Nutritional Sciences Welcomes Sam Emerson

Wednesday, December 19, 2018

 Sam Emerson joined the Department of Nutritional Sciences as an assistant professor in August 2017. 

What is your educational/professional background?

My background is in human nutrition and exercise science. My bachelor’s degree is in nutritional sciences from OSU. My master’s degree is in kinesiology and my Ph.D. is in human nutrition, both from Kansas State University.

How did you get into your field of research?

While an undergraduate student here at OSU, I started volunteering to help with and participate in research in health and human performance. This experience is what originally made me interested in research. At K-State, there was a strong collaboration between nutrition and exercise science research with several faculty involved in both departments. It taught me how to integrate both fields into health science research, and how to work collaboratively across departments.

What are the main goals of your current research program?

We investigate how lifestyle factors, such as nutrition and physical activity, modify heart disease and diabetes risk. We are particularly interested in older adults and how the healthy, active years of life can be extended by a nutrient-dense diet and exercise. We are also working on development and utilization of clinical assessment tools that can reveal cardiovascular risk prior to traditionally used risk factors, allowing for earlier lifestyle and/or pharmacological intervention.

What attracted you to Oklahoma State University?

One of the main reasons I was attracted to OSU, in addition to having family here at the time, was the positive energy on campus. Students are happy to be here; alumni are clearly proud of having attended OSU. I have never heard an alumnus speak negatively of their experience at OSU. When I had the opportunity to return as a faculty member, I could not pass it up.

What was your first visit to campus like?

My parents and I came up for a football game when my brother was a freshman. It was 2006, against Texas A&M, and it was freezing. People still talk about how cold that game was. Being from Texas, I was not prepared. I learned a hard lesson that night.

What is your favorite place on campus?

My wife and I actually had our wedding on the Willard Hall patio, so that is pretty hard to beat.

What are you most enjoying so far about working here?

The people at OSU are great to work with. We have very hard-working and positive staff and faculty that seek to help each other and students. The students work hard and seek to do things the right way. Working with good people is definitely my favorite part.

What’s something interesting about your area of expertise you can share that will make you sound smarter at parties?

Hopefully, the days of measuring glucose several times per day with finger pricks will soon be a thing of the past – for people with diabetes, this is a big deal. We already have continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) that sample glucose via a small, flexible filament just below the skin, measuring glucose every few minutes and sending the data via Bluetooth to you and your doctor. Now they are even working on a completely non-invasive CGM (it extracts glucose via follicular pathways in the skin). These advances mean better data and less hassle for people with diabetes.