Philadelphia, PA, February 10, 2011

The newly appointed Chair of Nutrition Sciences at the College of Nursing and Health Professions, Stella Volpe, PhD was selected to serve on the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition Board.

Volpe was nominated for this White House appointment by the American Dietetic Association and the National Dairy Council because of her significant contribution to the advancement of nutrition research and science.

Many esteemed individuals were nominated. However, Volpe’s expertise was deemed a perfect match for the Council’s programs and initiatives.

Traditionally the Science Board is comprised of ten of the top researchers and academicians in the fields of physical activity measurement and promotion, kinesiology, fitness testing and assessment, and physical education pedagogy (a list of the most recent members can be found at http://fitness.gov/about-us/who-we-are/science-board-and-partners/board/). 

With the expansion of the Council’s mission to include nutrition, Volpe’s addition to the Council’s Science Board will provide a voice on topics including obesity prevention, energy balance, dietary habits and bone mineral density.

Stella Volpe received her PhD and MS Degrees from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Human Nutrition and Foods and Exercise Physiology, respectively, and her Bachelor’s Degree in Exercise Science and Biology/Physiology from the University of Pittsburgh. Volpe has held appointments at the University Of Pennsylvania School Of Nursing and at the University Of Massachusetts Amherst as an Associate tenured Professor in the Department of Nutrition and Director of the Center for Nutrition in Sport and Human Performance.

Volpe’s research has been funded by numerous federal agencies and institutes including the Veteran’s Administration, the National Science Foundation, NIH, the Department of Defense, the Agency for Health Research and Quality and the Department of Education. Her extensive publication record includes articles in Nutrition and Cancer: An International Journal; The International Journal of Obesity; Pediatric Exercise Science, Nutrition Research, The Journal of the American College of Nutrition, the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism, the Annals of Human Biology, Acta Diabetologica, the Journal of Sports and Medicine, the Journal of Community Health and Medicine, Exercise Nutrition and Health, and many other journals. She holds membership in many professional societies and is a manuscript reviewer for numerous journals in her fields. She received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Pittsburgh and the Anne Keane Teaching Award from the School of Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania.