Dietetics graduate is helping the CDC promote nutrition nationwide
Carolyn Copenhaver (’16), a graduate of Lipscomb’s graduate certificate program in dietetics, is now working with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to help promote nutrition standards across the nation.
Janel Shoun-Smith | 615.966.7078 |
Carolyn Copenhaver ('16), left, with Autumn Marshall, chair of the Department of Nutrition and Kinesiology.
Carolyn Copenhaver (’16), a graduate of Lipscomb’s graduate certificate program in dietetics, is now working with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to help promote nutrition standards across the nation.
Copenhaver, a native of Atlanta, came to Lipscomb on her path to become a licensed dietitian. She needed additional credits to be placed in a Dietetic Internship Program, a requirement for licensure.
She became fascinated with community health and nutrition in a class taught by Nancy Hunt, associate professor, she said. So she sought out a DIP placement that offered a focus on public health and found it at Samford University in Birmingham.
Lipscomb prepared her well for the path she took at Samford. “Both programs provided the knowledge and skills needed and provided the confidence to pursue an opportunity, even if it puts you outside your comfort zone.”
Armed with those skills, Copenhaver went on to “work in community non-profits, attend advocacy training with Alabama VOICES, and attend the Public Policy Workshop in Washington D.C.” during her Samford studies.
After completing her DIP, in October she began her current internship with the Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity at the CDC.
“I am working on researching Bulk Food Contracts to see the various ways states and large counties put nutrition standards in Requests for Proposals for multimillion-dollar statewide contracts,” she said. “The hope is to create a flowsheet of nutritional statements that states and counties can put in their RFPs should they choose to do so.”
Copenhaver’s goal for her career is to make sure everyone, not just the wealthy, has access to good nutrition, a goal that fits in well with the CDC’s mission, she said.
“The CDC is involved in public health, and nutrition is at the center of public health,” she said. “Most chronic diseases have risk factors that can be modified through diet, and can be prevented with a good diet. The CDC would be thrilled for people in the U.S. to employ better eating habits to reduce national incidence of heart disease, hypertension, Type II Diabetes and obesity. That's where dietitians come in!”