Associate Professor of Human Nutrition and Foods
Melissa Ventura Marra was born and raised in
North Central West Virginia. She earned her bachelor’s degree at WVU in Human
Nutrition and Foods. She then completed WVUs Graduate Dietetic Internship
earning her master’s degree and gaining the experience required for dietetic
registration. After practicing as a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist for
several years in Maryland and Florida, she went on to earn her doctoral degree
at Florida International University, in Miami. She subsequently worked as a
post-doctoral associate at the National Center on Nutrition, Physical Activity
and Aging at FIU. Dr. Marra then served as the Director of Nutrition Services
for a large physicians’ group in South Florida until she returned to her home
state and alma mater to take a position as Assistant Professor of Nutrition in
2013.
Dr. Marra teaches Medical Nutrition Therapy in the undergraduate Didactic Program in Dietetics and contributes to the graduate curriculum. Research in her applied nutrition laboratory focuses on understanding how dietary patterns and food components affect biological markers of health and aging.