Virginia Utermohlen
Prof Assoc
2007
HENutrSciWeb Bio Page
Current Activities
Current Professional Activities
Cornell University Graduate Field Membership: Nutrition
Faculty premedical adviser, College of Human Ecology
Current Research Activities
The relationship of sensory sensitivity (taste, smell, and vision) to
determinants of personality, food choice, attitudes toward food
and eating, choice of profession, short-term memory, and academic performance.
Biography
Biographical Statement
After medical school and training in pediatrics, Dr. Utermohlen
completed a post-doctoral fellowship in immunology at Rockefeller
University, where her initial research was focussed on the immunology
of autoimmune disease. On coming to Cornell, she initially
continued with this interest, but, in the context of her appointment to
the Division of Nutritional Sciences, she turned to considering how
taste and smell sensitivity are related to personality, food choice,
eating attitudes and behavior, and choice of profession.
Through her teaching activities (which have won her both the
Distinguished Teaching Award of the New York State College of Human
Ecology and State University of New York Chancellor’s Award for
Excellence in Teaching) she has become interested in the ways students
think, and how best to foster superior academic performance. She
is currently turning this interest into a research program on the
relationships among taste and smell sensitivity, field dependence,
memory, attitudes towards reading and learning, and their consequences
for academic success.
Education
- M.D. 1968 - Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Medicine
- A.B. 1964 - Washington University, Physics
- 1968-1971 Internship and Residency, Pediatrics, St. Luke's Hospital Medical Center
- 1971-1974 Post-doctoral Fellow, The Rockefeller University
Administrative Responsibilities
Faculty pre-health advisor, College of Human Ecology
Courses, Websites, Pubs
Courses Taught
| NS 300 |
Special Studies for Undergraduates |
| NS 401 |
Empirical Research |
| NS 402 |
Supervised Fieldwork |
| NS 403 |
Teaching Apprenticeship |
| NS 441 |
Nutrition and Disease |
| NS 660 |
Special Topics in Nutrition |
| NS 999 |
Doctoral Thesis and Research |
Related Websites
www.tastescience.org
Publications
Brownlie IV, T, Utermohlen, V, Hinton, PS, Haas, JD. Tissue iron
deficiency without anemia impairs adaptation in endurance capacity
after aerobic training in previously untrained women. American
Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 79(3): 437-443, 2004.
Utermohlen, V. Articles on “Eating,” (with David R. Bauer),
“Drug-nutrient Interactions,” and “Eating Disorders” for the
Encyclopedia of Food and Culture, Solomon H. Katz, Editor in
Chief. Scribner Library of Daily Life, Charles H. Scribner’s
Sons, New York, 2003.
Utermohlen, V. Was Proust a taster? Taste sensitivity to
6-n-propylthiouracil and the relationships among memory, imagination,
synesthesia, and emotional response to visual experience. Food and
Foodways. 10 (3): 99-109, 2002.
Bilukha, OO, Utermohlen, V. Internalization of Western standards
of appearance, body dissatisfaction and dieting in urban educated
Ukrainian females. Eur. J. Eat. Disord. Rev. 10: 120-137, 2002.
Biloukha, OO, Utermohlen, V. Healthy eating in Ukraine:
attitudes, barriers and information sources. Public Health Nutr.
4 : 207-215, 2001
Biloukha, OO, Utermohlen, V. Correlates of food consumption and
perceptions of foods in an educated urban population in Ukraine.
Food Qual. Prefer. 11: 475-485, 2000
Utermohlen, V. Biological Demands and the Timing of Meals. Food and Foodways 6:187-193, 1996.