Lisa Jahns, PhD, RDN is a National Program Leader in the Division of Nutrition, Institute of Food Safety and Nutrition at the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, USDA (NIFA). Lisa received a bachelor’s degree in Nutrition and Dietetics from Texas Christian University and a doctorate in Nutritional Epidemiology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist.
Lisa leads a funding portfolio in nutrition including:
- Agriculture and Food Research Initiative’s Foundational and Applied Science RFA, Food and Human Health priority area, which funds projects examining the role of food bioactives and agricultural products on the human gut microbiome,
- Food and Agriculture Service Learning Program , which funds projects that implement community outreach for amelioration of food insecurity and farm-to-school programs for K-12 students,
- Biomarkers of Dietary Intake and Exposure, a joint NIFA/NIDDK consortium of sites studying metabolomic signatures of foods recommended by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans as implemented by MyPlate, and
- Nutrient Bioavailability--Phytonutrients and Beyond multi-state project to examine mechanisms of action at the molecular and cellular level and directly translate these benefits to susceptible populations.
Prior to joining NIFA, Lisa spent 11 years as a Research Nutritionist at the USDA Agricultural Research Service studying drivers and health benefits of following the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, with a special emphasis on vegetable and fruit consumption. There, Lisa conducted groundbreaking research on the use of skin carotenoid status as a biomarker of vegetable and fruit intake to assess the effectiveness of dietary interventions. She has published ~70 peer reviewed manuscripts which have been cited over 3,000 times.
