CAHS Scholarly Showcase 2024

Presenter: Sarah Couch, PhD

Sarah Couch, PhD, RD, is a Professor in the Department of Rehabilitation, Exercise and Nutrition Sciences (RENS) in the College of Allied Health Sciences at UC.  She earned her bachelor’s degree in biology from Bowdoin College in Brunswick ME and her MS and PhD from the University of Connecticut, in Storrs CT and completed her dietetic internship at Hartford Hospital. She has served as Undergraduate Program Director for the Dietetics Program and currently serves as Graduate Program Director for the MS in Nutritional Science in RENS.  Dr. Couch teaches classes in the area of medical nutrition therapy for the prevention and treatment of diseases across the lifespan.  She has conducted human subject research for over 25 years, specifically examining dietary assessment approaches and dietary patterns related to cardiovascular disease risk reduction and has authored over 95 peer reviewed publications. She is a previous recipient of a grant award from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute to examine efficacy of a DASH dietary pattern delivered as part of a clinic-based behavioral nutrition program for the management of elevated blood pressure in children and adolescents.  Her studies have also involved assessment of the home food environment as a potential modifiable risk factor related to obesity and CVD risk in childhood.  She served as an expert panelist in hypertension at the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics State of Food and Nutrition Series Forum and served on the board of editors for the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.  In 2019, Dr. Couch was recognized as the Ohio Outstanding Dietetic Educator of the Year. 

Presenter: Suzanne Summer, PhD

Suzanne Summer, PhD, RD, is a Research Associate in the Schubert Research Clinic at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. She earned her bachelor’s degree in dietetics from the University of Cincinnati in 2001, completed a research-focused dietetic internship at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda Maryland in 2002, and later earned a PhD in Epidemiology from UC in 2020. That same year Dr Summer was awarded the UC College of Rehabilitation, Exercise, and Nutrition Sciences distinguished alumnus award.  She has served on the board of the Greater Cincinnati Dietetics Association (GCDA) since 2015 and is a member of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Research Dietetic Practice Group and the American Society for Nutrition.  Dr Summer currently oversees the research clinic’s Bionutrition core where she and her team apply evidence-based methods for collecting dietary intake, anthropometric measurements, resting energy expenditure, and body composition assessment for a variety of research studies. As both a dietitian and a researcher, Dr Summer understands the importance of evidence-based diet and lifestyle recommendations as well as the potential for new knowledge that may contribute to our nation’s public health.