The key concept of the Doctorate in Nutritional Biochemistry is integrative molecular metabolism. The program at UNC is unique in its focus on molecular metabolism in a clinically relevant context. Interdisciplinary in the fullest sense, the program provides training in modern methods of biochemistry and molecular biology that will enable students to perceive and analyze the role nutrition plays in cellular differentiation, tumor growth, chronic disease, gene regulation, and cognitive development. Only through in-depth biochemical study can students achieve the sophistication indispensable to future work on major nutritionally-linked organic disorders such as cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, obesity, diabetes, and cancer.
As nutrition becomes ever more central to our understanding of virtually all metabolic processes, so also the scientific dimension of the field of nutrition will increasingly dominate the training of tomorrow's nutrition professionals. UNC's Doctorate in Nutritional Biochemistry draws on the strengths of several departments in laboratory study that does justice to the complexity of this emerging field. Its faculty is fully committed to the project of training of graduate students in nutritional sciences to become the leaders in the field.
