Leah Hanson, MS, RDN, LD
Director, Dietetic Internship; Lecturer
Biography
Leah Hanson joined the Department of Kinesiology and Nutrition Sciences (KNS) in the spring of 2023 as a full-time lecturer. Beginning in July 2024, in addition to lecturing, she is now the director of the dietetic internship.
She teaches life cycle nutrition, nutrition assessment, nutritional pathophysiology, and field experience. As a graduate faculty member, she also teaches the didactic part of the dietetic internship.
Prior to becoming a part of the KNS faculty, Leah worked in the community as an RD in the areas of nutrition support, dialysis, LTC consulting, and as a representative for Abbott Nutrition. In all of her clinical roles, she has trained countless RD interns, med students, residents, and nurse residents and has brought that enthusiasm to our students at UNLV.
Leah earned her B.S. in Human Resources and Family Studies with an emphasis in nutrition from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1990 and her M.S. in Nutrition from Northern Illinois University in 1994.
Leah is now pursuing her IFMCP Certification in Functional Medicine as she believes this systems biology approach to nutrition is the wave of the future in health care as it aims to identify the root cause of illness and nutritional deficiency.