Food Composition Database Addresses International Foods

When is a lentil not just a lentil? The Minnesota Nutrient Data System (NDS), the gold-standard food composition database for U.S. dietary research, offers nutrient data on just one lentil, the American Lentil. The entries for lentil in India’s Nutritive Value of Indian Foods tell a different tale, of the Brown Lentil, the Bengal Gram, and the Black, Green and Red Grams – all differing in nutritive values from each other and the plain old American Lentil. When our nutrition research goes global, so, too, must our ability to collect, quantify, and analyze nutrition data from other countries. More >

N/I Unit
Welcome

The Nutrition/Infection Unit, a division of the Department of Public Health and Community Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine under the direction of Christine Wanke, MD, is engaged in research in nutrition and infectious diseases in the U.S. and around the world in locations such as Argentina, India, Kenya, Pakistan, and Vietnam.

Our research addresses nutritional and metabolic aspects of HIV/AIDS with and without drug abuse, as well as international health issues such as diarrheal diseases and growth faltering. Learn more about our research.

The Nutrition/Infection Unit is home to TNC-CDAAR, the Tufts University Nutrition Collaborative-Center for Drug Abuse and AIDS Research. TNC represents a partnership between Tufts, Brown and Johns Hopkins, and their affiliated hospitals. The purpose of a CDAAR is to “enhance basic, clinical, epidemiological, prevention, and applied research on drug abuse and HIV infection through the support of shared resources.” Learn more about TNC-CDAAR.

The Nutrition/Infection Unit also develops and implements the nutrition medical education curriculum for medical students and residents at Tufts University School of Medicine, in part through the Nutrition Academic Award Program.

Additionally, the microbiology laboratory conducts studies on diarrhea, lactobacilli strains, and antimicrobial drugs, and the biochemistry laboratory is engaged in fatty acid analyses, lipid research, and hormone studies.

Recent Papers
HIV in Women:
Medical, Socio-Economic, and Nutritional Data from the Nutrition for Healthy Living Cohort

Abstract

We have followed a cohort of HIV-infected adults for HIV, nutrition, metabolic and cardiovascular factors since 1995 and explored gender-related differences in disease and social status. At baseline, we found that women were more likely than men to be living in poverty (74% vs. 43%, p< .001), to be responsible for children at home (42% vs. 6%, p <.001) and to smoke (64% vs. 48%). Women were less likely to have social support from friends and relatives (p=0.001) and were more likely to be depressed (52% vs. 39%, p< .001). Women had higher CD4 counts, but complained of more physical symptoms than men (p=0.09) and fewer reported being in “excellent health” (7% vs. 12% (p =0.03)). Although reported adherence to HAART regimens was similar in men and women, few of these differences between men and women resolved when women and men taking HAART were compared at their most recent visit.

Keywords: HIV; gender; HAART; disease status; nutrition

Recent
Publications

Quach LA, Wanke CA, Schmid CH, Gorbach SL, Mkaya Mwamburi D, Mayer KH, Spiegelman D, Tang AM. Drug use and other risk factors related to lower body mass index among HIV-infected individuals. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2008 Feb 1; [Epub ahead of print]

Full List of our Published Works

HIV & Nutrition
Consultation Clinic

HIV+ patients with concerns about nutrition, weight, and/or metabolism (body shape changes, insulin resistance, or dyslipidemia) can consult with Nutrition/Infection Unit experts at the this twice-monthly clinic devoted to these issues. Call the infectious diseases clinic at Tufts Medical Center for more information or to make an appointment: 617-636-7010.

ACASI
Interactive Demo

ACASI stands for Audio Computer-Assisted Self-Interview. This questionnaire system is especially well suited for collecting sensitive data on topics such as alcohol and illegal drug use or risky sexual behavior. ACASI systems can be custom built by us for your studies. Learn more about ACASI, and download a free interactive ACASI demo.

Christina McCormack
Outstanding Employee Award

Christina McCormack,
project manager in the Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, received the Tufts School of Medicine’s Outstanding Employee Award. Christina has been a project manager in the department for 13 years and a liaison to the IRB for various human subjects research grants in the U.S. as well as India, Vietnam, and Argentina.

Dr. Gorbach
Honored by IDSA

Sherwood L. Gorbach, MD, Emeritus Director of the Nutrition/Infection Unit, has been honored with the Alexander Fleming lifetime achievement award from the Infectious Diseases Society of America. The award, named after the discoverer of penicillin, is granted to an IDSA member or fellow in recognition of a career that reflects major contributions to the acquisition and dissemination of knowledge about infectious diseases. We congratulate him on this remarkable accomplishment.

New!
Customized ACASI, CAPI and CASI Data Collection Systems for Windows-based Netbooks, Laptops and Tablets

Easy, Portable
Data Collection Tool!

We can create custom ACASI systems for netbooks. View our custom ACASI netbook samples.

Scientific
Presentations

Recent research is presented each month at our division meeting. See full list of speakers for 2008-12.