Rate My Professor Natalie The

Natalie S. The serves as Professor and Chair of the Department of Health Sciences at Furman University, a position she has held since 2020. She joined the faculty in 2011 as an Assistant Professor, advancing to Associate Professor in 2017. The holds a Ph.D. in Nutritional Epidemiology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (2010), an M.P.H. in Epidemiology from Emory University (2006), and a B.S. in Health and Exercise Science from Furman University (2003). Her early career included a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Nutrition at UNC Chapel Hill (2010-2011), graduate research at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2004-2006), and research assistance at Shands Hospital (2003-2004).

The's research specializes in the determinants of obesity, physical activity, sedentary behavior, and nutritional factors influencing youth-onset diabetes and related complications such as cardiovascular disease, retinopathy, and kidney disease. She has investigated trends in obesity across the life course, racial/ethnic disparities in diabetes risk, and the impact of school nutrition policies. As Co-Principal Investigator, she contributed to the SEARCH Nutrition Ancillary Study 2, funded by a $2.6 million NIH/NIDDK grant (2014-2019), which examined nutrient levels and dietary patterns in youth with diabetes. Other funded projects include evaluations of school nutrition environments supported by Furman University and Piedmont Health Foundation grants. Her scholarly output includes over 20 peer-reviewed publications, such as "Body Mass Index Z-score Modifies the Association between Added Sugar Intake and Arterial Stiffness in Youth with Type 1 Diabetes" (Nutrients, 2019), "Sociodemographic Associations of Longitudinal Adiposity in Youth with Type 1 Diabetes" (Pediatric Diabetes, 2018), "Nutritional Factors and Preservation of C-Peptide in Youth with Recently Diagnosed Type 1 Diabetes" (Diabetes Care, 2013), and "Association of Adolescent Obesity with Risk of Severe Obesity in Adulthood" (JAMA, 2010). The has received numerous awards, including the Gillings Dissertation Award (2010), HERS Leadership Institute (2022-2023), and NIH Nutrition Training Grant Fellowship (2006-2008). Her research has garnered media attention in USA Today, Time magazine, and NPR's "Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me."