Accomplished obesity and nutrition researcher also strategic board's first Latinx member

Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington Dean David B. Allison recently announced that Dr. Michelle Cardel will join the Dean's Alliance. Developed in 2005, the Dean's Alliance is a strategic planning board which helps the IU School of Public Health-Bloomington to navigate challenges and leverage new opportunities.

An obesity and nutrition researcher with the University of Florida's Department of Health Outcomes & Biomedical Informatics, Cardel also recently joined WW's Science team as Director of Global Clinical Research & Nutrition. She holds a BS in biology from Florida State University, a Master's in Clinical Nutrition, and a PhD in Nutrition Sciences from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). She is also a registered dietitian.

"I had the opportunity to mentor Dr. Cardel at UAB," Allison notes. "She is an accomplished, prolific, and well-respected researcher in the field of obesity and nutrition."

Cardel has long worked to raise awareness around diversity issues in academia and was recently quoted in an April 13, 2021 New York Times article, "Could the Pandemic Prompt an 'Epidemic of Loss' of Women in the Sciences?" Citing multiple stressors associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, Cardel noted, "My big fear is that we are going to have a secondary epidemic of loss, particularly of early career women in STEMM."

Allison continues, "Dr. Cardel will also be the first Latinx member on the Dean's Alliance—our top advisory board—and I believe she will be an invaluable role model for students and faculty alike."

IU Vice Provost for Diversity and Inclusion John Nieto-Phillips adds, "Dr. Cardel is an accomplished scholar who also has been recognized as a champion of diversity. We are thrilled by her appointment. The Dean's Alliance and the institution, more broadly, will benefit tremendously from her expertise, wisdom, and experience."