Michelle Mendez
Ph.D., Assistant Professor,
Nutrition
CPC Office: 137 E Franklin St, Room 6705
CPC Phone Number: (919) 962-6101
Dr. Mendez's Curriculum Vitae
Dr. Mendez's publications in PubMed
Dr. Mendez's CPC publications
Mendez is an expert in methods related to dietary data collection and analysis, and in recent years has brought this expertise to bear in collaborative research exploring whether dietary factors may help to mitigate health effects of certain contaminants, including chemical obesogens and diabetogens. Her research aims to identify not only direct benefits of nutrition for health, but also how nutrition may help to reduce health disparities linked to pollutant exposure. Her recent published work includes research on increased risk of child obesity following prenatal exposure to organochlorine compounds—particularly among children on high-fat diets, antioxidant vitamins as modifiers of impact of maternal intakes of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) on birth weight, maternal consumption of fruits and vegetables as a modulator of the adverse effect of air pollution on infant neurodevelopment. Using data from this population-based study in Chihuahua, Mexico, she is currently exploring associations between arsenic exposure and risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease, including the role of B vitamin intakes in modifying the metabolism and adverse health effects of arsenic. Perhaps most importantly, Mendez’ research emphasizes identifying and addressing methodological challenges in nutritional epidemiology, focusing on approaches to improve dietary assessment, and unveiling health effects of obesogenic diets by incorporating environmental exposures which may affect susceptibility. In her extensive experience with dietary data collection and analysis in several food cultures, she has consistently incorporated methodological innovations to improve the estimation of exposure to dietary contaminants and nutrients, to correct for error and bias in dietary intake reporting, and to refine intake estimates by taking into account factors influencing bioavailability. Via improved measurement, her research seeks to gain a better understanding of the role of nutrition in population health disparities. Mendez will continue to explore how population disparities in exposure to contaminants may be exacerbated by disparities in dietary inadequacies. This negative synergy would contribute to inequalities in obesity and related chronic diseases. As part of this effort, Mendez will explore how disparities in exposure to low levels of arsenic among participants in CPC’s China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) contribute to the growing epidemic of diabetes, which has been rapidly increasing among subjects of low SES, as well as among subjects of normal weight. Follow-up data collection in the CHNS will enable her to explore these relationships prospectively. She will also undertake similar research in Mexico. In both settings, she will prospectively explore the role of disparities in nutrients such as folate and vitamin B12 in helping to mitigate risk of diabetes and other chronic disease outcomes. In her U.S. research in the US, where she collaborates with Popkin, Ng and others, she will continue exploring the role of nutrition in disparities in obesity and related diseases, employing methods of collecting and analyzing data that improve the validity and precision with which diet and physical activity are characterized.
Primary Research Areas:
Population Health
Information updated on 6/1/2015
