Sofija Zagarins

Sofija Zagarins

SO-fee-ah ZA-gah-rinz
Director, Undergraduate Public Health Sciences Program
Lecturer in Epidemiology

Nutrient sufficiency and micronutrient status; overall diet quality; body composition and bone mass; disease prevention and management

Location

Arnold House

715 North Pleasant Street
Amherst, MA 01003
United States

427 Arnold House

Sofija Zagarins’ educational and professional background is in epidemiology and biostatistics, and her primary research interests are related to overall diet quality, micronutrient status, and disease prevention. Sofija has more than 20 years of professional health research experience, including managing large behavioral and pharmaceutical clinical trials, as well as collaborating on grant development and manuscript preparation for a range of health-related research projects. She is currently involved with research aimed at quantifying overall diet and determining how diet quality affects health outcomes, including bone density, body composition, and birth outcomes.

Education

  • PhD, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2009
  • BS, Union College, 2001

Key Publications

Zagarins SE, Ronnenberg AG, Bertone-Johnson ER. Established diet quality indices are not universally associated with body composition in young adult women. Public Health Nutrition. 2021 Apr. doi:10.1017/S1368980021001440.

Allen NA, Zagarins SE, Welch G. Reducing social distress for chronic disease patients in primary care: An intervention for Latino Type 2 diabetes patients seen at community health centers. Diabetes Spectrum. 2017 Nov; 30(4): 288-296.

Welch G, Zagarins SE, Santiago-Kelly P, Rodriquez Z, Bursell SE, Rosal MC, Gabbay RA. An internet-based diabetes management platform improves team care and outcomes in an urban Latino population. Diabetes Care. 2015 Apr;38(4):561-7.

Hasan FM, Zagarins SE, Pischke KM, Saiyed S, Bettencourt AM, Beal L, Macys D, McCleary N. Hypnotherapy is an Effective Aid for Smoking Cessation in Patients Hospitalized for a Cardiopulmonary Illness: Results of a Randomized Controlled Trial. Complement Ther Med. 2014 Feb;22(1):1-8.

Zagarins SE, Allen NA, Garb JL, Welch G. Improvement in Glycemic Control Following a Diabetes Education Intervention is Associated with Change in Diabetes Distress but Not Change in Depressive Symptoms. Journal of Behavioral Medicine. 2012;35:299-304.