More than 37 million Americans are affected by Type 2 diabetes each year, Tim Andrews ’27 shares with the 14 other students in his “Current Topics in Nutrition” course. Then, he lets it sink in.
It’s a startling number. And a major health issue worthy of consideration.
Over the course of his presentation to the class, Andrews breaks down the science of the chronic disease, drawing on research studies that support his claim.
“Standard care, like insulin injections and oral medications, focus on blood sugar levels but not the actual root cause,” Andrews suggests, arguing that switching to a low carb diet could be more effective than standard medical treatments for reversing the disease.
After his talk, Andrews leads the class in a roundtable discussion and asks his peers why they think medication is still prioritized and if they themselves would follow a low carb diet long term if they had Type 2 diabetes.
That analysis, and the thought-provoking conversations that follow, are the heart of the course, says Biological and Biomedical Sciences Instructor Richard Wood, Ph.D.
“This is very much about testing hypotheses, discussion, and debate,” he states.
Deepening nutritional knowledge
Throughout the semester, students in the course examine nutritional interventions to prevent, reverse, or manage common chronic metabolic conditions including obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Class sessions are devoted to group discussions, where undergrads review and critically evaluate a variety of health and disease topics.
The course, shares Wood, is all about giving students the skill set they need to make informed choices.
“I hope they develop an appreciation for the complexity of nutrition, are able to critically evaluate new information on the subject and recognize the role it plays in the population’s health,” he says.
Wood, who has taught the class for the last three years, explains that while the course’s content evolves alongside new developments in nutrition science, critical thinking has always remained the central theme.
For example, this spring undergrads have been following recent changes in the United States’ dietary guidelines — and then examining them in a broader context.
“Together, they consider what the changes mean and the impact they could have,” Wood says.
For Biology major Jill Carline ’26, it was her interest in furthering her understanding of an often under-examined topic that prompted her to take Wood’s course.
“Nutrition is not always taught to a great extent in medical school, so I wanted to get a background in the subject to help me in the future,” explains Carline, who will start her career as a clinical informatics specialist at Oak Street Health after graduation and plans to eventually become a Physician Assistant.
Taking what she’s learned from the class and drawing inspiration from both a summer fellowship at one of Italy’s leading comprehensive cancer centers and her own experience with her mother whose now cancer-free, Carline used her class presentation to investigate how the gut-diet axis might enhance chemotherapy and immunotherapy.
Locating areas for opportunity
Back in the classroom, Andrews wraps up his presentation, and Health Sciences major Zoe Wood ’26 (who shares a last name but no relation with her professor) makes her way to the front of the classroom. Her topic is focused on obesity, and Wood aims to challenge the idea that this chronic metabolic disease can be framed as reversible in adolescents when youth often lack knowledge about healthy eating and don't control their food environment.
To support her statement, she nods to research suggesting that cost strongly influences adolescent food choice — especially in low-income families — as well as studies showing that family meals help adolescents develop healthy eating habits because parents are actively showing what a balanced meal looks like.
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Wood then asks her classmates the following question:
“Adolescents are often encouraged to make healthier choices, but what happens when the available choices are shaped by their surroundings and family? If reversal is biologically possible, but socially unequal, are we asking adolescents to solve a structural problem through individual behavior alone?”
The query prompts a beat of silence as undergrads absorb her words and mull over their thoughts.
Then, her peers group up and dive into discussions.