Shari Youngblood
Shari
Youngblood
Assistant Professor
Campus:
- College of Integrative Medicine and Health Sciences
- Department
- Integrative and Functional Nutrition
- Institution
-
Saybrook University
- Biography
-
Dr. Shari M. Youngblood is a board certified and licensed clinical nutritionist with a firm belief in "food first" health interventions. Her areas of clinical expertise include the nutritional care of patients with chronic illness, integrative & functional nutrition, the design and implementation of nutritional interventions in clinical trials, and culinary medicine. Her research focus relates to making personalized therapeutic nutrition and "food is medicine" interventions accessible and equitable for underserved populations.
In addition to a diverse array of nutrition-related work experiences, Dr. Youngblood has 24+ years of experience living in Mediterranean France, which has instilled in her a passion for Mediterranean food culture and culinary history. She loves blending her work in nutrition with her background in the social sciences and finds herself most drawn to topics at the intersection of food, society, culture and health. She is an Assistant Professor and Core Faculty member in the Department of Integrative & Functional Nutrition at Saybrook, where she teaches in the MS and PhD programs, advises students, and serves as chair, methodologist, chair/methodologist, or subject matter expert on a wide variety of dissertation committees.
In her spare time, Dr. Youngblood (herself an "Army brat") is proud to provide culinary nutrition instruction in the teaching kitchen on Fort Meade military base, where she is developing a healthy cooking program for single soldiers and young military families. Additionally, she serves as the Lead Clinical Nutritionist at Balance Point Wellness, where she provides nutrition therapy for mental health conditions. She is particularly interested in the relationship between the gut microbiome and overall physical and mental health, and has worked primarily in the areas of IBD, nutritional psychology/nutritional psychiatry, complex chronic illness, and oncology. Her favorite leisure activities are whole foods cooking, walking, exploring large cities, urban gardening, playing her soprano saxophone, and wine tasting.
Courses Taught:
- IFN 5670: Foundations of Integrative & Functional Nutrition
- IFN 5705: The Psychobiology of Eating
- IFN 5687: Capstone Seminar in Integrative & Functional Nutrition
- IFN 5900: Integrative Approaches to Chronic Disease
- IFN 8100: Independent Study in Nutrition
- IFN 5661: Nutritional Foundations of Mental Health
- Areas of Expertise
-
Area Expertise Clinical Psychology / Mental Health Integrative Mental Health Health Psychology Health and Wellness Military Psychology Militarily-relevant, Objective Resilience Competency Assessment Tools Nutritional Science Clinical Nutrition Community Nutrition Integrative Nutrition Therapeutic Diets Research Design/Methodology Case Study Narrative Inquiry Qualitative Inquiry - Education History
-
Degree Institution DCN, Doctor of Clinical Nutrition Maryland University of Integrative Health MA, Sociology (Health & Aging) University of Florida BA, Anthropology (Culture & Medicine) University of Florida - Professional Memberships
-
Role Organization Member American Nutrition Association (ANA) Member Institute for Functional Medicine (IFM) Member Integrative Medicine for the Underserved (IM4US) Member Society of Clinical Research Associates Member Maryland Nutrition Association - Licenses
-
Licensed Dietitian Nutritionist, LDN No. DX5551, Maryland Licensed Dietitian Nutritionist, LDN No. 164008579, Illinois Licensed Dietitian Nutritionist, LDN No. DN008756, Pennsylvania Licensed Dietitian Nutritionist, LDN No. DN-0011287, Delaware Certified Nutrition Specialist, CNS No. 17992, National Board Certification - Community Involvement
-
Role Organization Culinary Educator Kuhn Hall Teaching Kitchen, Fort Meade, Maryland Member President’s Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Council (JEDI) Member Research Mentorship Subcommittee, Integrative Medicine for the Underserved (IM4US) Speaker Baltimore Creative Alliance, Culinary Medicine, "Art to Dine For" Series - Publications
-
Journal Chung, K. H., Youngblood, S. M.,* Clingan, C. M., Deighton, D. C., Jump, V. A., Manuweera, T., McGeorge, N. M., Renn, C. L., Rosenblatt, P. Y., Winder, A. T., Zhu, S., Kleckner, I. R., & Kleckner, A. S. (2024). Digitizing survivorship care plans through the POST-Treatment Health Outcomes of Cancer Survivors (POSTHOC) Mobile App: Protocol for a Phase II Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR Research Protocols, , DOI: 10.2196/59222 (*co-first authorship).
Harvey, B. I., Youngblood, S. M., & Kleckner, A. S. (2023). Barriers and facilitators to adherence to a Mediterranean diet intervention during chemotherapy treatment: A qualitative analysis. Nutrition and Cancer, 75 (5), 1349-1360, DOI: 10.1080/01635581.2023.2192891.
Kleckner, A. S., Peppone, L., Youngblood, S., & Reschke, J. (2022). Development of a remote Mediterranean diet intervention for patients with cancer during chemotherapy treatment: A mixed methods analysis. Current Developments in Nutrition, 6 , 245-245, DOI: 10.1093/cdn/nzac052.012.
Kleckner, A., Reschke, J., Cherubin, L., Youngblood, S., & Peppone, L. (2022). Development of a remote Mediterranean diet intervention during chemotherapy treatment: A qualitative analysis. Journal of Clinical Oncology, 40 (16),
Kleckner, A., Clingan, C., Youngblood, S., Kleckner, I., Quick, L., Elrod, R., Zhu, S., Manoogian, E., Panda, S., Badros, A., & Emadi, A. (2025). Time-restricted eating to address persistent cancer-related fatigue among cancer survivors: A randomized controlled trial.. Supportive Care in Cancer, 33 (353),
Other Kleckner, A. S., Reschke, J. E., Cherubin, L., Youngblood, S. M., Peppone, L. J. (2022). Development of a remote Mediterranean diet intervention during chemotherapy treatment: A qualitative analysis. American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting. (Accepted Abstract). doi:no. e24033
- Professional Skills
-
Culinary Coaching, ServSafe