Project Directors
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[accordion title=”Project Director – Michelle Schelske Santos” load=”hide”]
Dr. Michelle Schelske Santos
Dr. Michelle Schelske Santos received her Ph.D. (and M.S.) in Human Nutrition Sciences with a minor in Immunology from Tufts University School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Boston, MA, in November 1996. Her doctoral dissertation work was in collaboration with Harvard and based on clinical studies involving the short- and long-term effects of beta-carotene supplementation on various immune functions and was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. She built upon her B.S. degree in Biology from Gordon College, Wenham, MA, after having changed her initial major from Pre-medicine.
Although English is her first language, she is fully bilingual in Spanish, and has been teaching at UPR-Rio Piedras in the Nutrition and Dietetics Program since 1997, focusing on Human Biochemistry, Human Biochemistry Laboratory and Human Nutrition II. She recently served as Director of the Nutrition and Dietetics Program from 2015-2019, as is now aiming to focus more on research. She is currently the Project Director on two USDA grants, and collaborates with a research group from UPR-RCM and University at Buffalo on the Epidemiology of Breast Cancer in Puerto Rico, where she focuses on culturally specific dietary assessment related to breast cancer risk. Dr. Schelske Santos is also interested in research focusing on the definition and reduction of nutrition and health disparities in Hispanics and other minorities, as well as bioethics in research paradigms.
If you are interested in participating in a research project, please let her know!
RECENT PUBLICATIONS (refereed journals)
Truesdell, E., Schelske-Santos, M., Nazario, C. M., Rosario-Rosado, R. V., McCann, S. E., Millen, A. E., … Freudenheim, J. L. (2018). Foods contributing to macronutrient intake of women living in Puerto Rico reflect both traditional Puerto Rican and Western-type diets. Nutrients, 10(9), 1242. doi:10.3390/nu10091242
Desai, G., Schelske-Santos, M., Nazario, C. M., Rosario-Rosado, R. V., Mansilla-Rivera, I., Ramírez-Marrero, F., … Freudenheim, J. L., & Mu, L. (2019). Onion and garlic intake and breast cancer, a case-control study in Puerto Rico. Nutrition and Cancer. doi: 10.1080/01635581.2019.1651349
Rosario-Rosado, R. V., Nazario, C. M., Hernández-Santiago, J., Schelske-Santos, M., Mansilla-Rivera, I., Ramírez-Marrero, F. A., … Freudenheim, J. L. (2020). Breast cancer in a Caribbean population in transition: Design and implementation of the Atabey population-based case-control study of women in the San Juan metropolitan area in Puerto Rico. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17, 1333. doi:10.3390/ijerph17041333 https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/4/1333?type=check_update&version=1
PUBLICATIONS (related to projects)
(2019, August 28). Dr Michelle Schelske Santos – Nutri-Vías: Creating Pathways for Diversified Nutrition Education. Scientia. doi: 10.33548/SCIENTIA403 https://doi.org/10.33548/SCIENTIA403
Email: michelle.schelske@upr.edu
Phone: (787) 764-0000, Ext. 89087[/accordion]
[accordion title=”Co-Project Director – Nancy J. Correa Matos” load=”hide”]
Dr. Nancy J. Correa Matos
Nancy J. Correa Matos, PhD, RDN, LDN obtained her PhD in Nutritional Sciences from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her research interests are the impact of dietary fiber in health and disease in Hispanic populations. She has more than 30 years of experience in the Nutrition and Dietetics field. She has participated on a variety of special projects and research grants on nutrition education and community-based nutrition interventions, and is currently Co-Project Director of this grant. She is an Associate Professor for the Nutrition and Dietetics Program at the University of Puerto, Rio Piedras Campus in 2017. She previously worked as the Nutrition Specialist in Extension Services in the UPR-Mayaguez Campus, where she coordinated the Medical Sciences Campus Dietetic Internship Community rotation and research. As a clinical dietitian in the University District Hospital, she was the preceptor for the clinical rotation for the Dietetic interns. She has more than seven years of experience teaching several graduate courses in Nutrition for the Coordinated Program at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville where she worked actively in the development of the online Master Program. She has the teaching-online certification from the University of Puerto Rico and from the University of North Florida. The online Integrative Nutrition courses were created and developed by her, which are currently adopted by the Nutrition and Dietetics Curriculum. Dr. Correa-Matos received the CDR Writing Certificate and created questions for the Registered Dietitian Examination Board. She can contribute with the coordination of the supervised practice and teaching medical Nutrition Therapy courses, Nutrition Metabolism and Nutrition Seminar among others.
RECENT PUBLICATIONS (refereed journals)
Correa-Matos, N., Donovan, S. M., & Tappenden, K. A. (2020). Fermentable fibers enhance aspects of innate and adaptive immunity in piglets infected with Salmonella tyhpimurium. Puerto Rico Health Sciences Journal, 39(4), 311-318.
Correa-Matos, N., Rodríguez, M. C., & Rodríguez-Pérez, R. (2020). Development and application of interactive, culturally specific strategies for the consumption of high-fiber foods in Puerto Rican adolescents. Ecology of Food and Nutrition, 49(6), 639-655. DOI:10.1080/03670244.2020.1763980.
Rodríguez, M. C., Correa-Matos, N., & Rodríguez-Pérez, R. (2019). Pilot testing an intervention to promote healthy eating among Puerto Rican adolescents: Lessons learned on dietary fiber consumption. Journal of Health Education Research & Development, 7(3), 2-5.
Amber, J., Hammons, A. J., Hannon, B. A., Teran-Garcia, M., Barragan, M., Villegas, E., Wiley, A., Fiese, B., Greder, K., Plaza-Delestre, M., Correa Matos, N. J., & Oliveras, N. (2019). Effects of culturally tailored nutrition education on dietary quality of Hispanic mothers: A randomized control trial. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 51(10), 1168−1176.
Rodríguez-Pérez, R., Correa-Matos, N., Valdés-Valderrama, A., Rodríguez-Cruz, L. A., & Rodríguez, M. C. (2019). A qualitative study of Puerto Rican parent and child perceptions regarding eating patterns. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 51(5), 608–615. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneb.2018.10.002
Email: nancy.correa@upr.edu
Phone: 787-764-0000, ext. 88581[/accordion]
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Student Assistants
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[accordion title=”Student Assistant – Andrea V. De Arce González” load=”hide”]
Andrea V. De Arce González
Andrea V. De Arce González is an undergraduate student in the Nutrition and Dietetics Program offered in the College of Natural Sciences, University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus. As student assistant of the USDA NIFA HSI Education Grant Curricula, Research & Technology: Capacity Building for Graduate Nutrition and Dietetics in Puerto Rico, she is in charge of populating the template of the grant website and collaborates with literature searches for graduate course bibliographies. In 2019, she was the student assistant for the academic consortium Nutri-Vías: Pathways for Diversified Learning in Nutrition and Dietetics, also with Dr. Michelle Schelske Santos, designed to plan for collaborative opportunities and training for students to become highly qualified nutritionists and dietitians. Nutri-Vías was supported by a Higher Education Challenge Grant from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). She is also a member of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and the National Society of Leadership and Success. After graduation, she plans to go to a Dietetic Internship that will help her acquire the personal academic growth needed to become a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist. She aspires to help and support patients through all stages of life by helping them attain the proper nutrition. This student is particularly interested in specializing in clinical nutrition and creating her own food and nutrition consultation website. Potentially, she would also like to learn about drug-nutrient interactions with the purpose of understanding the relationship between medicine and the body’s nutrition.
Email: andrea.arce@upr.edu[/accordion]
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