.png)
Assistant Professor and Eating Disorder and Obesity Certificate Facilitator
Northern Illinois University
Henna Muzaffar earned her doctorate in Nutrition Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2012), where she also received post-doctoral training (August 2013 - December 2014). She worked as a Research Coordinator from January 2015 to May 2018, leading a healthy lifestyle program in 4 schools in Urbana-Champaign. She received her Bachelor’s and Master’s in Nutrition Science from University of Cincinnati (2002-2005). She completed her dietetic internship from Loyola University (2007), and has been a registered dietitian since January 2008. Currently, she is an Assistant Professor and Eating Disorders and Obesity Certificate Facilitator in the School of Health Studies at the Northern Illinois University.
Henna Muzaffar specializes in community nutrition and public health research. She has worked with populations of various ages, diverse health and nutrition issues, and in different research settings. She has discovered a niche in conducting obesity related interventions in schools and health disparities research in the community. She is proficient in conducting both qualitative and quantitative research studies. Her health promotion programs are framed within behavioral change theories. She has also been engaged in developing, instructing, and co-teaching community nutrition, research methods, and health disparities research courses.
For professional service, she serves as the Awards Committee member of the Nutrition Education & Behavioral Sciences Research Interest Section of the American Society for Nutrition, and the Chair for the Nutrition Education for Public Dietetic Practice Group of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Since 2016, she has also served as the Outreach Coordinator for a food pantry, Friends of Champaign County Food Pantry, in Urbana, IL. Henna Muzaffar was the recipient of the 2019 Early Career Award from the Nutrition Education & Behavioral Science Research Interest Section of the American Society for Nutrition, and the Outstanding Leadership Award from the Friends of Champaign County Food Pantry in March 2018. In April 2020, she was recognized as the Fellow of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. She also serves as the research consultant for Northern Illinois Food Bank.