Audio File

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Introduction

During the past recent decades, nutritional sciences have gained noteworthy attention considering the rising trend of non-contagious diseases and pivotal role of nutrition in their occurrence. Furthermore, healthcare centers are greatly concerned with the health issues associated with the excessive weight gain and weight loss- malnutrition and obesity. 

Despite noticeable advancement in medicine in Iran, progress is yet to be achieved in the fields of basic sciences and nutrition. This goal could only be attained by the group endeavor and unwavering support of the authorities at the ministry of health, universities and faculties. Evidently, the foremost part of the budget and attention must be allocated and invested in the primary-level prevention of diseases, which will naturally take time to accomplish.

By God's grace and with the efforts of four young medical practitioners and experts in nutritional sciences graduated from the creditable universities of the United Kingdom, this task has been fulfilled by Mashhad University of Medical Sciences through proper planning. The following collection consists of a 20-year plan, designed by the department of nutritional sciences for educational, research and healthcare purposes.   

Background

Foundation of the Nutrition Department in Mashhad University of Medical Sciences

The Department of Nutritional Sciences was separated from the Department of Biophysics in 2005 (1384 AH) and, following the return of nutrition students from abroad, was subsequently established under the title of the Department of Biochemistry and Nutrition. Through the dedicated efforts of the faculty members and the support of the School, approval for admitting the first cohort of M.Sc. students in Nutrition was obtained in 2009 (1388 AH). In 2010 (1389 AH), the Nutrition Department was separated from the Department of Biochemistry and Nutrition and began operating independently under the leadership of Dr. Mohsen Ne’mati as its first department chair.

In 2015 (1394 AH), the M.Sc. program in Food Safety and Hygiene was launched within the Nutrition Department, and its first cohort of students was admitted in 2016 (1395 AH). In 2021 (1400 AH), the M.Sc. program in Public Health Nutrition (Community Nutrition) was added to the department, with its first group of students admitted in 2022 (1401 AH). In 2023 (1402 AH), the Department of Nutrition was divided into two independent units—Nutritional Sciences and Clinical Nutrition—and the Department of Nutritional Sciences began its independent activities.

The Department of Nutritional Sciences currently comprises six faculty members and is honored to educate and train graduate students in the M.Sc. programs of Food Safety and Hygiene and Community Nutrition. The department aspires to take further significant steps in advancing education and research in these fields.

Objectives and Perspectives

-Devising a coherent, community-based educational curriculum in accordance with the national culture and development in order to:

1. Operate and apply nutritional sciences (from the cells to the community) and expand the administrative and service skills of the graduates in this major.

2. Adopt a cross-sectoral approach in nutrition and development by considering nutritional sciences as a basic human right in the proper design and effectual, cooperative management in the related programs.

3. Provide research and education with the purpose of achieving food safety and improving the quality of life in the community.

-Determining research priorities and short-term, midterm and long-term policies in the field of food and nutritional sciences.

-Offering specialized consultation to the national organizations, as well as monitoring and evaluation of nutritional status in the community. 

-Promoting research and science for the students and experts of nutritional sciences in various levels and creating optimization mechanisms to overcome the obstacles in research and education.

-Designing and managing the related programs focusing on food and nutritional sciences and providing efficient, moderate services in this regard.

-Developing and applying the bottom-up (cooperative) approach in the management of food and nutrition programs.

-Creating and executing an integrated, cross-sectoral approach in the education, research and apprenticeship of food and nutritional sciences.

-Creating coordination of research and educational activities and adjustment of educational programs for nutritional sciences training.

-Assessing research projects and their proposal to the education-research section of the faculty.

-Performing targeted educational-research efforts by the faculty members in order to obtain higher rankings in international universities.