Brenda Abu

Brenda Abu serves as Associate Professor and Program Director at the Wegmans School of Health and Nutrition within RIT's College of Health Sciences and Technology. Her work bridges academic research and practical solutions for nutritionally vulnerable populations including college students, seniors in the USA, and low-income communities in Ghana.

Her educational foundation includes a BS in Community Nutrition (Honors) from Ghana's University for Development Studies, an MPhil from the University of Ghana, and a PhD from South Africa's University of the Free State. Prior to RIT, she completed postdoctoral research at Texas Tech University.

Dr. Abu's research program centers on Food and Nutrition Insecurity, Micronutrient Deficiencies (particularly iron/iodine), and Maternal-Child Nutrition. She pioneers sustainable food-based approaches to combat anemia in Ghana while addressing campus food insecurity through multi-disciplinary program design. Her signature methodology integrates Stakeholder Engagement with rigorous Impact Assessment to ensure culturally appropriate interventions.

Analysis of her 2018-2020 publications reveals three dominant research streams: (1) Anemia program evaluation in Ghana using mixed-methods approaches, (2) Food insecurity assessment among U.S. college students and seniors through community-based studies, and (3) Mobile health innovations for maternal nutrition support. These works consistently emphasize context-specific solutions and implementation science.

As Program Director, she teaches NUTR-333 (Nutrition Education for Health Professionals) and WSHN-710 (Population Health), while supervising thesis projects on nutrition security. Her mentorship extends to WSHN-790/797 capstone projects where students develop real-world health interventions under her guidance.