Profile: Robert Nicolosi

Nicolosi was born in Lawrence, but when he turned eight years old his parents and him moved to Andover where he finished his elementary and high school education. After he graduated high school he decided to go on to college. He first attended St. Anselm College where he got his BA. After getting his BA he went on to further his education at The University of New Hampshire where he acquired his MS and his PHD. Nicolosi then went on to work at Harvard University where he worked in the department of Health and Nutrition. In the year 1985 he came here to work at UMass Lowell.

Before he decided to become a research professor right after he left St. Anselms he went to a Dental School for a year because he thought that's what he wanted to do, but soon he found out that wasn't for him. That's when he went to The University of New Hampshire where he took his course work, but also was a researcher and had a teaching assistmentship. "So I got to do a little teaching with students and that really turned me on," he said. He also thinks really good teachers are also researchers whether it is research in a lab or just to find out better teaching methods and to keep their course work up to date.

Here at UMass Lowell most of his work is research oriented in fact only 25 % of his time is based on teaching the other 75% is research, although he does enjoy working with students. "I think students are great" he says "they are very challenging and most are here for a really good education, its one of the reasons I left Harvard to come to UMass Lowell because here I would have a greater access with the students." Most of his work is done on research, but he does incorporate his it with his teaching. "I view my research as an integral part of my teaching to the students," he said. He teaches a Nutrition class here at UMass Lowell and that makes it easy for him to mix his class with his research since right now his research is based on Nutrition and cosmetics and how they affect our health.

His research is based on nutrition and cosmetics; it was something that over many years he has been interested in. His major interest in this particular research is to go out into the world and translate the things that he has learned to the people out there. "If I think something is good for you or not good for you the only way that I am going to show that is to get out there where everyone else is," he said. One of two of the things his research is concentrated on is nutrition in particular the epidemic of childhood obesity and diabetes. He goes out to school systems in Tewksbury, Billerica, and Lowell trying to develop programs that reduce the incidence of obesity and diabetes. "The incidence of kids from 3-5 years of age being overweight is actually about 20%," he said. Nicolosi also is on the Advisory Board at the head start program in Lowell. He also works with the elderly at nursing homes making sure their nutrition is good by checking diet and exercise responsiveness. The second part of his research is based on cosmetics and how they affect us and that part of the research connects him with TURI, Toxic Use Reduction Institute.

TURI and Nicolosi are not officially involved yet, but they are working on the same project just different aspects of it. TURI is involved in a new initiative that would be looking at the impact of cosmetic exposure to young people. TURI is looking more at the practices of cosmetic application and what kinds of cosmetics are in use and how often people use them. Nicolosi is concentrating on the basic science end. He is looking to see if the cosmetics are safe to use and if they are not which ones cause a problem and what chemicals in them cause them to be harmful. He is looking to see if the cosmetic causes harm to the skin such as skin cancer, inflammation to the skin, or skin irritation.

Besides all the work he does here he also has a big family to attend. He is also happily married with his second wife. He has thirty four year old daughter and a thirty year old son with his first wife and he has an eight year old son with his current wife. He also has two step kids one is nineteen and one is sixteen. "They keep me young" he says "my eight year old is a challenge, but he is great." When he is not busy with his family or his job, he plays golf although he said he is not very good at it.

"What I would like to see happen is to have an opportunity to make students on campus aware that this is the time to make healthy choices, healthy lifestyles," he concluded. "What you do now can impact you as you get older so it's very difficult at my age to change bad habits but if you are younger then it's a much easier task."