The prevalence of obesity among Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders is statistically high and continues to rise, putting members of these communities at greater and greater risk for developing diabetes and cardiometabolic diseases.

Congrats to Jinan Banna of the Dept. of Human Nutrition, Food and Animal Sciences. Jinan was recognized by the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior for authoring or co-authoring 8 to 10 papers over the past 10 years.

Health education has reached new levels of accessibility. Former PhD student in Human Nutrition, Chloe Lozano, was recently awarded a two-year, $225K USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Postdoctoral Fellowship. Chloe is working toward personalizing the health app PortionSize Ed, originally created in Louisiana, for youth in Hawai’i. The app tracks food and calorie intake specific to individuals and includes educational videos.

If you are an adult with high blood pressure, consider participating in a new research study, “Development and validation of a novel tool to assess sodium intake for heart disease prevention in a multiethnic population,” by the Dept. of Human Nutrition, Food, and Animal Sciences. Current salt consumption is the major risk factor for hypertension and cardiovascular disease, and accurate measurement of dietary sodium intake is an important part of developing dietary interventions for hypertension and CVD risk, explains PhD student Leah Kaplan.

Currently in her last semester at CTAHR, Kasey Purcell is an undergraduate student in the Dietetics program. In almost four years here, she has served as a CTAHR student ambassador for three of them, now serving as the organization’s president. Whether in her work, academics, or volunteering, Kasey is quick to take on a leadership role when she is called upon to step up to the plate, and takes on challenges and responsibilities beyond what is expected of a student.