Carlin Rafie named assistant professor and Extension specialist

12 Jun 2015

Carlin Rafie has been appointed assistant professor in the Department of Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise at Virginia Tech and adult nutrition specialist with Virginia Cooperative Extension.

Rafie is one of two new faculty members that were recently hired in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. New positions in the college were identified to bring new talent to its focus areas, including food and health, infectious disease, biodesign and processing, and agricultural profitability and environmental sustainability. The new faculty members are distributed across teaching, research, and Extension.

She received her Ph.D. in dietetics and nutrition from Florida International University, and a master’s degree and bachelor’s degree from Oklahoma State University.

Rafie will be responsible for developing nationally recognized Extension programs to complement and expand existing programs within the Department of Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise to combat preventable chronic diseases and promote healthy lifestyles among adult and aging populations.

Her research focus is on community engagement in resource and need assessment and community programming for prevention of chronic disease and improvement of health; methods of community engagement in research; impacts of diet, physical activity, and sleep quality on inflammation and quality of life of cancer survivors; and community educator training models to effect health behavior change.

Rafie’s professional associations include past chair of the executive committee of the Cancer Action Coalition of Virginia, and member of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, the Virginia Dietetic Association, and the Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior.

Written by Amy Loeffler.