public/images/1647.jpg?h=16b768a2&itok=67mxM6nI)
Krishna D. Rao, PhD '04, MSc, finds ways to improve access to quality health services and financing of health care in low and middle-income countries.
![Rajiv Rimal Rajiv Rimal](/sites/default/files/styles/people_card_360/public/images/971.jpg?h=f2fcf546&itok=4ZYOoM5F)
Rajiv N. Rimal, PhD, MA, works globally on social and behavior change interventions with a focus on women and children’s nutrition and well-being. He adopts a social norms-based approach to address health inequities in low- and middle-income countries.
![Alan Scott Alan Scott](/sites/default/files/styles/people_card_360/public/images/627.jpg?h=3ea5c3c5&itok=2aapkThd)
Alan Scott, PhD, MS, studies innate immunity with an emphasis on the roles of macrophages in the pathogenesis of lung diseases caused by parasite and environmental exposures.
![Xiaobin Wang Xiaobin Wang](/sites/default/files/styles/people_card_360/public/images/2518.jpg?h=7b579f38&itok=JAKNSjuI)
Xiaobin Wang, MD, ScD ’91, MPH, pediatrician and molecular epidemiologist, focuses on early life origins of diseases, and maternal and child health
![Marsha Wills-Karp Marsha Wills-Karp](/sites/default/files/styles/people_card_360/public/images/946.jpeg?h=852176a3&itok=Ipdxo19R)
Marsha Wills-Karp, PhD, researches the environmental determinants of allergic and immune diseases across the lifespan and chairs the Department of Environmental Health and Engineering.
Other Components of the Center for Human Nutrition
![](/sites/default/files/styles/tile/public/2023-08/kwpic4.jpg?h=e78959ad&itok=OoFAbNQR)
What We Do
The Center's research stretches from the local food environment in Baltimore to encompass nutrition and health challenges in low- and middle-income contexts globally.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/tile/public/2023-06/girl.jpg?h=392de06b&itok=O-BeY_6z)
Collaborations
The Center works with multiple organizations and research groups with similar interests and priorities in tackling complex issues in the fields of food and nutrition.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/tile/public/2023-08/training.png?h=23cb0ecd&itok=KcugvIFW)
Training Opportunities
With the Human Nutrition Program as its hub, the Center offers multiple training opportunities to interested individuals.