About – Nutrition & Dietetics

Dr. Divya Sanghi

Associate Professor  & Head of Department

Qualifications: PhD (Nutrigenomics)

Experience: 10 Years

Areas of Interest: Clinical Nutrition and Geriatric Nutrition

Dr Divya Sanghi is a Doctrate from King George Medical University, Lucknow. She has a great acumen of teaching as well as of research. Her expertise also includes routine haematological, biochemical investigations and applied research techniques of molecular biology. She has delivered many guest lectures as an invited speaker. She is a life member of National Dietetic Association.
She has around 19 national and international publications in her credit. She has presented her research at national as well as international level in San Francisco, USA and Paris. She is a travel grant recipient from International Osteoarthritis Research Society (OARSI) for presenting a paper in USA and France. She has worked on many research projects based on osteoarthritis and osteoporosis funded by ICMR, CSTUP and DBT. She has guided many research dissertations of under graduation, post graduation PhD programmes. With such a rich potential in teaching and as well in research, she is serving the department from last 4 years.

About Department

Nutrition and Dietetics is an integrated and a professional program preparing students to work as Nutritionists and Dieticians and explore how it affects the health of the individual and the nation, and also to discover how diet can be used in the treatment of disease. This programme teaches the students to apply nutritional science in order to promote health and to treat medical conditions. As a dietitian they work with people to help them modify their food intake, offering practical advice to enable them to make dietary changes. It is a health-related career which involves translating the sciences of nutrition and food to promote good health. It is a vital and growing profession with ample career opportunities. The internship/training program with various hospitals and food industries provide opportunities to practice and master the core competencies to place its students in covetable jobs. The Master’s program in this discipline, introduced in 2009 aims at developing research skills and abilities in nutritional issues of contemporary interest.

The highlights of this course at Faculty of Applied Science is focused on teaching, strong research and outreach in Clinical Nutrition, Sports Nutrition, Food Science and Technology, and Public Health Nutrition. The Department offers a plethora of Academic and Co-curricular activities at various platforms be it a school, community or corporate like NTPC, ONGC, IBM that shapes students’ careers and make them distinct from others in their chosen field of specialization. The Programme has been designed to build and enhance skills of the students to meet industry requirements and also offers students a Dietetic Internship in various multi-specialty hospitals/ Industrial Training Programme. The Department pays special attention to Industry-University Collaboration to leverage student’s placements, Joint R&D Projects with various National and International Organizations.

MAJOR RESEARCH THRUST AREAS

• Clinical Nutrition: Nutrition & Diabetes/ Cardiovascular Disease/ Degenerative Diseases/ Liver & Kidney Disorders/ Hypertension, etc.
• Food Science: Food Processing and Technology, Therapeutic Food Development, Functional Food Development, Food Preservation
• Sports Nutrition: Ergogenic Aids, Dietary Supplements, Nutritional Strategies for Performance Enhancement
• Public Health Nutrition: Nutrition Surveillance, Demographic Studies, Nutrition Education

MEMBERSHIPS

Membership Recognised by Indian Dietetic Association and Nutrition Society of India. 

UNIQUE ADVANTAGES

MOU signed by FAS with International Universities:

• Global Platform: Research Collaboration, scholarships and faculty/student exchange programme with international universities: Tsukuba University, Japan; Lahti University of Applied Sciences, Lahti, Finland, Leeds, U.K.; University Sains, Malaysia, Teesside University, U.K. and University Pendidikan Sultan Idris, Malaysia
• Facilitate and promote research: in emerging area of nutrition and dietetics in association with Food Industries.The Department aims to facilitate and promote studies, research and extension work in emerging area of nutrition and dietetics with focus on enriched education in the disciplines of clinical nutrition and dietetics, food science and technology and sports nutrition to achieve excellence. We are equipped to take up challenges of the enormous change taking place all around and committed to empower its faculty and students to contribute significantly in the area of research and development. The Department has to its credit many International and National publications in journals of high repute such as British Journal of Sports Medicine, Global Journal of Health and Physical education pedagogy etc.

Major Research areas include:

1. Food Analysis – Development of new food products along with organoleptic evaluation
2. Research into the role of food in promoting and sustaining health with respect to diet and nutrition, consumer choice and public health.
3. Assessment of KAP (Knowledge, Attitude and Practices) Regarding Safety and Quality of Foods to assess consumer awareness.
4. Nutrition education intervention programmes  to assess the efficacy of the educational material developed among the subject groups for eg-Hypercholesterolemia
5. Develop and provide best possible tools for dietary surveys
6. Develop and test interventions to bring about dietary improvements in the general population  and in  risk groups
7. Inform and develop dietary recommendations in order to improve nutritional well-being: Diet and Cardiovascular Health, Diabetes; Nutritional Status and Function; Diet and Health.

• Association with Industry: Masters students associated with hospitals and other organizations are working as nutritionists / Dieticians/ Consultant Nutritionists on project basis getting hands-on practical training  with national and international organizations like UNICEF, Saffola, IBM, Nestle etc
• Clinical/ industrial training in several multi-specialty hospitals/food manufacturing industries. The characteristic feature that sets this course apart from various other courses is the provision of Training/ field placement for two months at the end of the fourth semester of their graduation. This provides the student with an opportunity to interact with the community and participate in the development process. Students have undergone clinical training in several multi-specialty hospitals:
  • MetroHeartHospital, Faridabad
  • MedantaMedicityHospital, Gurgaon
  • AIIMS Trauma center, New Delhi
  • Asian hospital , Faridabad
  • PGI, Chandigarh
  • Fortis Escorts, Faridabad
  • Fortis Escorts, New Delhi
  • SunflagHospital ,Faridabad
  • PrimusHospital , New Delhi
  • VIMHANSHospital, New Delhi
  • MaxHospital, Saket
  • ParasHospital, Gurgaon
  • ColumbiaAsia Hospital, Gurgaon
  • Artemis Hospital, Gurgaon
  • MajidiaHospital, Delhi
  • JaipurGoldenHospital, Delhi
  • Kalyani- Escorts, Gurgaon
  • Prestigious Health Care Centers
  • Sarvodaya Hospital, Faridabad
  • HolyFamilyHospital, Delhi
  • Kailash Hospital, Noida
  • ApolloHospital, New Delhi

• Industrial visits and guest lectures: Industry- Institute interaction is an important aspect of our curriculum. The Department arranges student’s visits to different corporate giants like DIPAS, Yakult, Mother Dairy, Tilda rice, Haldirams, Flight Kitchen, Britania, Chintamani etc. These industrial visits provide hands-on practical exposure and help in the multi-dimensional development of the students, giving them the edge over others in terms of industrial exposure. The Department also keeps on organizing various events in association with reputed organizations besides professional association with Indian Dietetic Association (IDA), Nutrition Society of India (NSI) and various scientific projects in association with Sugar and Health Industries. It also invites knowledgeable people from corporate and academics to interact with the students and widen their horizon.

• Career/Placement Opportunities: The programme provides professional training and skill enhancement in order to promote and widen employment opportunities. University Corporate Resource Center (CRC) is working endlessly to place students in various reputed firms, companies and health centers. Needless to mention, varied challenging Career/ Placement Opportunities are available in:
  • Public Health Departments
  • International  Organizations (UNICEF, UNDP, WHO)
  • Hospitals
  • Non-Governmental Organizations
  • Health Organizations
  • Consultant  for Multinational Companies
  • Food Industry
  • Pharmaceutical companies
  • Quantity food service establishments
  • Sports and fitness centers
  • Health and wellness industries
  • Airlines and Railways
  • Counselors in Schools
  •  Academicians
  • Researchers in government and private institutions etc
  • Private Practice

• Seminar / Conferences / Workshops: Students are encouraged and provided with several opportunities to gain essential insight for application of their theoretical knowledge to the practical world through various seminars, conferences, and workshops.

• Corporate Social Responsibility

As a part of its corporate social responsibility, the department conducted free health and awareness camps for corporates like NTPC, ONGC, IBM, NESTLE as well as community level, to promote health and witness on critical issues of concern like cancer, diabetes, hypertension etc.

• Manav Rachna Aahar – an NGO initiated by the Department to provide free meals to the poor and needy living in the nearby slum.
  • Regular Counseling sessions at  departmental OPD
  • Observance of  Health Days: National Nutrition week, World Health Day
  • Doping Control/ Medical Officer at Commonwealth Games, Delhi.
  • Sports Nutrition counseling during various tournaments and Corporate Cricket Matches.