Nourishment as Healing

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For Christen Cooper, EdD, RDN, associate professor in Pace University’s College of Health Professions and founding director of the MS in Nutrition and Dietetics program, nutrition has never been only about food. It is about dignity, trust, health, culture, autonomy, and care.

As a registered dietitian nutritionist credentialed by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Cooper is preparing the next generation of nutrition professionals to think deeply about the people behind the practice. Her work bridges science, public health, compassion, and social justice—and her recent research is opening a powerful new conversation about the role nutrition professionals can play in supporting survivors of human trafficking.

Cooper’s 2024 article, “Registered Dietitian Nutritionists’ Knowledge, Confidence and Experiences with Treating Human Trafficked Individuals: A Call for Interprofessional Continuing Education,” published through the Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior, explores a largely overlooked intersection: how dietitians and nutrition professionals may be uniquely positioned to identify, care for, and support individuals who have experienced trafficking.

“It just occurred to me that we could play a really important role in recuperation,” Cooper says.

That realization grew from a lifelong interest in human rights and public service. As an undergraduate at Wellesley College, Cooper interned with a federal judge who was studying international data on violence against women and human trafficking. She later worked for the United States House of Representatives and as a management consultant in Latin America. Those experiences helped shape the way she approaches nutrition today: not as a narrow clinical field, but as a discipline deeply connected to public health, policy, justice, and human experience.

At Pace, Cooper brings that expansive perspective into the classroom.

The Nutrition and Dietetics program, which she helped found, combines classroom learning with supervised practice experiences to prepare students to become registered dietitian nutritionists. The program emphasizes scientific rigor alongside culinary nutrition, cultural understanding, and practical care. Students learn not only how nutrients affect the body, but how food traditions, access, trauma, identity, and lived experience shape a person’s relationship with nourishment.

That matters deeply in Cooper’s current research.

Human trafficking survivors may experience malnutrition, dehydration, injuries, chronic health problems, and a profound loss of autonomy. Food itself can be used as a means of control, punishment, or manipulation. For survivors, rebuilding a relationship with food can also become part of rebuilding a relationship with the body.

Cooper sees nutrition professionals as essential members of an interdisciplinary response.

Because dietitians often conduct nutrition-focused physical exams and work closely with patients experiencing dehydration, malnutrition, wounds, disordered eating, or other health concerns, they may be in a position to notice warning signs that others miss. They may also help create a safe, caring environment where survivors feel seen as whole people.

“There’s no better time than when you are in a caring, comforting, empathetic environment to be helped,” Cooper says.

Her work is also part of a broader interdisciplinary conversation taking place across Pace. Cooper recently joined faculty from Dyson College of Arts and Sciences for “Nutrition and Dietetics: The Roles of Law and Healthcare in Assisting Victims and Survivors,” a panel discussion hosted as part of the Annual Spring Conference of the Office of Research and Graduate Education at Pace.

The panel brought together Cooper; Cathryn Lavery, PhD, professor and chair of the Department of Criminal Justice in Dyson College; and David Mulcahy, adjunct professor of criminal justice in Dyson College and a supervisory United States probation officer for the Southern District of New York. Cooper also served as moderator.

“We break bread,” Cooper says. “That’s what humans do.”

Together, the presenters examined the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, major United States anti-trafficking initiatives, and the operational challenges law enforcement faces in preventing victims from being prosecuted and instead promoting justice, recovery, and support. The discussion also explored how healthcare providers can offer trauma-informed nutrition care to victims and survivors, supporting and treating individuals who have been manipulated, controlled, and deprived during captivity.

For Cooper, that kind of cross-disciplinary dialogue is essential.

Human trafficking is often discussed through the lens of criminal justice or law enforcement. Cooper’s research expands that conversation to include nutrition, health care, psychology, trauma-informed practice, and survivor-centered recovery.

“What does criminal justice have to do with nutrition?” Cooper says. “Nothing—and a lot, apparently. We find bridges to each other.”

That ability to find bridges is central to Pace’s academic community. Across schools and disciplines, faculty are pursuing research that responds to real-world challenges with creativity, rigor, and compassion. Cooper’s work shows how a nutrition professional can contribute to one of society’s most urgent human rights issues—and how academic inquiry can lead to more humane care.

Her research found that registered dietitian nutritionists need more education and training to feel prepared to recognize and respond to human trafficking. Many want that education, including webinars and continuing education opportunities. Cooper is now building on that work by exploring how trauma-informed nutrition can be incorporated into nutrition and dietetics curricula.

“What does criminal justice have to do with nutrition?” Cooper says. “Nothing—and a lot, apparently. We find bridges to each other.”

For Cooper, the work is both academic and deeply human.

She imagines models of care in which survivors are supported through nourishment, cooking, cultural foods, shared meals, and community. Food, in her view, can help restore dignity and connection. It can support physical healing through hydration, protein intake, wound recovery, and adequate nourishment. It can also support emotional healing by helping people regain choice, comfort, and trust.

“We break bread,” Cooper says. “That’s what humans do.”

That sense of humanity is at the center of her teaching, research, and mentorship. Cooper regularly partners with students on scholarly work, giving them opportunities to explore emerging areas in nutrition and contribute to professional conversations. She recently published an article with a student on energy deficiency in athletes, examining the nutritional consequences of inadequate fueling and strategies to prevent injury. For students considering careers in sports nutrition, public health, clinical nutrition, or community care, those research opportunities offer a powerful glimpse of what the field can become.

For Cooper, the goal is not only to publish research, but to change how future practitioners see their role.

“I was meant to reach across, partner with people, innovate, and create,” she says.

In doing so, she is helping students understand that nutrition can be a form of science, advocacy, restoration, and care. And at Pace, she is showing that academic excellence is at its most powerful when it is paired with compassion.