Undergraduate students Daphne Chi, Elisabeth Christina Kearney, Kayla Norris and Angela Zhuo represented the Sport Industry program at the Inaugural B1G Sports Business Challenge and placed 2nd among all participating institutions! They were advised by Dr. Brian Turner and Dr. Moetiz Samad. 👏👏👏

Several of our graduate students in the Graduate Society of Nutrition Sciences volunteered at the Mid Ohio Food Bank last week. They are pictured here from left to right: Kyra Foster, Ayse Gurer, Maheen Imtiaz, Daniel Do, and Evan Miller.

Associate Professor Deanna Wilkinson and Assistant Professor Autumn Bermea hosted the HDFS Alumni Career Event on October 29 for over a dozen alumni and more than 30 undergraduate students. Students departed with new connections, actionable information, and deep appreciation for our alumni.

Congratulations to the Chair of Human Sciences Erik Porfeli on his new appointment to serve as interim dean of the College of Education and Human Ecology beginning in 2026!👏👏👏

Dr. Shiqi Zhang recently graduated with a PhD in Nutrition and is now working as a postdoctoral fellow at the Center of Precision Medicine with a focus on Mass Spectrometry Imaging at UT San Antonio. Read more about how she's making an impact in the field.

Grad student Ashwini Chebbi presented at the Soter Women’s Health Research Symposium last month. Her poster, “Case Series: SPARK Pilot,” highlighted the positive responses of women with PCOS in the Symptoms of PCOS Ameliorated by Responses to Keto-adaptation (SPARK) Study conducted by SHEIS Labs.

Read all about the new study from Kinesiology Professor Jeff Volek's lab which links a ketogenic diet with a reduction in depression symptoms among college students.

PhD Candidate Alexis Pizzulo, Human Development and Family Science, presented “Biopsychosocial Predictors of Substance Abuse among Youth Experiencing Homelessness: A Multinomial Logistic Regression Analysis” at the Intervention Research in Systemic Family Therapy 2025 AAMFT TIN Conference.

Assistant Professor of Human Nutrition Lauren Roberson presented “Supporting Well-Being through Food: Effective Feeding Strategies for Dementia and Alzheimer’s Care" at the 2025 International Society of Neurogastronomy Symposium on August 17 in Philadelphia.

The Welcome Back Festival was held on Monday, August 25. It was well attended by students, faculty, and staff!

In a brand new and first-of-its-kind study published in JAMA Network Open, Consumer Sciences Professor Cäzilia Loibl and colleagues "used a unique dataset to show that patients with type 2 diabetes have significantly worse financial outcomes than other patients." news.osu.edu/a-financial-...

HN Associate Professor Chris Zhu & his lab have recently published a new study that shows how pesticides are impacting gut bacteria. They also found a species that partially protects against pesticide toxicity, a promising avenue for further research.

OSUN doctoral student Alicyn Dickman, advised by Dr. Sanja Ilic, was awarded first place in the ASN Emerging Leaders in Nutrition Science Poster Competition in the Nutritional Epidemiology/Dietary Patterns category. Congratulations!! 👏

Five of the people who made Forbes' 30 under 30 in Columbus list are current majors or alumni of our Department! Special congratulations to Hunter Armstrong, Caleb Downs, Madison Hilson, Will Howard, and Cotie McMahon! 👏🤩🏆

Congratulations to Dr. Balea Schumacher who just got her PhD in Health and Exercise Science! She also received the Outstanding Graduate Student Leadership Award. 👏🏆🤩 Here she is at the ceremony with Professor Keeley Pratt, Department Chair Erik Porfeli, and Associate Professor Leeann Lower-Hoppe.

Congratulations to recent graduate of the Adapted Physical Education PhD Program, Dr. Leslie Dillon! She received the Dean's Award for Excellence at the ceremony here with Dean Pope-Davis on her left and advisor Dr. Samuel Hodge on her right. 👏👏👏

Dr. Brittani Becher just graduated from the PhD program in Sport Management and received the Graduate Teaching Award. Congratulations! Here she is pictured with Kinesiology Professor Brian Turner and Human Sciences Chair Erik Porfeli.

Aminah Shahzad, a second-year master’s student in Consumer Sciences, Fashion and Retail Studies, received the Outstanding Graduate Student award. Congratulations, Aminah! 🤩👏🏆

Read about this year’s Big Dish, “Illuminating Brilliance: Powered by Champions, Driven by Opportunity,” and a special award for long-term hospitality faculty member Professor Jay Kandampully.