Zahra Ezzat Zadeh

Assistant Professor/Extension Food and Nutrition Specialist, Extension Family & Consumer Sciences Department

Regular Faculty

Gerald Thomas Hall Room 363E

P.O. Box 30001

Las Cruces, NM 88003-8001

zzadeh@nmsu.edu

575-646-3097

N/A

I am a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, educator, and researcher whose work bridges clinical practice, community outreach, and academic scholarship. I hold a Ph.D. in Nutrition and Food Sciences from Florida State University, with a minor in Nutrition, Metabolism, and Genetics from the University of Calgary. I completed my postdoctoral training at Cedars-Sinai Diabetes and Obesity Research Institute and the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition, where I focused on diet, nutrition, and chronic metabolic diseases while also practicing as a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist.
My work centers on translating cutting-edge nutrition science into practical, community-driven strategies that improve dietary quality, support behavior change, and advance chronic disease prevention. I am experienced in applying validated tools such as the Healthy Eating Index (HEI) and in leveraging AI-powered technologies to strengthen nutrition education and generate culturally relevant, scalable solutions across New Mexico.
Over the course of my career, I have been honored with several awards, including recognition from The Obesity Society and Florida State University, and my work has been published in journals such as Nutrition Research, Frontiers in Nutrition, and the Journal of Aging Research. Beyond academia, I founded Towards a Healthier Future, an initiative dedicated to empowering women and underserved populations through personalized, science-based nutrition education.
In my current role as Assistant Professor and Extension Food and Nutrition Specialist at New Mexico State University, I am advancing research, teaching, and outreach that integrate nutrition science with innovative approaches, including AI, to promote health equity, improve nutrition behaviors, and strengthen communities.