Faculty > Archana McEligot, Ph.D.
Department of Health Science
657-278-3822
amceligot@fullerton.edu
Dr. Archana J. McEligot is a nutritional epidemiologist and a professor in the Department of Health Science at the Cal State Fullerton. She received her Ph.D. in Public Health Epidemiology from the joint doctoral program between UCSD and SDSU. Dr. McEligot’s primary research interests include examination of the association between dietary intake and cancer control and prevention. Also, she is interested in assessing the relationship between dietary circulating biomarkers in blood such as folate and carotenoids in conjunction with genetic polymorphisms on cancer risk. Dr. McEligot is passionate about her research. She is the first awardee at CSUF to receive the prestigious National Cancer Institutes Career Development Award investigating the interaction between DNA repair genes and diet on breast cancer risk. The findings of this study will help further explore not only diet, but also the role of diet and genes on breast cancer risk and survival. Other externally funded research projects include assessing behavior and beliefs related to food choice in Native Hawaiians in Southern California, as well as assessing dietary intakes and physical activity in Pacific Islander youth. In addition, Dr. McEligot has received three intramural grants at CSUF, has managed several sub-contracts and has recently been awarded an exploratory research grant from NCI, garnering over 1 million dollars in research funding. Dr. McEligot has published 15 peer-reviewed manuscripts, 12 of them first authored. Her research has been cited in major peer-reviewed journals such as the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), and has been featured in several popular magazines. Dr. McEligot is dedicated to serving the community and the university. In 2007, Dr. McEligot was awarded a Mission and Goals Initiative, an interdisciplinary proposal that involved educating and collaborating with the community, students and researchers. As part of the M & G, one of the events highlighted the multidisciplinary field of nutrition with nearly 120 community members and students attending. For future projects, Dr. McEligot would like to expand her research in nutritional epidemiology and continue to enrich the learning experience and continue collaborative work with both students and community members.
