Maryam Hashemian, M.D., Ph.D.

Biography

I trained as a medical doctor. I have worked as a physician in a Cardiology Department, Obstetrics and Gynecology Department, Emergency Room and Cardiac Care Unit (CCU) for ten years, and I am delighted to use my clinical experiences as I teach in my class to clarify for my students what is the application of what they are learning and how important the concepts are.

 My passion for public health and preventive medicine then drove me to pursue a Ph.D. in Nutrition. I also learned Medical Education in several workshops I have attended. For example, I participated in a 9-week training program entitled “Scientists Teaching Science”, where I learned about learning styles and curriculum design for teaching in higher education. I sought additional teacher training, including effective learning, assessment methods, lesson plans and course plans, curriculum development, implementation of the World Federation of Medical Education, and research in education. Prior to coming to the US, I taught for two years to undergraduate and graduate students at Sabzevar University.

I came to the US as a Post-doctoral Fellow in the Division of Cancer and Epidemiology Branch at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), NIH under the supervision of Dr. Christian Abnet. I have managed five research projects as a principal investigator and have been engaged in several collaborative projects. My research is centered on the relationship between nutrition and chronic disease.

Poor diet is the most important contributor to chronic diseases in the US, including cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, fatty liver disease, and cancer. Determining which foods benefit or harm health is essential work. If you are interested in doing something about the goal of preventing chronic diseases and healthy living for the whole community, I encourage you to contact me. For example, are you interested to know if coffee consumption can prevent breast cancer or liver cancer? Just email me at mahashem@utica.edu. We may start with open access data using free software!