Amy Mullins, a doctoral candidate in Nutrition and Integrative Physiology and winner of the Esther & Del Grosser Scholarship, with her major professor, Bahram H. Arjmandi

Neil Charness, Ph.D., Director of the Institute for Successful Longevity, has announced that Amy Mullins, doctoral candidate in the Department of Nutrition and Integrative Physiology, has been awarded the Institute for Successful Longevity’s Esther & Del Grosser Scholarship.

The scholarship provides $1,000 in support of student research.

The scholarship supports Mullins, a registered dietitian who has held a county faculty position with the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, in her research on human nutrition and chronic disease prevention.

Mullins is working with Bahram H. Arjmandi, Professor & Director of the Center for Advancing Exercise and Nutrition Research on Aging in the College of Health and Human Sciences. Her research will investigate the daily consumption of prunes in aging men, aged 55-80 years old, with a focus on cardiovascular benefits. The goal is to identify whether prunes can provide a preventative measure against chronic inflammation in osteopenic (low bone density) aging men and if consumption of prunes can extend protection to improve vascular health.

"I am excited to work toward finding practical nutrition solutions with far-reaching implications for improving cardiovascular disease risk in aging populations,” Mullins said. “I am honored to receive such a generous award and know that it will go a long way in helping advance nutrition research."

Charness said the Institute for Successful Longevity was pleased to honor Mullins with the Esther & Del Grosser Scholarship. “Her research plan shows that creative work on longevity is taking place at the graduate level at Florida State University,” Charness said.