Principal Investigators
Steven H. Zeisel, MD, PhD, Institute Director
Dr. Zeisel is recognized as an international leader in nutrition research. His team's work established the requirement for choline, a newly recognized essential part of our diet. Dr. Zeisel's work on nutrition and brain development, genetic variation and diet requirements, environment and nutrition, and medical education are supported by grants from the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH). Dr. Zeisel directs one of the NIH national centers of excellence in human nutrition research.
Dr. Carol Cheatham, Assistant Professor
Dr. Cheatham earned her PhD in Child Psychology with a minor in Neuroscience from the University of Minnesota. She became an adjunct research associate at the Schiefelbusch Life Span Institute at the University of Kansas as well as assistant research professor in the Department of Dietetics and Nutrition at Kansas University Medical Center. She is the recipient of several honors and awards, the latest being the New Investigator Award for the International Society for Study of Fatty Acids & Lipids. She has published research on memory recall in pre-term infants, the role of fatty acids in neonatal brains and how stress impacts brain development, as well as other topics. Her area of focus will be how nutrition can improve children’s brain performance, specifically on the importance of omega-3 fatty acids (fish oils) in brain development.
Martin Kohlmeier, MD PHD
Joining the UNC Nutrition Research Institute (NRI) in 2010, Dr. Martin Kohlmeier serves as faculty and primary investigator in the NRI Nutrigenetics Laboratory. He focuses on laboratory diagnostics and nutritional genetics. With more than thirty years of experience in nutrition research, he has developed novel biochemical methods for the assessment of dietary intake and nutrient adequacy. Dr. Kohlmeier's research explores how to help individuals safely navigate daily food choices and how those choices might affect cancer risk. Dedicated to helping the public benefit from recent advancements in genetics and nutrition, Dr. Kohlmeier uses this new technology to read the body's DNA blueprint down to very fine details. His goal is to translate this data into practical directions for people's health. Currently, he is developing software that can use detailed genetic information to tell consumers which foods are healthiest for them. Notably, Dr. Kohlmeier authored Nutrient Metabolism, a textbook describing how the body handles about one hundred important compounds in food, from alcohol to zinc. The textbook outlines the major food sources of these compounds, and additional related information, such as our chemical senses, appetite and thirst, and the nutrient path from food to the using body part. The strength of the book is that a rich collection of information on each of the food ingredients is easily accessible in one place, making it a powerful resource for researchers, health professionals, and anyone needing nutrition facts at their fingertips. Dr. Kohlmeier earned doctorates in medicine, biochemistry and clinical biochemistry from Heidelberg University and Freie Universität, Berlin, and is the lead author of numerous online nutrition courses for healthcare professionals. In addition to his role at the UNC NRI, Dr. Kohlmeier maintains his appointment as a Research Professor with the Department of Nutrition, UNC-Chapel Hill, School of Medicine and School of Public Health.
Mihai Niculescu, MD PhD
Dr. Mihai Niculescu joined the UNC Nutrition Research Institute (NRI) team in 2008 to study how maternal obesity influences children's health in the long term. Niculescu specializes in the study of epigenetics and nutrition, which help to explain how diet sets the "switches" that control gene expression. One example of his current investigations is the role that a mother's diet plays in her fetus's brain development. Specifically, his interest focuses on the impacts of maternal obesity and omega-3 fatty acids upon fetal and postnatal brain development. "The kind of nutrition research fostered at the NRI is a dream come true," Niculescu said, "…in particular for everyone expecting a radical change in the way we understand the role of nutrition in health and disease." Dr. Niculescu obtained his M.D. degree from Carol Davila University of Medicine in Bucharest, Romania in 1995. He practiced medicine in Romania and was an assistant professor of Physiology at Transylvania University in Brasov, Romania from 1996 to 2000. In 2005 he obtained his Ph.D. in Nutritional Biochemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In addition to his appointment with the NRI, Niculescu also holds an appointment as assistant professor in UNC's Department of Nutrition.
Andrew Swick, PhD
Dr. Andrew G. Swick has over 20 years of experience in obesity research and joined the Nutrition Research Institute in August of 2010 to study the role of the gut in the control of body weight and metabolism and the regulation of energy metabolism. A person's body weight is a reflection of the amount of calories eaten relative to the amount of energy that is expended. Both food intake and energy expenditure vary depending on genetics and the environment. After food is consumed it is first sensed by the gut. Dr. Swick studies how the gut senses food and sends signals to control appetite and metabolism. In addition he is interested in the influence of genetics on energy expenditure and the effects of diet, exercise, nutriceuticals and pharmaceuticals on energy metabolism and body weight. Dr. Swick earned a B.S. in Animal Science from the University of Florida in 1981 followed by an M.S. in Nutrition from the University of Nebraska in 1982. While in Lincoln, he worked on the effects of dietary fiber and fat on serum lipid levels. He then moved on to the University of Wisconsin where he conducted research on diet-induced-thermogenesis and brown adipose tissue metabolism and function. After earning his Ph.D. in 1987, Andy pursued postdoctoral research at the Lineberger Cancer Research Institute at the University of North Carolina where he studied transcriptional regulation of the dihydrofolate reductase gene and the effects of chemotherapeutic agents on transcription and gene amplification. In 1990, Andy joined Dan Lane's lab in the Department of Biological Chemistry at Johns Hopkins University Medical Center where he conducted research on the regulation of adipocyte gene expression and differentiation. In 1992, Dr. Swick joined Pfizer Global Research and Development as a Senior Research Scientist in Cardiovascular and Metabolic Diseases working on diabetes and obesity and rose to become Senior Director of Cardiovascular, Metabolic and Endocrine Diseases (CVMED). He was a key member of the CVMED Leadership Team, Obesity Disease Area Strategy Team, CVMED Translational Research Team and Obesity Development Team. While at Pfizer Andy was responsible for the delivery of more than a dozen compounds to clinical development, including biologicals and small molecules spanning multiple mechanisms across obesity and diabetes, covering Phases 1, 2 and 3. Andy is an elected member of several professional organizations and currently serves on the New York Academy of Sciences Diabetes and Obesity Steering Committee.
Philip A. May, PhD
Philip A. May, PhD, joined the NRI on April 1, 2011 as Research Professor and is an expert in the field of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD).
Dr. May has conducted extensive research on the epidemiology and risk factors for FASD, including alcohol use and abuse, and how FASD relates to mental health and deviance. Dr. May’s specialty areas also extend to demography and medical sociology, focusing much of his research on community-wide prevention of the disorder.
At the NRI, Dr. May will combine the knowledge gained from his on-the-ground research in the United States, Italy, and South Africa with the institute’s advancements in developing an individualized approach to nutrition. “We have made great progress identifying the demographic and behavioral risk factors for FASD,” Dr. May explains, “now we must look at individual risk factors and nutrient deficiencies – genetics and epigenetics may come into play.”
Dr. May graduated from Catawba College with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology, received his Masters of Sociology at Wake Forest University, and earned his Doctorate of Sociology from the University of Montana. He has since built an esteemed professional career, and was most recently a Professor of Sociology and Family and Community Medicine at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque.
Dr. May was recently selected to deliver the 2011 University of New Mexico (UNM) 56th Annual Research Lecture, one of the highest honors that can be awarded to UNM faculty. His lecture, titled “Adventures in Public Health Research: Four Decades of Shoe-Leather Epidemiology and Prevention,” shared key areas of his critical research, including suicide and alcohol epidemiology among a number of tribes of American Indians of the western states.
Dr. May also holds an appointment with Department of Nutrition at the UNC-Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health, and will maintain his role as Extraordinary Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Health Sciences, The University of Stellenbosch, Tygerberg, in Cape Town, South Africa.