Margaret A. Nagai-Singer, Ph.D., joined the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS) as an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science & Technology Policy Fellow in August 2023. Dr. Nagai-Singer supports several projects spanning multiple ODS programs. For example, she assists with ODS fact sheet development, Consortium for Advancing Research on Botanical and Other Natural Products (CARBON) Program activities, and ODS workshop planning. In addition, she uses data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) and the Dietary Supplement Label Database (DSLD) to assess the use of dietary supplements for perceived immune system benefits. Dr. Nagai-Singer also leads a preliminary investigation into the role dietary supplements can play in a broader ecosystem that encompasses human and environmental health.
Dr. Nagai-Singer received her B.S. in agriculture from the University of Tennessee at Martin in 2018, where she focused on animal science and performed animal nutrition research. She received her Ph.D. in biomedical and veterinary sciences from Virginia Tech in 2022, where her research focused on an anti-inflammatory immune signaling protein in the context of breast and pancreatic cancers. In 2021, she was a Commonwealth of Virginia Engineering and Science (COVES) Fellow, where she worked with the Virginia Department of Forestry to examine the role trees and forests play in protecting water quality.