Noura El Habbal

Ph.D., RD

Curriculum Vitae Link

I am an Assistant Professor in the School of Health Professions at the New York Institute of Technology (NYIT), where I also serve as the DATA101 Coordinator. My research focuses on lactation science, with an emphasis on the origins of the human milk microbiome and its role in shaping infant health.

At NYIT, I teach undergraduate courses that build foundational skills in research, data analysis, and professional development, including DATA 101, HSCI 195, and HSCI 415.

I earned my Ph.D. in Molecular and Biochemical Nutrition from the University of Michigan, School of Public Health in 2022. My dissertation, titled "Early Life Exposures and Milk Composition Affect Offspring Health", examined fetal and lactational programming through studies of placental and mammary gland development in mouse models. I also analyzed clinical data to assess how variations in human breast milk macronutrients and fatty acid composition influence infant growth.

Following my Ph.D., I completed a two-year postdoctoral research fellowship in the Gregory Lab at the Connell School of Nursing at Boston College. There, I continued exploring the human milk microbiome and employed mouse models to better understand its origins. I also worked on assessing maternal prenatal dietary intake and its role in infant growth in both term and preterm cohorts, as well as examining systemic and intestinal inflammatory markers in preterm infants.