Message from the Department Chair
Molly S. Bray
Department Chair and Professor
Susan T. Jastrow Endowed Chair for Excellence in Nutritional Sciences
“You are what you eat,” has never been truer. Today, we know that it isn’t just the quality of what you eat, but also the quantity and timing of food intake, your genetic make-up, your physical activity level, your body composition, your gut microbiome, your environment, and even your stress level that can all interact to influence how the food you eat affects mental and physical health. Nutritional science encompasses the gamut of research from behavior to biology, and faculty and students in the Department of Nutritional Sciences pioneer nutrition research in the lab, clinic, and classroom.
Nutrition is the perfect major for undergraduates on a healthcare professional path, including medicine, dentistry, physical therapy, and dietetics. In addition to a BS in Nutrition, we also offer a combined BS/MS degree in dietetics through our Integrated Coordinated Program in Dietetics.
Graduate students work with faculty experts on innovative projects such as examining how nutrients affect the underpinnings and treatment of cancer; determining how exposure to school gardens can influence lifelong eating and physical activity habits and growth in children; determining how early life nutrition affects both mother and child; and investigating how nutrients influence gene expression, development, and other molecular processes.
Our mission is to make impactful discoveries that contribute to the prevention and treatment of diseases across the life course, while preparing the next generation of clinicians, nutrition-related basic and translational researchers, and dietitians. We welcome you to our department!
Molly S. Bray, PhD
Departmental Leadership
Stefano Tiziani, Ph.D.
Associate Chair for Graduate Education
Stefano Tiziani is a tenured Professor of Nutritional Sciences at The University of Texas at Austin (UTA) and holds courtesy appointments in the Department of Oncology and Department of Pediatrics at Dell Medical School. Additionally, he holds an adjunct position in the Department of Biochemistry and Structural Biology at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. Dr. Tiziani is also a full member at the i) Institute for Cell and Molecular Biology (ICMB), UTA, ii) Center for Molecular and Cellular Toxicology (CMCT), College of Pharmacy, UTA, iii) Livestrong Cancer Institutes of the Dell Medical School, UTA, and iv) Cancer Therapy & Research Center (CTRC), Experimental and Developmental Therapeutics (EDT) program The University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, Texas.
Dr. Tiziani received his Laurea in chemistry at the University of Trieste in Italy and his Ph.D. at The Ohio State University. He completed postdoctoral training in metabolomics-based systems biology and molecular oncology at the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom and Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute in La Jolla, California.
Dr. Tiziani has over 15 years of experience leading research projects focused on cancer metabolism and metabolite profiling using both mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. His research primarily focuses on translational chemical biology, employing an innovative metabolomics-based systems biology approach to uncover metabolic biomarkers and design new combinatorial therapy strategies. His laboratory combines high-throughput screening measurements, magnetic resonance spectroscopy, mass spectrometry-based metabolomics, and metabolic flux analysis, alongside other omics data and computational data mining tools to monitor metabolic alterations and metabolic fluxes of stable isotope enriched tracers to probe cell metabolism following nutritional, drug and genetic perturbations. Presently, his research is dedicated to developing, integrating, and correlating high-throughput screening and untargeted metabolomics data to identify novel cancer vulnerabilities and accelerate the discovery of novel synergistic combinatorial treatments evaluated in cell lines and animal model systems and subsequently tested in clinical trials.
His lab is constantly engaged in revealing the link between cellular pathways and biological mechanisms shaping our understanding of nutrition, chemical biology, physiology, and medicine.
Laura Lashinger, Ph.D.
Associate Chair for Undergraduate Education & Director of Online Master’s in Nutritional Sciences
Dr. Lashinger is Associate Professor of Instruction and Associate Chair of Undergraduate Studies in the Department of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Texas at Austin. She received a PhD in Cancer Biology from The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, a BS in Nursing from the University of Virginia, and a BS in Psychology and Biology from Old Dominion University.
Dr. Lashinger's research interests include understanding the connection between energy balance and pancreatic cancer development and progression. Her work highlighted the energy balance-responsiveness of this aggressive cancer, particularly when detected early, largely because of the nutrient-sensitive growth factors insulin and IGF-1. Another focus of her research is to determine effects of macronutrient intake timing on cardiometabolic outcomes such as insulin sensitivity and fat deposition.
One of Dr. Lashinger's goals for the online master's program is to make the leadership transition seamless. In a letter to program stakeholders she says, "I feel in a good place to do so given that I was part of the team that created this program and continue to teach one of the core courses. I have been teaching at The University of Texas at Austin for over 13 years and have trained many graduate and undergraduate students. Because of my background in cancer biology, nursing, and psychology, I bring a strong physiologic, biochemical, and applications approach to my mentorship and teaching. I will 'meet' and teach you all very soon, but if you feel the need to reach out, please do so…I always welcome a great conversation. I look forward to watching you all progress through our program!"