Rebecca Stoltzfus
Professor
2007
HENutrSciWeb Bio Page
Current Activities
Current Professional Activities
- Food and Nutrition Board of the National Academy of Sciences, 2005-present
- Journal of Nutrition, Associate Editor, 2000-present
- World Health Organization Communicable Diseases Prevention and Control Program, Technical Advisor, 2000-present
- Goshen College Board of Directors, 1999-present
- Program Advisory Committee, Helen Keller International, 2007-present
Current Research Activities
The goal of my research program to improve the health and well being of women and children in resource-poor environments by improving their nutritional status. Current major research projects include:
- Helminth infections and growth, appetite, and anemia in children under 2 years, and elucidating potential immunological mechanisms that might mediate those effects (in collaboration with the Ministry of Health of Zanzibar, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine)
- A clinic-randomized trial of intervention packages to prevent severe pregnancy anemia and its consequences pregnancy in Zanzibari women (in collaboration with the Ministry of Health of Zanzibar, and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health)
- Development and evaluation of strategies to support infant feeding for babies of HIV-infected mothers in Haiti (in collaboration with GHESKIO Centers) and in Zimbabwe (in collaboration with ZVITAMBO and the Ministry of Health of Zimbabwe).
- Maternal and infant acceptability of a fortified processed complementary food in Zanzibar (in collaboration with the Ministry of Health of Zanzibar).
- Iron status, anemia, and HIV infection in Zimbabwean mothers and babies (in collaboration with the ZVITAMBO Project of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health).
- Mainstreaming Nutrition Initiative (in collaboration with the International Centre for Diarrheoal Disease Research, Bangladesh).
Biography
Biographical Statement
Rebecca Stoltzfus holds a Ph.D.in Human nutrition from Cornell University (1992) and a B.A. in Chemistry from Goshen College (1984). From 1992-2002, she was assistant and then associate professor in the Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where she continues to hold an adjunct appointment. She joined the Division of Nutritional Sciences in 2002 as an associate professor and was promoted to professor in 2005.
She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences Food and Nutrition Board, an Associate Editor of the Journal of Nutrition, Past President of the Society for International Nutrition Research, and a member of the WHO Expert Advisory Panel on General Parasitology. She has participated and chaired several WHO consultative committees related to international micronutrient nutrition. Her research focuses on the causes and consequences of malnutrition, especially anemia and micronutrient malnutrition, in women and children in developing countries. She currently directs the Program in International Nutrition, and co-directs Cornell's Global Health Program.
Education
Ph.D. 1992 - Cornell University, Human Nutrition
M.S. 1988 - Cornell University, Human Nutrition
B.A. 1984 - Goshen College, Chemistry
Administrative Responsibilities
Director, Program in International Nutrition
Co-Director, Cornell Program in Global Health (with Prof. Warren Johnson, WCMC)
Courses, Websites, Pubs
Courses Taught
NS 306 Nutrition Problems in Developing Nations
NS 206/BioSoc 260 Introduction to Global Health
Publications
Alatorre Rico J, Kordas K, Lopez P, Rosado JL, Garcia Vargas G, Cebrian ME, Stoltzfus RJ. The efficacy of iron and/or zinc supplementation on cognitive performance of lead-exposed Mexican school children: a randomized, placebo-controlled trial. Pediatrics 2006; 117:518-527.
Miller MF, Stoltzfus RJ, Iliff PF, Malaba LC, Mbuya NV, the ZVITAMBO study group, Humphrey JH. Impact of maternal and neonatal vitamin A supplementation and other postnatal factors on anemia in Zimbabwean babies: a prospective randomized study. Am J Clin Nutr 2006; 84:212-222.
Olney D, Pollitt E, Kariger P, Khalfan S, Ali N, Tielsch J, Sazawal S, Black R, Allen LH, Stoltzfus RJ. Iron supplementation with or without zinc reduces time to walking unassisted among Zanzibari infants 5-11 months old. J Nutr 2006 136:2427-2434.
Sazawal S, Black RE, Ramsan M, Chwaya HM, Stoltzfus RJ, Dutta A, Dhingra U, Kabole I, Deb S, Mashavi K, Othman MK, Kabole FM. Effect of routine prophylactic iron and folic acid supplementation on hospitalizations and mortality in preschool children: A household-randomized placebo-controlled trial in a high malaria transmission setting. Lancet 2006; 367:133-143.
Miller MF, Humphrey JH, Iliff PF, Malaba LC, Mbuya NV, the ZVITAMBO study group, Stoltzfus RJ. Neonatal erythropoiesis and subsequent anemia in HIV-positive and HIV-negative Zimbabwean babies during the first year of life: a longitudinal study. BMC Infectious Disease 2006; 6:1.
Kariger P, Stoltzfus RJ, Olney DK, Sazawal S, Black R, Tielsch JM, Frongillo EA, Said S, Pollitt E. Iron deficiency and physical growth predict attainment of crawling and walking in a cross-sectional sample of poorly nourished Zanzibari infants. J Nutr 2005; 135; 814-819.
Stoltzfus RM, Mullany L, Black RE. Iron deficiency anaemia. In: Comparative Quantification of Health Risks: Global and Regional Burden of Disease Attributable to Selected Major Risk Factors. Volume 1. World Health Organization, Geneva, 2005, pp 163-209.
Kordas K, Stoltzfus RJ, Lopez P, Alatorre Rico J, Rosado JL. Iron and/or zinc supplementation does not improve parent or teacher ratings of behavior in first grade Mexican school children exposed to lead. J Ped 2005 147:632-639.
Siegel E, Stoltzfus RJ, Kariger PK, Katz J, Khatry S, LeClerq S, Pollitt E, Tielsch JM. Growth indices and anemia independently predict motor milestone acquisition of 4- to 17-mnth children living in south central Nepal. J Nutr 2005 135:2840-4.
Fischer Walker CL, Kordas K, Stoltzfus RJ, Black RE. Interactive effects of iron and zinc on biochemical and functional outcomes in supplementation trials. Am J Clin Nutr 2005; 82: 5-12.
Cusick SE, Tielsch JM, Ramsan M, Jape JK, Sazawal S, Black RE, Stoltzfus RJ. Short-term effects of vitamin A and antimalarial treatment on erythropoietin concentrations in severely anemic Zanzibari preschool children. Am J Clin Nutr 2005; 82:406-12.
Mei Z, Cogsell ME, Parvanta I, Lynch S, Beard JL, Stoltzfus RJ, Grummer-Strawn LM. Hemoglobin and serum ferritin appear to be the best indicators to measure changes resulting from iron interventions: an analysis of nine randomized controlled trials. J Nutr 2005 135:1974-80.
Tielsch JM, Khatry S, Stoltzfus RJ, Katz J, LeClerq S, Adhikan R, Mullany LC, Shresta S, Black R. Iron-folic acid supplementation has no impact on preschool child mortality in southern Nepal. Lancet 2006; 367:144-152.
Kordas K, Stoltzfus RJ. New evidence of iron and zinc interplay at the enterocyte and neural tissues. J Nutr 2004; 134:1295-1298.
Stoltzfus RJ, Chwaya HM, Montresor A, Tielsch JM, Jape JK, Albonico M, Savioli L. Effects of low-dose daily iron supplementation and quarterly anthelminthic treatment on growth, appetite and anemia in Zanzibari children 6-71 months old. J Nutr 2004; 134:348-356.
Kordas K, Lopez P, Rosado JL, Garcia G, Alatorre J, Cebrian M, Stoltzfus RJ. Blood lead, anemia and short stature