Biography
Jere D. Haas is the Nancy Schlegel Meinig Professor Emeritus of Maternal and Child Nutrition in the Division of Nutritional Sciences, College of Human Ecology, at Cornell University, in Ithaca, New York. He is also International Professor of Nutrition in Cornell's College of Agriculture and Life Science, and Professor of the Graduate School. He received his Ph.D. in Biological Anthropology from the Pennsylvania State University and has been on the Cornell University faculty for 44 years. He conducts research on the functional consequences of iron deficiency on physical and cognitive performance. The emphasis is on the effects of moderate iron deficiency on various aspects of physical performance and behavior in children and young women and how measures of performance relate to everyday productivity and social and economic well being. He also conducts research on food based interventions to reduce micronutrient malnutrition. Professor Haas conducts research on these and related topics in maternal and child nutrition in the United States, China, Mexico, the Philippines, Rwanda and India. Professor Haas served as vice-president and president of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists and on the Expert Advisory Panel for Nutrition of the World Health Organization and the Technical Advisory Group on Food and Nutrition of the Pan American Health Organization. He served as Director of the Division of Nutritional Science at Cornell from 1998 to 2003.
My research deals with nutrition problems of women and young children, with a primary emphasis on iron deficiency and protein and energy under nutrition in developing countries. For 45 years my research has focused on understanding the functional consequences of malnutrition on physical performance, physical activity and behavior. Recent field-based and laboratory studies were designed to identify useful functional indicators that can be used to evaluate nutrition interventions that are designed to improve iron status in women and children.
We are currently examining the efficacy of biofortification as a novel approach to improving dietary iron intakes by enhancing the micronutrient quality of staple food crops such as rice, pearl millet and beans in collaboration with conventional plant breeders. These staple foods are consumed by a large number of the most nutritionally vulnerable population groups in Asia, Africa and Latin America. This research has shown that biofortification strategies can improve the iron status of human subjects at risk of deficiencies in developing countries. In addition to the impact of biofortification on iron status, our research group has also demonstrated that physical work capacity, physical activity and cognitive function are also improved with the improvement in iron status through biofortification in India and Rwanda.
In support of my research program, I mentor undergraduate students through NS 4010, Empirical Research for Undergraduates. I no longer mentor graduate students as a major advisor. I have no formal teaching obligations as emeritus professor.
Haas, J.D., M. Rahn, S. Venkatramanan, G.S. Marquis, M.J. Wenger, L.E. Murray-Kolb, A.S. Wesley, and G.A. Reinhart. 2014. Double fortified salt is efficacious in improving indicators of iron deficiency in female Indian tea-pickers. Journal of Nutrition, 144:957-964. First published online April 17, 2014; doi.org/10.3945/jn. 113.183228.
De Moura, F.F., A.C. Palmer, J.L. Finkelstein, J.D. Haas, L.E. Murray-Kolb, M.J. Wenger, E. Birol, E. Boy, J.P. Peña-Rosas. 2014. Are Biofortified Staple Food Crops Improving Vitamin A and Iron Status in Women and Children? New Evidence from Efficacy Trials. Advances in Nutrition 5: 568–570; doi.org/10.3945/an.114.006627
Finkelstein, J.L., S. Mehta, S.A. Udipi, P. Ghugre, S.V. Luna, M.J. Wenger, L.E. Murray-Kolb, E.M. Przybyszewski and J.D Haas. 2015. A Randomized Trial of Iron-Biofortified Pearl Millet in School Children in India. Journal of Nutrition, 145:1576-1581 doi:10.3945/jn.114.208009.
Haas, J.D., S.V. Luna, M.G. Lung'aho, M.J. Wenger, L.E. Murray-Kolb, S. Beebe, J.B. Gahutu, and I.M. Egli. 2016. Consuming Iron Biofortified Beans Increases Iron Status in Rwandan Women after 128 Days in a Randomized Controlled Feeding Trial. Journal of Nutrition 146 (8): 1586-1592.
Boy, E., J.D. Haas, N. Petry, C.I. Cercamondi, J.B. Gahutu, S. Mehta, J. Finkelstein and R.F. Hurrell. 2017. Efficacy of Iron-Biofortified Crops. African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition, and Development. 17:11879-11892. doi: 10.18697/ajfand.78.HarvestPlus03
Finkelstein, J.L., J.D. Haas, and S. Mehta. 2017. Iron-Biofortified Staple Food Crops for Improving Iron Status: A Review of the Current Evidence. Current Opinion in Biotechnology, 44:138–145. doi: 10.3945/jn.114.208009
Wenger, M.J., D.M. DellaValle, L.E. Murray-Kolb, J.D. Haas. 2017. Effect of Iron Deficiency on Simultaneous Measures of Behavior, Brain Activity, and Energy Expenditure in the Performance of a Cognitive Task. Nutritional Neuroscience 19:1-10. doi: 10.1080/1028415X.2017.1360559.
Venkatramanan, S., G. Marquis, L. Neufeld, M. Wenger, L. Murray-Kolb, G. Reinhart, J. Haas. 2017. Double fortified salt intervention improved iron intake but not energy and other nutrient intakes in female tea plantation workers from West Bengal, India. Food and Nutrition Bulletin, 38:369-383. doi: 10.1177/0379572117718121.
Huey, S.L., S. Venkatramanan, S.A Udipi, J.L.Finkelstein, P. Ghugre, J.D. Haas, V. Thakker, A. Thorat, A. Salvi, A.V. Kurpad and S. Mehta. 2017. Acceptability of Iron-Biofortified Pearl Millet (ICTP-8203) Among Children Living in an Urban Slum of Mumbai, India. Frontiers in Nutrition, Vol 4:39. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2017.00039.
Murray-Kolb, L.E., M.J. Wenger, S.P. Scott, S.E. Rhoten, M.G. Lung'aho, J.D. Haas. 2017. Consumption of iron-biofortified beans positively affects cognitive performance in 18 - 27 year old Rwandan female college students in an 18-week randomized controlled efficacy trial. Journal of Nutrition. 147:2109-2117. doi: 10.3945/jn.117.255356.
Wenger, M.J., L.E. Murray-Kolb, J.E.H. Nevins, S. Venkatramanan, G.A. Reinhart, J.D. Haas. 2017. Consumption of a Double-Fortified Salt Affects Perceptual, Attentional, and Mnemonic Functioning in Women in a Randomized Control Trial in India. Journal of Nutrition. 147:2297-2308. doi: 10.1080/1028415X.2017.1360559.
Pompano, L.M. and J.D. Haas. 2017. Efficacy of iron supplementation may be misinterpreted using conventional measures of iron status in iron depleted, non-anemic women undergoing aerobic exercise training. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, doi: 10.3945/ajcn.117.1527
Savanur, M.S., A. Sathye, A. Udwant, S.A. Udipi, P.Ghugre, J.D. Haas, E. Boy, A.Bhatnagar. 2017. Nutritional Status and Physical Fitness of Tribal Adolescents in Ahmednagar District of Maharashtra. Ecology of Food and Nutrition. 56: 552-566. doi: 0.1080/03670244.2017.1399370
Glahn, R.P., E. Tako, J. Hart, J. Haas, M. Lung'aho, S. Beebe. 2017. Iron bioavailability studies of the first generation of iron-biofortified beans released in Rwanda. Nutrients (in press). Nutrients, 9(7):787-798. doi:10.3390/nu9070787.
Scott, S.P., L.E. Murray-Kolb, M.J. Wenger, S.A. Udipi, P.S. Ghugre, E. Boy, J.D. Haas. 2018. Cognitive performance in Indian school-going adolescents is positively affected by consumption of iron-biofortified pearl millet: a 6-month randomized controlled efficacy trial. Journal of Nutrition, 148(9):1462-1471. doi: 10.1093/jn/nxy113.
Madan, E.M., J.D. Haas, P. Menon, S. Gillespie. 2018. Seasonal variation in the proximal determinants of undernutrition during the first 1000 days of life in rural South Asia: A comprehensive review. Global Food Security, 19:11-23. doi: 10.1016/j.gfs.2018.08.008
Wenger, M.J., S.E. Rhoten, L.E. Murray-Kolb, S.P. Scott, E. Boy, J.B. Gahutu, J.D. Haas. 2019. Changes in Iron Status are related to Changes in Brain Activity and Behavior in Rwandan Female University Students: Results from a Randomized Controlled Efficacy Trial Involving Iron-Biofortified Beans. Journal of Nutrition, 149(4):687-697. doi: 10.1093/jn/nxy265
Wenger, M.J., D.M. DellaValle, L.E. Murray-Kolb, J.D. Haas. 2019. Effect of Iron Deficiency on Simultaneous Measures of Behavior, Brain Activity, and Energy Expenditure in the Performance of a Cognitive Task. Nutritional Neuroscience 22(3):196-206. doi: 10.1080/1028415X.2017.1360559.
Pompano, L.M., and J.D. Haas. 2019. Increasing iron status through diet supplementation in iron-depleted, sedentary women improves endurance performance at both maximal and submaximal exercise intensities. Journal of Nutrition. (in press). doi: 10.1093/jn/nxy271. See commentary by S.R Henninger Journal of Nutrition, 2019; doi: 10.1093/jn/nxy228
Finkelstein, J.L., S. Mehta, S.V. Luna, M. Rahn, M, S. Villalpando, V. Mundo-Rosas, T. Shamah-Levy, S.E. Beebe3, J.D. Haas. 2019. A Randomized Trial of Iron-Biofortified Beans in School Children in Mexico. Nutrients, 11(2): 381-394. doi: 10.3390/nu11020381
At Cornell University:
- The Nancy Schlegel Meinig Professor Emeritus of Maternal & Child Nutrition
- International Professor of Nutrition, College of Agriculture & Life Sciences
- Graduate School Professor
- Cornell Graduate Field Memberships: Nutrition; Anthropology; Latin American Studies; Epidemiology; International Development
1967, A.B., Franklin & Marshall College
1970, M.A., The Pennsylvania State University
1973, Ph.D., The Pennsylvania State University