The Friedman School advances nutrition knowledge, research and service to help people and communities around the world enjoy healthier, more sustainable lives.
The Tufts University Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy was established in 1981 with the mission of bringing together biomedical, social, political, and behavioral scientists to conduct research, educational, and community-service programs to improve the nutritional health and well-being of populations throughout the world.
From its first class of seventeen students, the Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy has matured to a student body of 213 with students and alumni representing thirty-four countries since 1981. Master of Science and Doctoral degree programs are offered in the social and biological sciences. Specialized training programs are available for physicians pursuing doctoral degrees in human nutrition and graduates of bachelor degree nutrition programs who wish to become registered dietitians.
Nutrition programs of study draw upon the wealth of resources at Tufts, classified as a Research I University and ranked among the top twenty-five universities and colleges in America. Interdisciplinary programs involve faculty and scientists at all of the other seven schools at Tufts, including specialty concentrations in international food and nutrition; nutrition communications; agriculture, food and environment; humanitarian assistance; and clinical nutrition, health promotion and disease prevention.
Faculty at the School include anthropologists, biomedical scientists, economists, nutritionists, epidemiologists, physicians, political scientists and psychologists focusing on a myriad of issues with the common thread of nutrition and its role in understanding and fostering the growth and development of human populations.
The School's concern with the problems of hunger and malnutrition in United States and abroad is reflected in the research and applied work being done by its faculty and students. Areas of specialty include the socioeconomic parameters of malnutrition, nutrition program design and implementation, social marketing and development policy. Graduates of the programs in these areas are employed in government and non-governmental agencies as well as private voluntary organizations throughout the world and in the United States.
Research programs with practical applications are growing in the areas of nutrition communication and agriculture, food and the environment. Our students complete internships in their concentration of study areas with opportunities to impact public policy and to work in nutrition programs, practicing and plying their art.
Many of our students study in the area of health promotion, disease prevention and clinical nutrition. Opportunities for exploration of these fields are unique at Tufts, with the interactions our scientists and faculty have with the Schools of Medicine, Dental Medicine, Veterinary Medicine, and Biomedical Sciences. Foremost, though is our relationship with the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging. The HNRCA is a fourteen story building with a fourteen bed clinical research facility and animal laboratories.
The Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy believes that its rigorous curriculum, research and applied programs, internships and practical opportunities have and continue to make a significant contribution to the nutrition and health of populations.
To generate trusted science, educate future leaders, and produce real-world impact in nutrition science and policy.
