Martin T. Wells, Ph.D., joined the Cornell faculty in 1987 and is the Charles A. Alexander Professor of Statistical Sciences. He is also a Professor of Social Statistics, Professor of Clinical Epidemiology and Health Services Research at Weill Medical School, an Elected Member of the Cornell Law School Faculty, as well as the Director of Research in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations. He teaches statistical methodology to undergraduate and graduate students in fields such as agriculture, biology, epidemiology, finance, law, medicine, nutrition, social science, and veterinary medicine as well as graduate courses in statistics.
Evaluating Methods in Precision NutritionCornell Course
Course Overview
In this course, you will analyze cutting-edge research and develop critical evaluation skills as you master the emerging field of precision nutrition. You'll explore how personalized nutrition approaches are transforming dietary interventions and health outcomes.
Starting with core precision nutrition concepts, you will examine current research approaches and methodologies. You'll build the expertise to evaluate research confidently, learning systematic approaches to analyze scientific papers — essential skills for both academic research and evidence-based practice.
Through guided evaluations of landmark precision nutrition studies, you will explore the field's evolution and future directions. You'll synthesize research findings, extract practical insights, and understand their impact on clinical applications.
Finally, you will create research questions using the PICO (population, intervention, comparison, outcome) framework to address current research gaps.
You are required to have completed the following course or have equivalent experience before taking this course:
- Foundations of Precision Nutrition
Key Course Takeaways
- Discuss the current approaches utilized by ongoing precision nutrition studies
- Outline the steps of performing a critical analysis of a scientific paper
- Conduct critical analyses of foundational studies in precision nutrition
- Interpret nutrition study findings and their future applications
- Design research questions that address gaps in precision nutrition using PICO methodology

How It Works
Course Authors
Saurabh Mehta is a physician with training and expertise in nutrition, epidemiology, infectious disease, and diagnostics. Dr. Mehta is currently the Janet and Gordon Lankton Professor in the Division of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell University and serves on its executive leadership team. He is also the founding director of the Cornell Center for Precision Nutrition and Health and co-director of the NIH-funded Center for Point of Care Diagnostics for Nutrition, Infection, and Cancer as part of the POCTRN network. Dr. Mehta is the program director of the NIH-supported training program on artificial intelligence and precision nutrition. He also co-leads the Research Coordinating Center for the NIH’s Nutrition for Precision Health Initiative and directs the Program in International Nutrition at Cornell.
The central theme of Dr. Mehta’s research is the interplay between nutrition and disease, including facilitating field-friendly assessment for both and elucidating how nutrition can be used as a modifiable risk factor to improve health and associated outcomes, often in the context of pregnancy and early childhood. This is achieved through a combination of active surveillance programs, the invention of point-of-care diagnostics, and randomized controlled trials primarily in India, sub-Saharan Africa, and Latin America.
Dr. Mehta received his medical degree from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi, India, and followed it up with a doctoral degree in Epidemiology and Nutrition from Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S. His work has been recognized with multiple awards, including a NIH Technology Accelerator Challenge Prize for Innovative Global Health Diagnostics, the Norman Kretchmer Memorial Award for Nutrition and Development, the Rainer Gross Prize for Innovations in Nutrition and Health, and the SUNY Chancellor Award for Scholarship and Creative Activities.
Who Should Enroll
- Health and nutrition professionals
- Data scientists
- Biopharma professionals
- Healthtech entrepreneurs and consultants
- Medical scientists
- Food scientists
- Agriculture and food systems experts
- Graduate students, postdocs, and academic researchers
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