NFSC Research Areas

The Department of Nutrition and Food Science is involved in a variety of cutting edge research in food engineering, microbiology, nutrition, and dietetics. For more information check out our research areas and centers.

Research Areas

Applied / Community Nutrition Research

  • Chronic disease epidemiology
  • Control of gene expression by nutrients
  • Evaluating effects of nutrition interventions on health behaviors
  • Nutritional epidemiology
  • International nutrition
  • Nutrition risk factors and health of the older adult population.

Nutrigenomic / Laboratory Research

  • Anemia and malnutrition
  • Control of gene expression by nutrients
  • Dietary impact on colon cancer
  • Food bioactive molecules and impact on disease prevention and health promotion
  • Glucoregulation and obesity

Food Safety/Food Toxicology

  • Antimicrobial resistance,
  • Pathogenicity,
  • Food safety and defense risk analysis;
  • Integration of biotechnology and process engineering for food safety and defense; 
  • Microbiological spoilage of low pH food systems; 
  • Natural food  preservatives; 
  • Non-targeted detection technology for food adulteration detection and food safety
  • Processing-induced toxicant formation and the chemical mechanisms involved;
  • Naturally occurring food toxicantsand their modes of action

Risk Analysis

  • Assessment of consumer perception of food safety risks; 
  • Food safety and defense risk analysis;
  • Molecular identification of major foodborne pathogens; 
  • Assessment of consumer perception of food safety risks; 

Food Production and Processing

  • Integration of biotechnology and process engineering for food safety and defense; 
  • Natural food  preservatives; 
  • Food nanotechnology and delivery systems; 
  • Bioactive molecules in foods and their changes during food processing and storage; 
  • Nutraceutical & functional food production

Research Centers

Center for Food Safety and Security Systems (CFS3)

The Center for Food Safety and Security Systems (CFS3) is dedicated to advancing food protection by being a source of innovative laboratory and field research on systems-thinking approaches to solving regional, national, and international food safety and security concerns.

Learn more about CFS3

Joint Institute for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (JIFSAN)

JIFSAN was established between the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the University of Maryland (UM) in April 1996. The Institute is a jointly administered, multidisciplinary research, education and outreach program.

Learn more about JIFSAN