Carmen Sceppa, MD, PhD, FGSA is the Dean of Bouvé College of Health Sciences and Professor at Northeastern University. She has taught at Northeastern University since 2008 and served in a series of leadership roles culminating in her appointment as college dean in July 2019.
As a physician and nutrition scientist, Dr. Sceppa’s work centers around advancing and prolonging health for all – or healthspan. Specifically, her program of research is based on developing and testing lifestyle interventions to promote healthy aging and quality of life. She examines health and wellness in settings that promote physical activity among underserved and vulnerable populations, specifically, older adults and the elderly, particularly Hispanics and African Americans.
Dr. Sceppa’s research provides evidence-based information to transform the way we think about healthy lifestyle from personal choice to preventive medicine. For example, the Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine has used her research findings to revise the Dietary Recommended Intake for protein in older adults. Her pioneering work on resistance exercise in older adults with kidney disease and diabetes has also been adopted as a standard of care by the American Diabetes Association. Her research has also contributed to the American College of Sports Medicine’s and Heart Association’s recommendations for physical activity in older adults.
Continued funding for Dr. Sceppa’s program of research includes funding from the Brookdale Foundation, the International Life Sciences Institute, the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the National Space and Biomedical Research Institute, as well as corporations and foundations such as Novartis and Boston Children’s Hospital.
Dr. Sceppa has been an active and long-time member and contributor of the Gerontological Society of America (GSA) and is a GSA Fellow for the Health Sciences Section. In 2021, Dr. Sceppa was elected as Treasurer-Elect (1-year role) and Treasurer (3-year role) of the GSA Board of Directors. She has also been an active member of the American Society for Nutrition.
Dr. Sceppa received her medical degree from Francisco Marroquín University in Guatemala City, Guatemala, where she was born and raised. She received her PhD in Nutrition from The Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University in Boston, Massachusetts.
