UW’s MD program earns award in NIH Nutrition Education Challenge

The school participated in the ONR’s 2026 Nutrition Education Challenge, which received 110 applications from medical schools, residency programs and nursing programs across the country to compete for a total of $2.1 million in prizes, with award criteria centered on current or planned integration of evidence-based nutrition science in the curriculum. UW’s School of Medicine and Public Health was one of ten schools that received the maximum award amount within the “exemplar” category. The school’s ForWard Curriculum nutrition education model will be shared nationwide for potential adoption by other health professions education programs.

“The Nutrition Education Challenge award showcases an often-unsung strength of our MD program,” said Sarah Jung, PhD, director of the Collective for Innovation, Scholarship, and Research in Undergraduate Medical Education (CISR-UME), and associate professor in the Department of Surgery, who coordinated and drafted the school’s entry into the challenge earlier this year. “I’m thrilled to highlight the hard work of the faculty and staff at our School of Medicine and Public Health, who have integrated nutrition throughout all three phases of the MD curriculum.”

A healthy diet can help prevent chronic diseases, such as heart disease and hypertension, yet many health professions training programs do not offer adequate training in nutrition, according to the ONR. To help close the gap in nutrition education, the ONR created the Nutrition Education Challenge to recognize excellence and incentivize medical schools, residency programs and nursing schools to develop new or expanded curricula that emphasize nutrition.

Nationwide, many medical schools offer only a few hours of formal nutrition education. At the UW School of Medicine and Public Health, students receive 66.6 hours of required nutrition instruction, exceeding the minimum requirement of 40 hours outlined in the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Medical Education Nutrition Competency Framework.

Nutrition education for UW medical students moves beyond basic science and clinical management to address food insecurity and policy topics, sustainability and the Food Is Medicine initiative. These perspectives prepare future doctors to incorporate nutrition into patient care while addressing broader drivers of health. Students acquire foundational knowledge in nutrient metabolism, digestive physiology, endocrine regulation, and chronic disease prevention. They develop practical skills in dietary assessment, nutrition-focused physical exams, patient counseling and motivational interviewing. They also receive interprofessional training with registered dietitians.

Jung credited Max Flynn, MD, an assistant professor of endocrinology at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health who serves as the block leader for the Food, Fasting, and Fitness section in Phase 1 of the curriculum, for being a driving force in encouraging students to critically examine the role of food and nutrition in health. Flynn helped Jung prepare the application for the challenge, along with Amy Stickford Becker, director of longitudinal curriculum and instruction, who helped articulate the ways that the school’s nutrition content maps to the HHS framework. The prize money will be used to advance, accelerate and disseminate innovative education in the ForWard Curriculum.