Who We Are
Christina Economos, Ph.D.
Dr. Economos is an Assistant Professor of Nutrition at Tufts University’s Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy and a Research Scientist at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University. Dr. Economos received a Bachelor of Science from Boston University, a Master of Science in Applied Physiology and Nutrition from Columbia University and a doctorate in Nutrition Science from Tufts University. Her research efforts focus on the interaction among exercise, diet, body composition, and bone health through longitudinal studies and lifestyle interventions to prevent osteoporosis and obesity, starting early in life. Her work emphasizes on techniques that accurately measure and interventions that optimally develop and preserve skeletal muscle and bone mass throughout the lifespan.
Dr. Economos is the Principal Investigator of two large children’s studies. The BONES Project, a $2.5 million dollar study funded by the National Institutes of Health is targeting 1,200 early elementary school children. The intervention includes physical activity and calcium-rich snacks to increase bone density and muscular strength as well as active learning to promote self-esteem and confidence in first through third graders. Shape Up Somerville, EAT SMART. PLAY HARD, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is a 1.5 million dollar obesity prevention intervention also targeting first through third graders. She also directs the Tufts Longitudinal Health Study, which is researching the relationships between health knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, and physiologic outcomes of college-age students over time. Dr. Economos is dedicated to the continuous development of communication strategies and public health policies that deal with the complex relationships between nutrition, health, disease and human performance. Prior to joining Tufts, Dr. Economos directed the country’s largest statewide osteoporosis prevention initiative for two years. In addition to her teaching and research she serves on the Massachusetts Osteoporosis Awareness Program Advisory Committee and is a past appointed member of the Massachusetts Governor’s Committee on Physical Fitness and Sports.
- Phone: 617-636-3784
- Email: christina.economos@tufts.edu
Annie Wetter, Ph.D.
Annie Wetter PhD, CSCS, directed the project from 1999–2001 while a post-doctoral fellow in Nutrition at Tufts. Currently, Dr. Wetter serves as an Associate Professor of Nutrition and Dietetics at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. TLHS remains one of the many projects that make up her research activities.
Jeanne Goldberg, Ph.D.
Jeanne P. Goldberg, Ph.D., R.D., is a professor of nutrition and director of the graduate program in nutrition communication and the Center on Nutrition Communicaton at Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy. She received her B.S. in foods and nutrition from Simmons College in Boston, her M.Ed. and her Ph.D. in nutrition from Tufts. An active nutrition researcher, Goldberg served as principal investigator on the research that led to the selection of the Food Guide Pyramid by the USDA/DHHS. She has recently served as co-principal investigator on Sisters Together, a five-year NIH-funded communications project that focused on promoting healthy lifestyles in minority women. Currently she is co-principal investigator on a five-year program intervention that promotes healthy lifestyles in early elementary school children in diverse communities. The Center on Nutrition Communication, which she directs, maintains Tufts Nutrition Navigator, a resource to guide the public to the best information on nutrition and fitness on the Internet.
Dr. Goldberg is a well-known consultant to the food industry and government on consumer nutrition issues. She served as a member of the FDA’s Food Advisory Committee from 1992-1996 and is a trustee of the International Food Information Council Foundation. She has authored numerous articles in scientific journals. For over 20 years, she co-authored a bi-weekly newspaper column on nutrition, nationally syndicated by the Washington Post Writer’s Group. She also co-authored Dr. Jean Mayer’s Diet and Nutrition. Goldberg is a frequent guest lecturer on topics associated with nutrition and health communications.
