About IHA and Texas A&M AgriLife Research
The Texas A&M AgriLife Institute for Advancing Health Through Agriculture, IHA, is the world’s first research institute to combine precision nutrition, responsive agriculture and behavioral research to reduce diet-related chronic disease in a way that considers environmental and economic effects, with a mission to optimize health for current and future generations through innovative research connecting agriculture, food systems and nutrition.
IHA’s vision of a healthier world through evidence-based solutions in nutrition and agriculture integrates the three focus areas of:
The IHA fosters transformative research that connects food systems to human health, with strong infrastructure, interdisciplinary faculty and partnerships across The Texas A&M University System and beyond. The United States Department of Agriculture, USDA, Agricultural Research Service, ARS, Responsive Agricultural Food Systems Research Unit, RAFSRU, is co-located with the IHA and collaborates with the IHA on focused research on human health and nutrition to prevent and mitigate nutrition-associated chronic disease via innovations in the agriculture, food systems and nutrition environment.
Texas A&M AgriLife is comprised of the following Texas A&M University System members:
As the nation’s largest most comprehensive agriculture program, Texas A&M AgriLife brings together a college and four state agencies focused on agriculture and life sciences within The Texas A&M University System. With over 5,000 employees and a presence in every county across the state, Texas A&M AgriLife is uniquely positioned to improve lives, environments and the Texas economy through education, research, extension and service.
Position Information
The Postdoctoral Research Associate scientifically supports and manages “Hungry Minds: Neurophysiological Studies of Nutritional Quality and Cognitive Resources,” a collaboration between Texas A&M AgriLife Research and USDA-ARS. The project conducts a randomized controlled trial to examine the effect of dietary intake on cognitive performance, emotion regulation, and behavioral economics outcomes. The project integrates behavioral economics and neurophysiological measures, including EEG and eye tracking, with dietary, anthropometric, biochemical, and clinical assessments.
Responsibilities:
Assists with research study implementation.
Develops and maintains IRB protocols and ensures regulatory compliance.
Supports participant recruitment, screening, enrollment, and scheduling.
Assists with intervention compliance monitoring.
Collects data at HBL and IHA Mobile Health Assessment Centers.
Cleans, merges, and documents data.
Conducts preliminary statistical analyses.
Develops online data collection tools.
Contributes to literature reviews, reports, manuscripts, presentations, and grant proposals.
Summarizes study results.
Communicates study progress and data needs to the research team while safeguarding confidential participant information.
Performs other duties as assigned.
