McKeown Research Lab

Nicola McKeown, PhD

Research Professor, Programs in Nutrition

nmckeown@bu.edu

The primary goal of Dr. McKeown’s research is to examine how diet quality — and its interaction with genetics and other -omics — is associated with healthy aging and disease risk.

Biography

Dr. Nicola McKeown is a Research Professor in the Department of Health Sciences at Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at Boston University. She is internationally renowned for her research examining the role of whole grains in promoting health. She has made significant contributions to improving our understanding of the impact of different carbohydrate sources, in particular sugar-sweetened beverages, on abdominal adiposity, metabolic syndrome, and diabetes risk factors. The primary goal of Dr. McKeown’s research is to examine how diet quality is associated with healthy aging and to consider how genetic modification alters diet-disease risk as we age. Dr. McKeown also collaborates on projects to understand the intersection between improving health and creating healthy, sustainable diets.  She is the PI of an innovative project to develop a publicly available dietary fiber database, which compiles and synthesizes the current and emerging literature linking dietary fibers to human health outcomes. She is the former PI of the Adhering to Dietary Approaches for Personal Taste (ADAPT) study, the first web-based study designed to capture data on diet and behavior among followers of popular diets, particularly more plant-based diets.  Dr. McKeown has been an invited peer reviewer for many of the most prominent health and nutrition journals and is a member of the American Society of Nutrition and the American Heart Association. Dr. McKeown received a B.S. in Human Nutrition from the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland and a Ph.D. in Nutritional Epidemiology from the University of Cambridge in England. She has also been a Framingham Heart Study Investigator for over 20 years.

Areas of Research

  • To identify dietary patterns and foods that promote healthy aging.
  • To understand the impact of genetic modification on relationships between diet and cardiometabolic risk factors.
  • To identify omic “signatures” of fiber-rich foods and detect pathways that may link dietary fiber to healthy aging.
  • To understand motivations and predictors of adherence to popular diets.
  • To apply  novel dietary assessment methods and utilize biomarkers of intake in population studies.

Current Courses

  • SAR HS776 Nutrition Epidemiology (Fall ’22, ’23)
  • SAR HS450 Non-Infectious Diseases (Spring ’22, ’23, ’24)

Professional Affiliations & Memberships

  • American Society for Nutrition (ASN) – Active
  • American Heart Association – Active
  • The Obesity Society (TOS) – Intermittent

Awards/Distinctions

  • 2014 American Society of Nutrition – Recipient of the General Mills Bell Institute of Health and Nutrition – Innovation Award
  • 2015 American Heart Association (AHA) –  2015 Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health Council Award for publication being in the top 10
  • 2016-2021 – Member of Tufts Nutrition Advisory Committee
  • 2020 Finalist Danone International Prize for Alimentation (DIPA) Award – Top ten finalist (out of 40) that recognizes promising mid-career researchers from Europe, North America, and Asia.

Board member/Advisor

  • 2009-Present: Editorial Board Member Nutrition Today
  • 2012-Present: Scientific Advisor Whole Grains Council,
  • 2009-2011: Editorial Board Member, British Journal of Nutrition
  • 2015-2021: Editorial Member -Tufts Health and Nutrition Letter
  • 2015-2020: Consulting Editor “Change your Diet, Change your Life,” a special report published by the editors of Tufts Health and Nutrition Letter.
  • 2016-2021 : Member of Tufts Nutrition Advisory Committee

Working Group Member