Dietician Draws Educational Inspiration From Grandma

Often immigration stories paint the picture of people who leave unrest in foreign lands, find sanctuary in the United States, and pursue the American dream. But for Nadine Mikati, Ph.D., RDN, LDN, an associate professor in nutrition at Nova Southeastern University’s College of Osteopathic Medicine, things went a bit in reverse at first.

Mikati’s family is from Beirut, Lebanon. As a civil war raged there in the mid-1970s to 1990, her grandmother emigrated to the Michigan – followed by her parents – before Mikati was born. When she was 7, her parents decided to return to Beirut with her and her two sisters.

“It was a tough transition since I was used to parks, my friends, my school, communicating in English and then I went to live in a city that, at that time, had no parks for children,” she said. “I did not have any friends and I could barely speak the language then.”

It was one of those early moments in Mikati’s life that reinforced the importance of family and education.

“Little by little, with the help of my family and my school, I was speaking Arabic very well and got used to the system there,” she said. “And we would always go to Michigan and visit my grandma.”

Although her older sister Mira moved back to the U.S. after high school to attend college, Mikati stayed behind and earn her bachelor’s degree at American University in Beirut. It was there that she got her first taste of a possible career in promoting, teaching, and researching health eating habits.

“When I started my education journey back in 2003 in Lebanon, barely anyone had heard of a dietitian,” she said. “I was doing a college tour when I was exposed to nutrition as a major and immediately it resonated with me.”

Mikati obtained her B.S. degree in Nutrition and Dietetics from the American University of Beirut with distinction. She then left Lebanon and earned an M.S. degree in Nutrition and Food Science from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan.

Her passion for learning led her to complete a Ph.D. degree in Nutrition and Dietetics from Florida International University where her research primarily focused on obesity prevention.

Mikati designed and implemented an after-school intervention for children aged 6-11 to promote healthy eating habits and physical activity. As a Registered Dietitian, she has various experience in food service, clinical and community nutrition and was named Registered Young Dietitian of the Year in 2009 by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

Mikati has been teaching for more than a decade and September will mark three years with NSU. She says teaching has been something that has been ingrained in her since she was young.

“It all started as a kid,” she said. “I had a blackboard at home, and I would put all my stuffed toys as if they were sitting in a classroom and I would lecture them about the topic of the day. Flash forward to grad school, in 2007, I was offered the opportunity to become an instructor. It felt very natural to teach. Fifteen years later, here I am still teaching but now as a professor.”

On the research front, Mikati focuses on chronic disease prevention/management, food security and nutrition interventions for overall well-being. She says one of her shining moments has been a recent project she conducted at NSU.

“I received a quality-of-life grant from NSU,” she said. “We partnered up with two community organizations for this project and had students involved. The aim was to help individuals with chronic disease learn how to cook and eat better to lead a healthier lifestyle.”

Results of the project will be presented in a poster at a national conference in October.

“The satisfaction that I got from the participants at the end of the study, thanking us for this opportunity, reminded me of why I do what I do,” she said.

When Mikati reflects on her life, her career, and her educational ambitions, she fondly recalls her late grandmother’s inspiration and how grateful she is that her grandmother (who she calls “Teta”) decided to move to the U.S. many years ago.

“Teta was my role model. She learned English as an adult and became an unofficial translator for her neighbors in Michigan,” she said. “She also birthed nine children and so you can imagine how many cousins I have. I think all of us at some point lived with her. She would always push us all to get the best education.”

Posted 08/28/22