Elaine Molaison, Ph.D., RD profile and information

Professional Experience

Dr. Molaison has held progressive academic appointments at The University of Alabama and The University of Southern Mississippi, where responsibilities included department chair, assistant chair, and director of both didactic and internship programs in dietetics. Her career in higher education spans over two decades, advancing from instructor to full professor and department head, and she has been recognized for her excellence in teaching, research, and service. In addition to her academic leadership, Dr. Molaison has extensive experience in clinical dietetics. She has served as a consultant dietitian in hospitals, rehabilitation centers, dialysis clinics, and community health settings across Louisiana and Mississippi. Her clinical roles have included renal dietitian, consultant clinical dietitian, and clinical dietitian in both inpatient and outpatient environments, providing medical nutrition therapy and supporting patient care teams. Dr. Molaison is also deeply engaged in professional accreditation, having served as chair and board member for national accrediting bodies such as ACEND, ARC-PA, and ACOTE. She has mentored numerous graduate students and dietetic interns, chairing many thesis and dissertation committees. Her career reflects a sustained commitment to advancing nutrition education, research, clinical practice, and professional standards at institutional, state, and national levels.

Innovation

Dr. Molaison's research has focused primarily in the areas of nutrition and dietetics, with a particular focus on clinical nutrition, renal health, obesity prevention, and community-based interventions. Dr. Molaison has authored numerous peer-reviewed articles in international, national, and state journals, contributing new knowledge on topics such as blood pressure reduction among African Americans, obesity trends in children, nutritional status in dialysis patients, and the effectiveness of nutrition education programs. Her work has been supported by major external grants from organizations including the National Institutes of Health and The Bower Foundation, funding studies on childhood obesity, school wellness policies, and community health initiatives. Dr. Molaison’s research has influenced practice and policy, especially in the areas of dietetics education, school nutrition, and chronic disease prevention. She has led and collaborated on multi-year, multi-site studies, and her findings have been presented at national and international conferences. Her scholarly contributions have been recognized with awards such as the Distinguished Researcher honor from The University of Southern Mississippi and the New Researcher’s Award from the American Dietetic Association Foundation. 

She has secured major external and internal grants—including funding from the National Institutes of Health and The Bower Foundation—for projects addressing childhood obesity, nutrition education, and innovative obesity interventions. Among her most cited publications are studies on fruit and vegetable consumption in low-income adolescents, behavioral strategies for dialysis patients, and community-based interventions for blood pressure and obesity, with her work widely published and influential in both academic and public health.