Overview
Welcome to the Department of Nutrition and Health (DNH) under the recently established
Division of Health Sciences in the prestigious College of Medicine and Health Sciences
at the UAEU. DNH boasts of being the first in the United Arab Emirates to offer a
degree program in nutrition over the past four decades. The department has grown since
then and currently offers four distinct internationally recognized programs including
the four-year undergraduate degree programs: BSc in Nutritional Science, and Bachelor
in Dietetics, and the two graduate programs: MSc in Human Nutrition, and PhD in Nutritional
Sciences.
The DNH programs are accredited by the UAE Ministry of Education. In addition, the
Coordinated Program in Dietetics is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Education
in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND) of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND)
in the USA. This is the only program in the country and among the five programs that
are accredited by ACEND outside the USA. The Nutritional Science Program is accredited
by the Association for Nutrition (AfN) in the United Kingdom. It is the third program
accredited by AfN outside the UK. The MSc in Human Nutrition is an affiliated program
with the University College London (UCL) in the UK.
We aim to prepare graduates to be the leaders and change agents in the field of nutrition
sciences and dietetics contributing towards improving the health and wellbeing of
the society at the national and international levels.
We are committed to providing the high standard of education and scientific research
through our diversely qualified faculty and trained technical staff, state of the
art facilities and infra-structure.
Our programs are best suited for individuals who are motivated to advance their knowledge
and skills, and build their careers in the professions of nutrition and dietetics
education, research and service.
Facilities
The Department of Nutrition and Health (DNH) has several laboratories that are used
for teaching, research, and training. The laboratories contain a broad range of instruments
for biomedical, biochemical, hematological, anthropometric, and food preparation and
analysis. All these laboratories are located in Building E-3 UAEU Shared labs.
Teaching Laboratories: DNH teaching laboratories provide students with first-hand experience with course
concepts:
Biomedical Analysis Laboratory: This lab. is dedicated to analyzing blood chemistry and hematological parameters and implementing
the biochemical results to assess nutritional status. It provides the students with an opportunity the chance to deal with biochemical equipment
that is used in a hospital setting. The Biomedical Analysis Laboratory serves both
in teaching and research for graduate and undergraduate students.
Available equipment in the Biomedical Analysis Lab. include:
- Clinical Chemistry Analyzer Cobas C111
- The immunoassay analyzer Cobas E411
- Clinical Chemistry Analyzer Reflotron® Plus
- HemoCue HbA1c 501 Analyzer
- HemoCue Hb 201+
- HemoCue Glucose 201 R
- Centrifuges
Research Laboratories
Biochemical Nutrition Research Laboratory: This lab. is dedicated for the biochemical nutrition research to support undergraduate and graduate
students in their research. It also serves the faculty research.
The Liquid Chromatography systems in lab 0006 enable a better differentiation and
quantitative detection in many applications: Food testing, Bioanalysis, oxidative
stress and damages biomarkers, metabolism screening, environmental monitoring, clinical,
forensic, pharmaceutical drugs analysis and more…
Ankom Dietary Fiber Analyzer used to recover Insoluble Dietary Fiber (IDF), Soluble
Dietary Fiber (SDF)and total Dietary Fiber (TDF) residue from Food and/or feed samples.
Accelerated Solvent Extract –Dionex ASE 350 is used for extraction of Organic and
Ionic compounds from solid and semisolid samples using common solvents at elevated
temperature and pressures which results in increased extraction kinetics. ASE 350
can conduct a wide range of food safety related tests, environmental, pharmaceutical,
polymers and consumer product industries.
Available equipment in the Biochemical Nutrition Research Lab. include:
- ACQUITY UPLC system – (TQD MS Mass Spectrometer, TUV detector, Binary solvent manager
and Sample manager)
- Acquity UPLC-H Class system (Sample manager-FTN, Quaternary solvent manager, ELS detector,
Fluorescence detector, RI detector and PDA eλ)
- HPLC with UV/VIS Detector, Fluorescence Detector, Refractive Index Detector.
- Furnace, Carbolite UK– CWF- 12/36
- Fat Extractor -XT15-ANKOM
- Ultra-Centrifuge
- Ultra-Deep Freezers-Binder
- Accelerated Solvent Extract Dionex ASE 350 -Thermo-Scientific.
- ANKOM Dietary Fiber Analyzer
- Water system purification Milli-Q-IQ 7000-Millipore Merck
- Plate reader Spectrophotometer Multiscan GO -Thermo Scientific
- Multi-mode plate reader Spectrophotometer – Victor Nivo – Perkin Elmer
Cell Culture Laboratory: A number of cancer cell lines, muscle, liver and adipose cells are maintained in
the laboratory. The lab. supports the research projects of DNH students, faculty,
as well as other colleges. It provides cell culture analysis to determine the anti-cancerous
properties of the different phytochemicals and peptides.
Available equipment in the Cell Culture lab. includes:
- Laminar air flow
- Co2 incubator
- Fluorescence microscope
Research
The Department of Nutrition and Health engages in research related to major local
and global health challenges and to space exploration. Our faculty members conduct
different type of studies including in vitro, pre-clinical, and clinical studies.
Some of the major areas of research pursued by the department include:
- Community-based nutrition and health promotion: Investigating the interrelations between various health conditions such as cardiometabolic
diseases, COVID-19, and eating habits, lifestyle, mental health and overall health
of populations in the UAE and the Middle Eastern region; Initiating population-based
birth cohort studies
- Behavioral nutrition and interventions: Characterizing, understanding and modifying lifestyle behaviors such as salt consumption,
using innovative approaches including digital tools
- Nutrition, physical activity and wellness: Identifying ways to improve athletic and physical activity performance via sports
nutrition
- Diet sustainability: Assessing the awareness and ways to promote diet sustainability in UAE
- Dietary bioactive compounds: Exploring how natural compounds, such as polyphenols can modulate the development
of diseases; identification of natural compounds from local resources like date seeds
and characterization of their bioactivity; modifying dietary fibers using novel methods
and determining their physiological significance
- Nutrition in Health and Disease Across the Life Span: Elucidating the role of nutrition in diverse health conditions such as autism spectrum
disorder, post-bariatric surgery and pre-maturity
- Life Sciences in Space research: Exploring lifestyle, physiological changes and potential countermeasures in ground-based
analog studies
Faculty
Note: If calling from outside the UAEU organization, dial (+971 3 713) before the
extension.
Staff
Note: If calling from outside the UAEU organization, dial (+971 3 713) before the
extension.
General Enquiries
Thank you for your interest in the Department of Nutrition and Health. We welcome
your query and encourage you to contact us using the information below:
United Arab Emirates University,
College of Medicine and Health Sciences
P.O.Box: 15551, Al Ain, UAE
Email: Cmhs.office@uaeu.ac.ae
