Mendez, June 16, 2014

Mendez, June 16, 2014

Michelle A. Mendez, PhD

Assistant Professor, Department of Nutrition, UNC-Chapel Hill

Fellow:,Carolina Population Center and Lineberger Cancer Center, UNC-Chapel Hill
Education

-Ph.D., Epidemiology, 2000: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Department of Epidemiology, PhD 2000. Specialization: Nutritional Epidemiology.

-M.S.P.H., Epidemiology, 1997: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

-A.B., Public and International Affairs, 1988: Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson School.

Professional experience

-September 2011-present. Assistant Professor, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Department of Nutrition. Fellow, Carolina Population Center and Member, Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, UNC-Chapel Hill.

-January 2007-September 2011. (i) Epidemiologist/Staff Scientist in Nutrition, Center for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL). Barcelona. (ii) Adjunct Professor, Universidad Pompeu Fabra. Barcelona. Teach course on Nutritional Epidemiology, supervise master's student thesis projects. Direct/co-direct doctoral theses.
-April 2005-December 2006. Nutrition Epidemiologist, Catalan Institute of Oncology, Department of Epidemiology. L’Hospitalet de Barcelona.
-September 2002-April 2005. Research Assistant Professor, Department of Nutrition/Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
-October 2000-September 2002. Assistant Professor, Department of Preventive Medicine and Epidemiology, Loyola University Medical Center, Maywood (Chicago), IL.
Select Bibliography

1. 
   MA Mendez, C González-Horta, B Sánchez-Ramírez, L Ballinas-Casarrubias, R Hernández Cerón, D Viniegra Morales,F Baeza Terrazas, MC Ishida, D Gutiérrez-Torres, RJ Saunders, Z Drobná,RC Fry, JB Buse, D Loomis, GG García-Vargas, LM Del Razo,M Stýblo. Chronic Exposure to Arsenic and Cardiometabolic Risk – A Cross-Sectional Study in Chihuahua, Mexico Environ Health Perspect. 2015 Jun 12 [Epub ahead of print]
   

2. 
   Heindel JJ, Vom Saal FS, Blumberg B, Bovolin P, Calamandrei G, Ceresini G, Cohn BA, Fabbri E, Gioiosa L, Kassotis C, Legler J, La Merrill M, Rizzir L, Machtinger R, Mantovani A, Mendez MA, Montanini L, Molteni L, Nagel SC, Parmigiani S, Panzica G, Paterlini S, Pomatto V, Ruzzin J, Sartor G, Schug TT, Street ME, Suvorov A, Volpi R, Zoeller RT, Palanza P. Parma consensus statement on metabolic disruptors. Environ Health. 2015 Jun 20;14(1):54.
   

3. 
   Rodríguez-Ramírez, Sonia, T. González de Cossio, S. Hernández, K. Tucker, I. Méndez-Ramírez, M.A. Mendez, and B.M. Popkin. A water and education provision intervention improved the diet in Mexican overweight women: Randomized controlled trial. J Nutr. 2015 Jul 1. pii: jn212852. [Epub ahead of print]
   

4. 
   Qin, BL Plassman, LJ Edwards, BM Popkin, LS Adair, MA Mendez. Dietary patterns and cognitive decline among community-dwelling older adults in China. Epidemiology. 2015 Jun 30. [Epub ahead of print]
   

5. 
   McCullough LE, Mendez MA, Miller EE, Murtha AP, Murphy SK, Hoyo C. Associations between prenatal physical activity, birth weight, and DNA methylation at genomically imprinted domains in a multiethnic newborn cohort. Epigenetics. 2015 Jul 3;10(7):597-606.
   

6. 
   Wright MJ, Bentley ME, Mendez MA, Adair LS. The interactive association of dietary diversity scores and breast-feeding status with weight and length in Filipino infants aged 6-24 months. Public Health Nutr. 2015 Jul;18(10):1762-73.
   

7. 
   Poti JM, Mendez MA, Ng SW, Popkin BM. Is the degree of food processing and convenience linked with the nutritional quality of foods purchased by US households? Am J Clin Nutr. 2015 Jun;101(6):1251-62.
   

8. 
   Piernas C, Ng SW, Mendez MA, Gordon-Larsen P, Popkin BM A dynamic panel model of the associations of sweetened beverage purchases with dietary quality and food-purchasing patterns. Am J Epidemiol. 2015 May 1;181(9):661-71.
   

9. 
   Pedersen M, Mendez MA, Schoket B, Godschalk RW, Espinosa A, Landström A, Villanueva CM, Merlo DF, Fthenou E, Gracia-Lavedan E, van Schooten FJ, Hoek G, Brunborg G, Meltzer HM, Alexander J, Nielsen JK, Sunyer J, Wright J, Kovács K, de Hoogh K, Gutzkow KB, Hardie LJ, Chatzi L, Knudsen LE, Anna L, Ketzel M, Haugen M, Botsivali M, Nieuwenhuijsen MJ, Cirach M, Toledano MB, Smith RB, Fleming S, Agramunt S, Kyrtopoulos SA, Lukács V, Kleinjans JC, Segerbäck D, Kogevinas M. Environmental, dietary, maternal, and fetal predictors of bulky DNA adducts in cord blood: a European mother-child study (NewGeneris). Environ Health Perspect. 2015 Apr;123(4):374-80.
   

10. 
    Martin E, González-Horta C, Rager J, Bailey KA, Sánchez-Ramírez B, Ballinas-Casarrubias L, Ishida MC, Gutiérrez-Torres DS, Hernández Cerón R, Viniegra Morales D, Baeza Terrazas FA, Saunders RJ, Drobná Z, Mendez MA, Buse JB, Loomis D, Jia W, García-Vargas GG, Del Razo LM, Stýblo M, Fry R.Metabolomic characteristics of arsenic-associated diabetes in a prospective cohort in Chihuahua, Mexico. Toxicol Sci. 2015 Apr;144(2):338-46.
    

11. 
    Jaacks LM, Liu W, Ji L, Mendez MA, Du S, Crandell J, Rosamond W, Mayer-Davis EJ. Diabetes nutrition therapy and dietary intake among individuals with Type 1 diabetes in China. Diabet Med. 2015 Mar;32(3):399-406.
    

12. 
    Mendez MA Invited commentary: Dietary misreporting as a potential source of bias in diet-disease associations: future directions in nutritional epidemiology research. Am J Epidemiol. 2015 Feb 15;181(4):234-6.
    

13. 
    Andersen ZJ, de Nazelle A, Mendez MA, Garcia-Aymerich J, Hertel O, Tjønneland A, Overvad K, Raaschou-Nielsen O, Nieuwenhuijsen MJ. A Study of the Combined Effects of Physical Activity and Air Pollution on Mortality in Elderly Urban Residents: The Danish Diet, Cancer, and Health Cohort. Environ Health Perspect. 2015 Jan 27 [Epub]
    

14. 
    Botton J, Kogevinas M, Gracia-Lavedan E, Patelarou E, Roumeliotaki T, Iñiguez C, Santa Marina L, Ibarluzea J, Ballester F, Mendez MA, Chatzi L, Sunyer J, Villanueva CM. Postnatal weight growth and trihalomethane exposure during pregnancy. Environ Res. 2015 Jan;136:280-8.
    

15. 
    B Qin, BL Plassman, LJ Edwards, BM Popkin, LS Adair, MA Mendez. Fish intake and cognitive decline in Chinese older adults. J Nutr. 2014 Oct;144(10):1579-85.
    

16. 
    Jaacks LM, Crandell J, Mendez MA, Lamichhane AP, Liu W, Ji L, Du S, Rosamond W, Popkin BM, Mayer-Davis EJ. Dietary patterns associated with HbA1c and LDL cholesterol among individuals with type 1 diabetes in China. J Diabetes Complications. 2014 Dec 31. pii: S1056-8727(14)00411-5.
    

17. 
    MA Mendez, D Sotres-Alvarez, DR Miles, M Slining, BM Popkin. Shifts in the recent distribution of dietary intake among US children ages 2-18 reflect potential abatement of earlier declining trends. J Nutr. 2014 Aug;144(8):1291-7
    

18. 
    Mendez MA, Sotres-Alvarez D, Miles DR, Slining MM, Popkin BM. Reply to Schoeller et al. J Nutr. 2015 Jan;145(1):151-2.
    

19. 
    LP Smith, J Hua, E Seto, S Du, J Zanga, S Zou, BM Popkin, MA Mendez. Development and validity of a 3-day smartphone-assisted 24-hour recall to assess beverage consumption in a Chinese population: a randomized cross-over study Asia Pac J Clin Nutr. 2014;23(4):678-90.
    

20. 
    Batis C, Mendez MA, Sotres-Alvarez D, Gordon-Larsen P, Popkin B. Dietary pattern trajectories during 15 years of follow-up and HbA1c, insulin resistance and diabetes prevalence among Chinese J Epidemiol Community Health. 2014 Aug;68(8):773-9.
    

21. 
    Schröder H, Mendez MA, Ribas L, Funtikova AN, Gomez SF, Fíto M, Aranceta J, Serra-Majem L. Caloric beverage drinking patterns are differentially associated with diet quality and adiposity among Spanish girls and boys. Eur J Pediatr. 2014 Sep;173(9):1169-77.
    

22. 
    Basterrechea M, Lertxundi A, Iñiguez C, Mendez M, Murcia M, Mozo I, Goñi F, Grimalt J, Fernández M, Guxens M; INMA project. Prenatal exposure to hexachlorobenzene (HCB) and reproductive effects in a multicentre birth cohort in Spain. Sci Total Environ. 2014 Jan 1;466-467:770-6†.
    

23. 
    Symonds ME, Mendez MA, Meltzer HM, Koletzko B, Godfrey K, Forsyth S, van der Beek EM. Early life nutritional programming of obesity: mother-child cohort studies. Ann Nutr Metab. 2013;62(2):137-45.
    

24. 
    Piernas C, Mendez MA, Ng SW, Gordon-Larsen P, Popkin BM. Low-calorie- and calorie-sweetened beverages: diet quality, food intake, and purchase patterns of US household consumers. Am J Clin Nutr. 2013 Dec 18. [Epub]
    

25. 
    Batis C, Sotres-Alvarez D, Gordon-Larsen P, Mendez MA, Adair L, Popkin B. Longitudinal analysis of dietary patterns in Chinese adults from 1991 to 2009. Br J Nutr. 2013 Dec 13:1-11
    

26. 
    Schröder H, Mendez MA, Gomez SF, Fíto M, Ribas L, Aranceta J, Serra-Majem L. Energy density, diet quality, and central body fat in a nationwide survey of young Spaniards. Nutrition. 2013 Nov-Dec;29(11-12):1350-5
    

27. 
    Schröder H, Ramos R, Baena-Díez JM, Mendez MA, Canal DJ, Fíto M, Sala J, Elosua R. Determinants of the transition from a cardiometabolic normal to abnormal overweight/obese phenotype in a Spanish population. Eur J Nutr. 2013 Eur J Nutr. 2014 Sep;53(6):1345-53.
    

28. 
    Valvi D, Casas M, Mendez MA, Ballesteros-Gómez A, Luque N, Rubio S, Sunyer J, Vrijheid M. Prenatal bisphenol a urine concentrations and early rapid growth and overweight risk in the offspring. Epidemiology. 2013 Nov;24(6):791-9.
    

29. 
    Duarte-Salles T, Mendez MA, Meltzer HM, Alexander J, Haugen M. Dietary benzo(a)pyrene intake during pregnancy and birth weight: associations modified by vitamin C intakes in the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa). Environ Int. 2013 Oct;60:217-23.
    

30. 
    Donaire-Gonzalez D, de Nazelle A, Seto E, Mendez M, Nieuwenhuijsen MJ, Jerrett M. Comparison of physical activity measures using mobile phone-based CalFit and Actigraph. J Med Internet Res. 2013 Jun 13;15(6): e111
    

31. 
    Casas M, Chatzi L, Carsin AE, Amiano P, Guxens M, Kogevinas M, Koutra K, Lertxundi N, Murcia M, Rebagliato M, Riaño I, Rodríguez-Bernal CL, Roumeliotaki T, Sunyer J, Mendez M, Vrijheid M. Maternal pre-pregnancy overweight and obesity, and child neuropsychological development: two Southern European birth cohort studies. Int J Epidemiol. 2013 Apr;42(2):506-517
    

32. 
    Valvi D, Mendez MA, Garcia-Esteban R, Ballester F, Ibarluzea J, Goñi F, Grimalt JO, Llop S, Marina LS, Vizcaino E, Sunyer J, Vrijheid M. Prenatal exposure to persistent organic pollutants and rapid weight gain and overweight in infancy. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2014 Feb;22(2):488-96.
    

33. 
    Casas M, Valvi D, Luque N, Ballesteros-Gomez A, Carsin AE, Fernandez MF, Koch HM, Mendez MA, Sunyer J, Rubio S, Vrijheid M. Dietary and sociodemographic determinants of bisphenol A urine concentrations in pregnant women and children. Environ Int. 2013 Mar 26;56C:10-18.
    

34. 
    Duarte-Salles T, von Stedingk H, Granum B, Gützkow KB, Rydberg P, Törnqvist M, Mendez MA, Brunborg G, Brantsæter AL, Meltzer HM, Alexander J, Haugen M. Dietary acrylamide intake during pregnancy and fetal growth-results from the Norwegian mother and child cohort study (MoBa). Environ Health Perspect. 2013 Mar;121(3):374-9.
    

35. 
    Huerta JM, Tormo MJ, Chirlaque MD, Gavrila D, Amiano P, Arriola L, Ardanaz E, Rodríguez L, Sánchez MJ, Mendez M, Salmerón D, Barricarte A, Burgui R, Dorronsoro M, Larrañaga N, Molina-Montes E, Moreno-Iribas C, Quirós JR, Toledo E, Travier N, González CA, Navarro C. Risk of type 2 diabetes according to traditional and emerging anthropometric indices in Spain, a Mediterranean country with high prevalence of obesity: results from a large-scale prospective cohort study. BMC Endocr Disord. 2013 Feb 6;13:7.
    

36. 
    Guerra S, Sartini C, Mendez M, Morales E, Guxens M, Basterrechea M, Arranz L, Sunyer J. Maternal prepregnancy obesity is an independent risk factor for frequent wheezing in infants by age 14 months. Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol. 2013 Jan;27(1):100-8.
    

37. 
    Duarte-Salles T, Mendez MA, Morales E, Bustamante M, Rodríguez-Vicente A, Kogevinas M, Sunyer J. Dietary benzo(a)pyrene and fetal growth: effect modification by vitamin C intake and glutathione S-transferase P1 polymorphism. Environ Int. 2012 Sep 15;45:1-8†.
    

38. 
    Valvi D, Mendez MA, Martinez D, Grimalt JO, Torrent M, Sunyer J, Vrijheid M. Prenatal Concentrations of PCBs, DDE, DDT and Overweight in Children: A Prospective Birth Cohort Study. Environ Health Perspect. 2012 Mar; 120(3)451-7.
    

39. 
    Chatzi L, Mendez M, Garcia R, Roumeliotaki T, Ibarluzea J, Tardón A, Amiano P, Lertxundi A, Iñiguez C, Vioque J, Kogevinas M, Sunyer J; INMA and RHEA study groups. Mediterranean diet adherence during pregnancy and fetal growth: INMA (Spain) and RHEA (Greece) mother-child cohort studies. Br J Nutr. 2012 Jan;107(1):135-45.
    

40. 
    Mendez MA, Kogevinas M. A comparative analysis of dietary intakes during pregnancy in Europe: A planned pooled analysis of birth cohort studies. Am J Clin Nutr 2011 Dec;94(6):1993S-9S.
    

41. 
    Guxens M, Mendez MA, Moltó-Puigmartí C, Julvez J, García-Esteban R, Forns J, Ferrer M, Vrijheid M, López-Sabater MC, Sunyer J. Breastfeeding, long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids in colostrum, and infant mental development. Pediatrics. 2011 Oct;128(4):e880-9.
    

42. 
    Guxens M, Aguilera I, Ballester F, Estarlich M, Fernández-Somoano A, Lertxundi A, Lertxundi N, Mendez MA, Tardón A, Vrijheid M, Sunyer J. Prenatal Exposure to Residential Air Pollution and Infant Mental Development: Modulation by Antioxidants and Detoxification Factors. Environ Health Perspect. 2012 Jan:120(1):144-9
    

43. 
    Benítez-Arciniega AA, Mendez MA, Baena-Díez JM, Rovira Martori MA, Soler C, Marrugat J, Covas MI, Sanz H, Llopis A, Schröder H. Concurrent and construct validity of Mediterranean diet scores as assessed by an FFQ. Public Health Nutr. 2011 Jul 11:1-7.
    

44. 
    Morales E, Bustamante M, González JR, Guxens M, Torrent M, Méndez MA, García-Esteban R, Julvez J, Forns J, Vrijheid M, Molto-Puigmarti C, López-Sabater MC, Estivill X, Sunyer J. Genetic Variants of the FADS Gene Cluster and ELOVL Gene Family, Colostrums LC-PUFA Levels, Breastfeeding, and Child Cognition. PLoS ONE 2011; 6(2): e17181.
    

45. 
    Mendez MA, Garcia-Esteban R, Guxens M, Vrijheid M, Kogevinas M, Goñi F, Fochs S, Sunyer J. Prenatal Organochlorine Compound Exposure, Rapid Weight Gain and Overweight in Infancy. Environ Health Perspect. 2011 Feb;119(2):272-8.
    

46. 
    Mendez MA, Popkin BM, Buckland G, Schroder H, Amiano P, Barricarte A et al. Alternative methods of accounting for under- and overreporting and dietary intake-obesity relationships. Am J Epidemiol. 2011 Feb 15;173(4):448-58
    

47. 
    Schröder H, Mendez MA, Ribas L, Covas M, Serra-Majem L. Mediterranean diet and anthropometric markers of abdominal fat mass in a representative national sample of young Spaniards. Int J Pediatr Obes. 2010 Dec;5(6):516-9.
    

48. 
    Vrijheid M, Martinez D, Aguilera I, Ballester F, Basterrechea M, Esplugues A, Guxens M, Larrañaga M, Lertxundi A, Mendez M, Murcia M, Santa Marina L, Villanueva CM, Sunyer J. Socioeconomic status and exposure to multiple environmental pollutants during pregnancy: evidence for environmental inequity? J Epidem Community Health. 2010
    

49. 
    Roman-Viñas B, Ortiz-Andrelluchi A, Mendez M, Sánchez-Villegas A, Peña Quintana L, Moreno Aznar L, Hermoso M, Serra-Majem L. Is the Food Frequency Questionnaire suitable to assess micronutrient intake adequacy for infants, children and adolescents? Maternal & Child Nutrition, Volume 6, Issue Supplement s2, pages 112–121, Oct 2010
    

50. 
    Duarte-Salles T, Mendez MA, Pessoa V, Guxens M, Aguilera I, Kogevinas M, Sunyer J. Smoking during pregnancy is associated with higher dietary intake of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) and poor diet quality. Public Health Nutrition. 2010 May 6:1-10.
    

51. 
    Mendez MA, Plana E, Guxens M, Foradada Morillo CM, Albareda RM, Garcia-Esteban R, Goñi F, Kogevinas M, Sunyer J. Seafood consumption in pregnancy and infant size at birth: results from a prospective Spanish cohort. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2010 64(3):216-22.
    

52. 
    Mendez MA, Covas MI, Marrugat J, Vila J, Schröder H. Glycemic load, glycemic index, and body mass index in Spanish adults. Am J Clin Nutr. 2009 89(1):316-22.
    

53. 
    Mendez MA, Torrent M, Julvez J, Ribas-Fitó N, Kogevinas M, Sunyer J. Maternal fish and other seafood intakes during pregnancy and child neurodevelopment at age 4 years. Public Health Nutr. 2009 12(10):1702-10.
    

54. 
    Thompson AL, Mendez MA, Borja JB, Adair LA, Zimmer CR, Bentley ME. Development and validation of the Infant Feeding Style Questionnaire. Appetite. 2009 53(2):210-21.
    

55. 
    Guxens M, Mendez MA, Julvez J, Plana E, Forns J, Basagaña X, Torrent M, Sunyer J. Cognitive function and overweight in preschool children. Am J Epidemiol. 2009 15;170(4):438-46.
    

56. 
    Mendez MA, Torrent M, Ferrer E, Ribas-Fitó N, Sunyer J. Maternal smoking very early in pregnancy is related to child overweight at age 5-7 y. Am J Clin Nutr. 2008 ;87(6):1906-13.
    

57. 
    Smink A, Ribas-Fito N, Garcia R, Torrent M, Mendez MA, Grimalt JO, Sunyer J. Exposure to hexachlorobenzene during pregnancy increases the risk of overweight in children aged 6 years. Acta Paediatr. 2008 97(10):1465-9.
    

58. 
    Mendez MA, Pera F, Agudo A, Bueno-de-Mesquita H et al and CA Gonzalez. Cereal fiber intake may reduce risk of gastric adenocarcinomas: The EPIC-EURGAST Study. Int J Cancer 2007 1;121(7):1618-23.
    

59. 
    Mendez MA, Popkin BM, Jakszyn P, Berenguer A, et al and CA Gonzalez. Adherence to a Mediterranean diet is associated with reduced 3-year incidence of obesity. J Nutr 2006 136(11):2934-8.
    

60. 
    MA Mendez, CA Monteiro, BM Popkin. Overweight exceeds underweight among women in most developing countries. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2005; 81:714-721.
    

61. 
    MA Mendez, R Cooper, T Forrester, A Luke, R Wilks, F Bennett. Higher income is more strongly associated with obesity than with obesity-related metabolic disorders in Jamaican adults. Int J Obesity 2004; 28:543-550.
    

62. 
    MA Mendez, S Wynter, R Wilks, T Forrester. Under- and overreporting of energy is related to obesity, lifestyle factors and food group intakes in Jamaican adults. Public Health Nutr 2004, 7: 9-19.
    

63. 
    MA Mendez, R Cooper, R Wilks, A Luke, T Forrester. Income, education and blood pressure in adults in Jamaica, a middle-income developing country. Int J Epidem 2003; 32: 400-8.
    

64. 
    MA Mendez, LS Adair. Severity and Timing of Stunting in the First Two Years of Life Affect Performance on Cognitive Tests in Late Childhood. J Nutr 1999; 129:1555-1562.
    

Teaching record, UNC-Chapel Hill

(i) Current courses

-Nutritional Epidemiology (NUTR 813/EPID 813), UNC-Chapel Hill, Spring 2013-present. Teach introductory course on nutritional epidemiology methods, covering issues including methods for assessing and analyzing dietary intake, nutritional status, and physical activity.

-Nutrition of Children and Mothers (NUTR 611). UNC-Chapel Hill, guest lectures, 2013-present. The fetal programming hypothesis.

-Reproductive and Perinatal Epidemiology (EPID 851). UNC-Chapel Hill, guest lecture, 2011-2014. Endocrine disruption and infant growth.

(ii) Students supervised at UNC

-PhD student, Nutritional Epidemiology, UNC-Chapel Hill: Bonnie Qin. Title: Dietary factors and cognitive decline in two longitudinal cohorts of older adults from Asia. Defense date: June 2014.

-Current PhD student, Nutritional Epidemiology, UNC-Chapel Hill: Xiaofan Xu. August 2014.
PhD Committees, UNC-Chapel Hill School of Public Health:

-Sarah Nahm (MCH) (current: Maternal diet, DNA methylation and child obesity)

-Melecia Wright (NUTR) (current: Breastfeeding, protein intake and adiposity and blood pressure from infancy to adulthood)

-Yanire Estrada (NUTR) (current: Dietary patterns and diabetes among Puerto Ricans)

-Lindsay Jaacks, NUTR (2014: Diet and type1 diabetes in China)

-Jennifer Poti, NUTR (2014: Processed food intakes, diet quality, and trends)

-Jessie Buckley, EPID (2014: Chemical exposures and obesity in US children )

-Kevin Mathias, NUTR (1014: Grain-based desserts, diet quality and trends)

-Niha Zubair, NUTR (2013: Nutritional factors and cardiometabolic risk clusters)

-Carolina Batis, NUTR (2013: Diet trajectories and diabetes)

-Carmen Piernas, NUTR (2013: Low calories sweeteners, diet quality and trends)
External Student/Postdoctoral Fellow Advisory or Evaluation Committees

-K award mentor: NIEHS postdoctoral fellow: Anne-Marie Jukic (Vitamin D and fertility)

-Doctoral committee, Instituto de Nutrition y Salud Publica: Sonia Rodriguez-Ramirez (Dietary predictors of weight loss in intervention trials; prevalence and impact of dietary measurement error)
Ongoing Research Support

R21ES023690 (Styblo/Mendez) 07/01/14-06/30/16 1.8 calendar months

NIH $150,000/year

The role of diet in diabetes associated with arsenic exposure. This project will use existing data and samples from the Chihuahua cohort (Mexico) to characterize the role of diet and specific nutrients in modulation of arsenic metabolism and risk of diabetes associated with arsenic exposure. Ultimately, results of this work will help to improve prevention and treatment of diabetes in populations chronically exposed to environmental or occupational arsenic.
70017 (Popkin) 07/01/12-06/30/15 .6 calendar months

RWJF $1,499,508/year

Evaluating US children's food purchases and caloric intake to gauge the food industry's impact on prevention. This project supports Years 3 and 4 of a rigorous, independent evaluation of the industry-led Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation (HWCF) initiative to reduce excess calories in consumer packaged goods (CPGs) consumed by U.S. children and adolescents (ages 2 to 19), with special attention to those in low-income and high-risk racial/ethnic populations.
UNC TrACS 09/01/14-09/01/15 $38,080

Role of phthalates and vitamin E in risk of diabetes. This pilot project uses existing data and samples from the Chihuahua cohort (Mexico) to explore whether this class of chemicals—widely used in food packaging and detected in 98% of the US population—is associated with higher risk of diabetes, and whether higher intakes of vitamin E may reduce susceptibility to these effects. Samples are currently being extracted
Completed Research Support, UNC

No Grant Number (Ng and Mendez) 2013

Carolina Population Center Summer in Residence Research Grant: Multi-method measurements of physical activity among adult cancer survivors. This project developed a grant proposal, including the collection of pilot data, to assess the feasibility of a multi-method smartphone and web-based approach to improve measures of low-to-moderate physical activity, the major determinant of physical activity levels in US adults. Current methods available for use in large-scale population studies are unable to adequately measure this type of activity, and thus provide poor insights on environmental factors that support this type of activity among adults from diverse socio-demographic groups and communities. Role: co-PI
No Grant Number (Mendez) 2012-2013

UNC Nutrition Obesity Research Center/Center for Environmental Health and Susceptibility: Prenatal exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) and risk of obesity and suboptimal metabolic function. These studies used data from a longitudinal birth cohort to explore the hypothesis that prenatal EDC exposures may increase the risk of overweight, and particularly of overweight accompanied by adverse cardio-metabolic profile in preschoolers. Building on earlier work by the PI in which several EDCs were associated with child obesity, analyses also explored the role of postnatal diet and activity patterns as modifiers of these health risks. Role: PI

No Grant Number (Mendez) 2012-2013

NC Cancer Hospitals Endowment Fund: Web-based 24h recalls to assess habitual diet among cancer survivors: A feasibility study. This project piloted the use of a user-friendly, validated web-based 24h diet recall in a cohort of cancer survivors, with a supplementary FFQ to improve estimation of episodic foods. This method provides a rapid, cost-effective, and valid approach for collecting dietary data in a large population. Key objectives included: (i) assessing diet quality among survivors, including compliance with guidelines and relationships with factors such as cancer type/stage, socioeconomic factors, and weight status; and (ii) providing diet feedback as part of a patient-centered approach to care. Role: PI