Nutrition
Be a driver of optimal health for communities and individuals by learning about nutrition in wellness and disease.
Nutrition plays a critical role in the health and well-being of individuals and communities. The study of nutrition focuses on the actions, interactions, and balance of nutrients and bioactive components in relation to human health and disease. It also involves understanding special nutrient needs at different stages of life, and explores the social determinants influencing food consumption, food access, and health. Nutrition impacts outcomes in diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity, certain cancers, and other chronic diseases, as well as malnutrition and nutrient deficiency diseases. It plays a vital role in general wellness, fitness, athletics and healthy aging. Understanding the importance of nutrition in many other health conditions is an area of growth.
Nutrition faculty are engaged in many areas of research, including the molecular mechanisms of bioactive compounds, epigenetics in cancer prevention, dietary interventions to improve maternal health, health literacy, social determinants of health, and more.
Explore our programs
Undergraduate
Dietetic Internship
Research Areas
The UMass Nutrition Association delivered over 850 pounds of donations to the Amherst Survival Center as part of its annual food drive.
Benefits list
Small Class Sizes, Close-Knit Community
As a student in any of the UMass Amherst nutrition degree programs, you’ll benefit from small classes, personalized advising, and laboratory and community-engaged research experiences.
Cutting-Edge Research
You’ll find a wealth of opportunities in our faculty research labs. Research everything from nutritional epigenetics to the gut microbiome and health to food insecurity and the social determinants of health.
Experiential Learning
Nutrition students have opportunities to develop the skills they will need to move on to the next step in their career. Follow the link to learn more about opportunities open to all nutrition students.
Alumni spotlight
In the spotlight
"The dietetic internship at UMass is unique because it has a large community emphasis. It went hand in hand with the work that I was previously doing in my master's degree at UMass... Through this community-based work, I can give back to the people and places that have supported me."
Community stories
Alina Schmidt
Featured faculty
Lisa Troy
Honors Program Director, Nutrition
Focus on measures of diet quality; joint effect of diet and physical activity on health promotion/disease prevention; social determinants of health
Lindiwe Sibeko
Department Chair, Nutrition
Focus on maternal and child health among racialized low-income populations, breastfeeding & lactation, community-engaged research, diet behaviors & adolescence
Claire Norton
Undergraduate Program Director, Nutrition
Didactic Program in Dietetics Director, Nutrition
Focus on dietetics and eating disorders
Zhenhua Liu
Graduate Program Director, Nutrition
Focus on micronutrients, traditional medicine, nutritional epigenetics, obesity and inflammation, gut microbiome, gastrointestinal health, cancer prevention
Lorraine Cordeiro
Director, Center for Research on Families
Focus on food security, adolescent health and nutrition, undernutrition, refugees/immigrants
In the news
Patton-Lopez Named 2025-26 TIDE Ambassador
Megan Patton-Lopez is among the UMass Amherst faculty selected for the Teaching for Inclusiveness, Diversity, and Equity (TIDE) Ambassadors program.
Zhenhua Liu Selected as Excellence in Nutrition Fellow of ASN
Professor of Nutrition Zhenhua Liu has been selected as an Excellence in Nutrition Fellow of the American Society for Nutrition (FASN).
Sibeko Named 2025 ADVANCE Faculty Peer Mentor Award Winner
Professor and Chair of Nutrition Lindiwe Sibeko has been named one of the nine winners of the 2025 UMass ADVANCE Faculty Peer Mentor Award.
Nutrition
Offering an interdisciplinary approach to the study and application of the relationship between diet, foods, and health.