Lisa Troy is an assistant professor in the Department of Nutrition and the Commonwealth Honors College Professor in Nutrition. Her research interests include the effect of overall diet quality and components of a healthful diet on under-nutrition, obesity, metabolic syndrome and risk factors for diabetes and heart disease.
She is also interested in how government programs and policies affect food security, diet quality and public health outcomes. Toward accomplishing these goals, Dr. Troy and her colleagues at Tufts University developed an index to measure adherence to the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. This index has been used in epidemiologic studies to examine how a diet consistent with federal guidelines relates to bone mineral density and the prevention of chronic diseases of aging including hip fracture, insulin resistance, and the metabolic syndrome. The index is being updated for the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
Her current research focuses on how diet and exercise improve sleep duration and quality. Her work uses the novel application of dietary pattern analysis to help better understand the relationship between diet, exercise, and sleep. She plans to examine both younger (18 to 30 years) and older (50 to 80 years) adults as these age groups may respond differently to diet and exercise given the physiology of aging. Poor sleep at all ages contributes to development and progression of chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease. In order to examine the connection between these factors, Dr. Troy will use her year as a Family Research Scholar to develop a grant proposal entitled, “How Diet and Exercise Improve Sleep: Implications for Diabetes and Heart Disease.” Her proposed research will advance our understanding of how diet and exercise improve sleep in younger and older adults and has implications for chronic disease prevention and progression.