Alyce Fly
Chair of the Department of Nutrition and Health Science and Professor of Nutrition and Health Science
Alyce D. Fly, PhD, CFS has been serving as Professor and Chair of the Department of Nutrition and Health Science since August 1, 2020. The Department of Nutrition and Health Science offers undergraduate bachelor’s degrees in Dietetics, Public Health, and Respiratory Therapy; additionally, an Associate of Science degree in Radiography. All of the undergraduate programs are accredited. At the graduate level, the department offers a Master of Science in Health Science, with a concentration in Biostatistics and Epidemiology, and a Master of Science in Nutrition and Dietetics, that includes an accredited program path for aspiring dietitians to complete the dietetic internship. Current RDNs can also pursue the Masters of Science program though a second path.
Professor Fly’s research portfolio includes nutrition studies on population health and individual health to ultimately prevent chronic diseases. She has completed research in development, implementation and evaluation of food and nutrition interventions funded through the US Department of Agriculture and the Indiana Department of Education and the Indiana Department of Health. She has partnered with colleagues in epidemiology, kinesiology and environmental health to conduct both epidemiological and laboratory studies on nutrition in health and performance; these studies were funded through National Institutes of Health and industry.
Professor Fly served as a faculty member at Indiana University Bloomington for 29 years where she moved through the ranks to full professor and served in a number of leadership capacities, including, Administrative Fellow and Associate Dean for Academic Administration for the School of Public Health, and was elected to and chaired the School faculty governance council for 2 separate terms. She served as Interim Assistant Department Chair for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, and provided service and leadership to many University level committees. Professor Fly led the undergraduate and graduate programs in nutrition science for 20 years. She earned multiple teaching awards, including Indiana University Trustees Teaching Award in 2002, 2012, and 2016 and the Indiana University Teaching Excellence Recognition Awards in 1997 and 1999. She was awarded the School of Public Health Distinguished Service Award in 2015.
At the national level, Professor Fly served in multiple leadership positions in the Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior, American Society for Nutrition, and the Institute for Food Technologists. She served as President of the Board for the Society for Nutrition and Behavior Foundation from 2021 to 2023.
Professor Fly was born in a rural town in Illinois but grew up in a northern suburb of Chicago, where she enjoyed running, swimming, field hockey, ice skating, attending performances at Orchestra Hall and exhibits at the Art Institute of Chicago, and most of all, devouring books from the public library that was just a short jog from the family home. She was always fascinated by science and completed her Bachelor of Science in Biology from University of Illinois, Urbana, worked as a lab technician and assistant extension plant pathologist before completing graduate school at University of Illinois in Nutritional Sciences. Her graduate study was funded through competitive research awards from Quaker Oats and a National Institutes of Health Clinical Nutrition Research traineeship.
As a Ball State Cardinal, she enjoys lunch time walks through the David Owsley Museum of Art, Christy Woods, Dr. Joe and Alice Rinard Orchid Greenhouse, and in the evenings she especially enjoys Ball State Basketball or Muncie city life through performances by Orchestra Indiana at Emens Auditorium. The Health Professions building on the East Quad, her favorite building, is adorned with exquisite landscaping evoking the Midwest prairie. Kudos to the Landscape Services and Management employees!
Education
PhD, Nutritional Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
BS, Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Selected Recent Publications
Li R, Li M, Fly AD, Bidulescu A and Luo J. 2024. Vegetarian diets and risk of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: an observational study of NHANES 2005-2018 using propensity score methods. Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1111/jhn.13290
Li R, Li M, Bidulescu A, Fly AD and Luo J. 2023. Diets with higher anti-inflammatory potential associated with lower risk of development of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and early-stage of fibrosis among US adults. Digestive Diseases and Sciences Oct;68(10):4009-4021. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10620-023-08059-0
Khuri J, Wang Y, Holden K, Fly AD, Mbogori T, Mueller S, Kandiah J, and Zhang M. 2022. Dietary Intake and Nutritional Status among Refugees in Host Countries: A Systematic Review. Advances in Nutrition Oct 2;13(5):1846-1865. https://doi.org/10.1093/advances/nmac051
PMID: 35561746; PMCID: PMC9526844.
Zhu J, Xun P, Kolencik M, Yang K, Fly AD, and Kahe K. 2022. Do B vitamins enhance the effect of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids on cardiovascular diseases? A systematic review of the epidemiological evidence. Nutrients 14(8), 1608 (16 pages). https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14081608
Baranauskas M*, Fulton TJ*, Fly AD, Martin BJ, Mickleborough TD, and Chapman RF. 2022. High intra-individual variability in the response of serum erythropoietin to multiple simulated altitude exposures. HAM-2021-0154.R3, High Alt Med Biol. Mar;23(1):85-89.
https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/epdf/10.1089/ham.2021.0154
10.1089/ham.2021.0154. Epub 2022 Mar 15. PMID: 35290748
Zhang Y, Chen C, Luo J, Dibaba DT, Fly AD, Haas DM, Shikany JM, Kahe K. 2022. Long chain omega-3 fatty acids, selenium, and mercury in relation to sleep duration and sleep quality: findings from the CARDIA study. European Journal of Nutrition 61(2):753-762.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-021-02682-1 doi: Epub 2021 Sep 19.
Specific Research Areas
Measurement of food intake in children, dietary fatty acids and immunity, antioxidants and oxidant stressors, including oxidative stress in response to a high fat meal, bioavailability of minerals and carotenoids, measurement of biological markers, understand factors related to mothers’ decisions to exclusively breastfeed, obesity and health.
PubMed
Open Research and Contributor Identifier ORCID-0000-0001-7814-3675