Title: Professor and Director Didactic Program in Dietetics
Department: Human Nutrition and Food Science
Room: 7-116
Phone: (909) 869-4877 Fax: (909) 869-5078
E-Mail: msmeskin@csupomona.edu
Home Page:
Tenure: 2002, Human Nutrition and Food Science
BA, Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles (1976)
MS, Food and Nutritional Sciences, California State University, Northridge (1983)
Ph.D., Pharmacology and Nutrition,
University of Southern California, School of Medicine (1990)
Dr. Meskin is Professor, and Director Didactic Program in Dietetics in the Department of Human Nutrition and Food Science, College of Agriculture, at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. He has been a Registered Dietitian since 1984 and is also a Certified Nutrition Specialist (1995).
Dr. Meskin was a postdoctoral fellow in cancer research at the Kenneth Norris Jr. Cancer Hospital and Research Institute in Los Angeles from 1990 to 1992. He received his academic appointment at the University of Southern California, School of Medicine in 1992 and served as Assistant Professor of Cell and Neurobiology and Director of the Nutrition Education Programs from 1992 to 1996. While at the University of Southern California, School of Medicine, he created, developed, directed and taught in the Master's Degree Program in Nutrition Science. Dr. Meskin has also served as a faculty member of the Department of Family Environmental Sciences at California State University, Northridge and the Human Nutrition Program at the University of New Haven, Connecticut.
Basic nutrition; nutritional biochemistry; clinical nutrition; food and nutritional toxicology; food science and technology; phytochemicals; health fraud.
He has several major areas of research interest including: (1) hepatic drug metabolism and the effects of nutritional factors on drug metabolism and clearance; nutrient-drug interactions; (2) the role of bioactive non-nutrients (phytochemicals/herbs/botanicals/nutritional supplements) in disease prevention and health promotion; (3) fetal pharmacology and fetal nutrition/maternal nutrition/pediatric nutrition; (4) nutrition education; (5) the development of educational programs for improving science literacy and combating health fraud.
Dr. Meskin has co-edited four books on phytochemical research including: Phytochemicals: A New Paradigm (1998), Phytochemicals As Bioactive Agents (2000), Phytochemicals in Nutrition and Health (2002), and Phytochemicals: Mechanisms of Action (2004). A fifth book, Phytochemicals: Nutrient-Gene Interactions, will be published in early 2006.
Dr. Meskin is a member of numerous honor societies including Phi Beta Kappa, Pi Gamma Mu, Phi Kappa Phi, Omicron Nu, Omicron Delta Kappa, Phi Upsilon Omicron, Gamma Sigma Delta and Sigma Xi. He was elected a Fellow of the American College of Nutrition in 1993 and was Certified as a Charter Fellow of the American Dietetic Association in 1995. He received the Teacher of the Year Award in the College of Agriculture in 1999, the Advisor of the Year Award in the College of Agriculture in 2002, and the Advisor of the Year Award from Gamma Sigma Delta in 2004.
Dr. Meskin has been involved with both the local and national Institute of Food Technologists for twenty-five years. He is a past Chair of the Southern California IFT and remains involved in SCIFT. Dr. Meskin has been an active Food Science Communicator for the national IFT, was a member of the IFT/National Academy of Sciences Liaison Committee and has served as a member of the IFT Expert Panel on Food Safety and Nutrition. He is also involved in several IFT divisions including the Nutrition, Toxicology & Safety Evaluation, Biotechnology, Nutraceutical, and Religious & Ethnic Foods divisions.
Dr. Meskin served as a science advisor to the Food, Nutrition and Safety Committee of the North American branch of the International Life Sciences Institute for a three year term (2000-2002). He has been a long time member of the Advisory Board Member of the Marilyn Magaram Center for Food Science, Nutrition and Dietetics at California State University , Northridge. Dr. Meskin was involved with the Southern California Food Industry Conference for many years as an organizer, chair, moderator, and speaker. He has also been a member of the Medical Advisory Board of the Celiac Disease Foundation.
Dr. Meskin is regularly invited to speak to a wide variety of groups and has written for several newsletters. He has been a consultant for food companies, pharmaceutical companies, HMOs and legal firms. He is a member of many professional and scientific societies including the American Dietetic Association (Dietetic Educators of Practitioners, Sports Cardiovascular & Wellness, Women's Health & Reproductive Nutrition, and Vegetarian Nutrition practice groups), the American Society for Nutritional Sciences, the American College of Nutrition, the American Council on Science and Health, the Institute of Food Technologists, and the National Council for Reliable Health Information.
