Dr. Soumya Gupta

Dr Soumya Gupta is an experienced nutrition professional and Diabetes educator with a strong academic background and a strong interest in behavioral and policy science and their role in nutrition policy frameworks. She obtained her Bachelor's degree (BSc Hons.) from Banasthali University, Rajasthan, and pursued her Master's degree (M.Sc.) in Foods & Nutrition from GB Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand. She received her Ph.D. in Human Nutrition from the GB Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand, where she worked on investigating the effect of obesity and its biomarkers on hormonal homeostasis. During her Ph.D., she secured a prestigious UGC-NET JRF/SRF fellowship. She underwent training in Nutrition Research Methods at St. John's Research Institute, Bangalore, in collaboration with the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Tufts University, Boston, USA. Her areas of expertise encompass clinical Nutrition and dietetics, public health nutrition, and maternal and child health.

Additionally, she has actively participated in collaborative research projects, resulting in published research papers and presentations at conferences. She also has a proven track record in curriculum designing and mentoring students. Her goal is to contribute to the field of Nutrition by integrating research findings into practical applications and fostering the development of future nutrition professionals.

Prior to joining UPES, she has worked as an Assistant Professor at the Ramaiah University of Applied Science, Bangalore, where she worked collaboratively with Karnataka Health Promotion Trust (KHPT), Bangalore in Preconception Nutrition and exploring its link with improved maternal and child health. She primarily explored barriers and facilitators at policy, community, and individual levels to preconception nutrition and care and delivered a model package to deliver facilitate the same using evidence synthesis. She has worked as a Project Research Associate at Prof Narendra Shah’s lab, CTARA, IIT Bombay, where she worked in the area of malnutrition and its link with child morbidities and provided technical expertise in study planning, conducting an extensive nutritional status assessment on the field and formulating calorie dense, micronutrient rich food formulations. She has 5+ years of academic and research experience. She also served as a Senior Research Fellow in the esteemed "e-Home Science Courseware Consortium Project" funded by the National Agricultural Innovation Project (NAIP). In this role, she conducted thorough literature reviews and played a pivotal part in creating interactive multimedia course content for diverse disciplines within the B.Sc. Home Science program, ensuring alignment with the recommendations provided by the National 4th Dean's Committee.

Dr. Soumya Gupta's research interests revolve around the domains of Public Health Nutrition, Food and Nutrition Policy, Systematic Reviews, Dietary Composition and its impact on metabolic biomarkers, Development of Functional Foods with a specific focus on enhancing protein quality and substituting simple sugars.

Dr. Soumya Gupta is driven by a teaching philosophy that revolves around cultivating a dynamic and inclusive educational setting. At the core of her pedagogical approach is a student-centered methodology that nurtures inquisitiveness, fosters interdisciplinary exploration within the subject matter, promotes active student engagement, cultivates critical thinking abilities, and instills practical problem-solving skills. Moreover, she values simplifying complex concepts by employing various instructional aids and plain language, allowing students to visualize abstract ideas with vivid clarity akin to a cinematic experience. Driven by a commitment to inspire students, she endeavors to instill a lifelong passion for learning while emphasizing the practical application of knowledge in clinical and public health nutrition.

Dr. Soumya Gupta teaches the principles of Nutrition, Dietetics, Public health nutrition, Nutrition education, Nutrition during life stages, Nutritional disorders, Meal planning, Nutrition in emergencies, Paediatric and Geriatric Nutrition, Ethics & Food Laws. She has also taught the following courses to students from various backgrounds viz. Food technology, Clinical Nutrition, Public health, Dialysis Technicians: Principle of Food nutrition & dietetics, Introduction to Human Nutrition, Community Nutrition, Renal Nutrition, Baking and confectionery technology, Fruit and vegetable technology, Food safety and laws.

Dr Soumya Gupta received the University Grants Commission’s National Eligibility Test for Lectureship (2012) and Junior & Senior Research Fellowship (2013-2017). She is also certified as a Diabetes Educator by the International Diabetes Federation and Dr Mohan’s Diabetes Research Centre. She is also conferred with a Junior research fellowship conducted by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi, for the PhD program.

Dr. Soumya has been an active member of the Nutrition Society of India, the Indian Dietetic Association, The Nutrition Society UK, and the World Public Health Nutrition Association. She has presented her research work on national and international forums and has been invited as a resource person by various universities and organizations. List of publications

• Comprehensive report on Exploring Barriers and Facilitators to Preconception Nutrition: A Scoping Review, June 2022.
• Research paper on Ultrasound-Assisted and Microwave-Assisted Extraction, GC-MS Characterization, and Anti-microbial Potential of Freeze-dried L. Camara Flower, Journal of Pure and Applied Microbiology, 2022; 7465: 1-14. https://doi.org/10.22207/JPAM.16.1.50.
• Research paper on Assessing the diagnostic accuracy of BMI and other adiposity indices with body fat percent as standard in North Indian premenopausal women, International Journal of Agricultural and Statistical Sciences 2018; 14 (2): 469-473.
• Research paper on Nutritional and phytochemical composition of improved varieties of buckwheat grains (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench) in India, International Journal of Basic and Applied Agricultural Research, 2017; Vol. 15 (1&2): 101-105.
• Published article on Price Cap Policy on Coronary Stents and its Unintended Consequences. Spontaneous order. https://bit.ly/3GoiVMZ (2022, Feb 1).

soumya.gupta@ddn.upes.ac.in