Elizabeth Widen, Ph.D., R.D.
Dr. Beth Widen is a Registered Dietitian and Associate Professor at The University of Texas at Austin in the Department of Nutritional Sciences within the School of Human Ecology in the College of Natural Sciences. Widen is faculty at the Dell Pediatric Research Institute, faculty research associate at the Population Research Center, and affiliate faculty in the Departments of Women’s Health and Pediatrics at Dell Medical School. Widen is a nutritional and perinatal epidemiologist and her research takes a life course approach at the intersection of nutrition, perinatal and pediatric epidemiology, behavioral nutrition, and human biology. She develops and applies advanced analytic methods to elucidate the role of nutrition in early life on short- and long-term health, and develops and applies interdisciplinary intervention programs that aim to improve nutrition and health during pregnancy, infancy and early childhood.
Widen is currently Principal Investigator of a R01 from NIDDK, and grants from the Episcopal Health Foundation, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, the Egg Nutrition Center, and the National Pork Board. She has received many accolades, including an Early Career Award from the Thrasher Research Fund, and a Mid-Career Award from the Community and Public Health Nutrition Research Interest Section of the American Society for Nutrition, and the Norman Kretchmer Memorial Award in Nutrition and Development from the American Society for Nutrition.
Widen holds a BS in Dietetics from Miami University, and a PhD in Nutritional Epidemiology from the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Prior to completing her PhD, Widen was an Intramural Research Training Award Fellow at the National Institutes of Health. Following her PhD, she completed an interdisciplinary postdoctoral fellowship at Columbia University in the Institute of Human Nutrition, the Department of Epidemiology at Mailman School of Public Health, and the New York Obesity Nutrition Research Center.
Fun fact: Dr. Widen is a fraternal twin! This has been a key inspiration for her interest in maternal and child health.