Martin T. Wells, Ph.D., joined the Cornell faculty in 1987 and is the Charles A. Alexander Professor of Statistical Sciences. He is also a Professor of Social Statistics, Professor of Clinical Epidemiology and Health Services Research at Weill Medical School, an Elected Member of the Cornell Law School Faculty, as well as the Director of Research in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations. He teaches statistical methodology to undergraduate and graduate students in fields such as agriculture, biology, epidemiology, finance, law, medicine, nutrition, social science, and veterinary medicine as well as graduate courses in statistics.
Precision Nutrition and AICornell Certificate Program
Overview and Courses
Precision nutrition and AI are transforming how we approach health and wellness, offering personalized solutions that consider individual biological and environmental nuances. As the demand for tailored dietary recommendations grows, so does the need for professionals equipped to lead these innovations. By engaging with this five-course Precision Nutrition and AI certificate program, you will deepen your expertise from foundational knowledge to practical application.
In this program, you will begin by exploring the fundamentals of precision nutrition, examining how genetic, microbiome, and metabolic factors, along with environmental influences, shape individual dietary responses. You’ll enhance your critical analysis abilities by evaluating cutting-edge research, understanding methodologies, and crafting research questions using the PICO (population, intervention, comparison, outcome) framework.
You will then advance your knowledge as you delve into the practical applications, limitations, and ethical considerations surrounding precision nutrition. By analyzing how personalized nutrition can transform health and wellness, you’ll be well equipped to navigate real-world challenges and opportunities. As you develop essential technical skills in R programming and progress from basic to advanced statistical analysis, data visualization, and modeling, you will be empowered to drive data-driven research endeavors.
Finally, you will gain hands-on experience in data analysis through the Researcher Workbench using data from the “All of Us” Research Program, one of the largest and most diverse health databases in the U.S. You’ll apply your skills to explore precision medicine across varied populations. After completing this certificate, you’ll be prepared to conduct research, lead initiatives, and innovate in the rapidly evolving field of precision nutrition.
To get the most out of this program, it is highly recommended that you have prior knowledge or experience in high school-level biology (or equivalent), basic proficiency in R or Python, an introductory understanding of statistics, and familiarity with evaluating scientific studies and basic research methodology.
The courses in this certificate program are required to be completed in the order that they appear.
Course list
In this course, you will delve into the emerging field of precision nutrition and discover how biological variations and environmental factors shape individual dietary responses. You'll explore why traditional "one size fits all" approaches are giving way to personalized interventions backed by cutting-edge evidence.
Armed with this understanding, you will master the fundamental concepts and terminology of precision nutrition, building the framework for advanced discussions. You'll trace nutritional science's evolution from general dietary guidelines to today's sophisticated, personalized approaches.
With this foundation in precision nutrition principles, you will explore the complex world of dietary response variations, both within individuals and between different people. You'll examine key factors including genetics, microbiome composition, and metabolic differences, along with environmental influences like lifestyle, culture, and food access.
- Aug 20, 2025
- Nov 12, 2025
- Feb 4, 2026
- Apr 29, 2026
In this course, you will analyze cutting-edge research and develop critical evaluation skills as you master the emerging field of precision nutrition. You'll explore how personalized nutrition approaches are transforming dietary interventions and health outcomes.
Starting with core precision nutrition concepts, you will examine current research approaches and methodologies. You'll build the expertise to evaluate research confidently, learning systematic approaches to analyze scientific papers — essential skills for both academic research and evidence-based practice.
Through guided evaluations of landmark precision nutrition studies, you will explore the field's evolution and future directions. You'll synthesize research findings, extract practical insights, and understand their impact on clinical applications.
Finally, you will create research questions using the PICO (population, intervention, comparison, outcome) framework to address current research gaps.
You are required to have completed the following course or have equivalent experience before taking this course:
- Foundations of Precision Nutrition
- Sep 3, 2025
- Nov 26, 2025
- Feb 18, 2026
- May 13, 2026
In this course, you will explore precision nutrition, an emerging field that tailors nutritional recommendations to individual genetic profiles, lifestyle factors, and environmental conditions. You'll discover how personalized nutrition transforms health and wellness while examining its applications, limitations, and ethical implications.
Moving from foundational concepts to advanced applications, you will study precision nutrition's scientific principles and real-world implementation. This progressive approach will help you develop a deep understanding of the field's potential as well as its challenges.
You are required to have completed the following courses or have equivalent experience before taking this course:
- Foundations of Precision Nutrition
- Evaluating Methods in Precision Nutrition
- Sep 17, 2025
- Dec 10, 2025
- Mar 4, 2026
- May 27, 2026
In this course, you will develop and strengthen data analysis skills with R programming. You'll build the essential capabilities needed to utilize R programming as a tool for scientific problem solving.
With these foundations in place, you will progress from R fundamentals to advanced statistical analysis. You'll start by mastering R's syntax and basic commands then advance to importing, cleaning, and filtering various datasets — crucial skills for real-world analysis.
Building on these analytical capabilities, you will discover how to create professional visualizations using ggplot2, R's powerful plotting package. You'll design compelling graphs and charts for both categorical and numerical data. Finally, you'll explore statistical modeling, performing simple and multivariate regression analyses to identify relationships between variables and make data-driven predictions.
You are required to have completed the following courses or have equivalent experience before taking this course:
- Foundations of Precision Nutrition
- Evaluating Methods in Precision Nutrition
- Precision Nutrition in Research, Policy, and Practice
- Oct 1, 2025
- Dec 24, 2025
- Mar 18, 2026
- Jun 10, 2026
In this course, you will put your skills into practice with the groundbreaking “All of Us” (AoU) Research Program, one of the largest and most diverse health databases in the United States. You'll first explore the program's mission and scope, discovering the wide range of research questions possible with this remarkable dataset.
Before the course begins, you will complete training to access the AoU Researcher Workbench, where you'll apply your R programming skills to real-world health data. Building on this access, you'll analyze the database through hands-on exercises, uncovering insights that can advance precision medicine and improve health outcomes across diverse populations.
You are required to have completed the following courses or have equivalent experience before taking this course:
- Foundations of Precision Nutrition
- Evaluating Methods in Precision Nutrition
- Precision Nutrition in Research, Policy, and Practice
- R Primer in Data Analysis
- Oct 15, 2025
- Jan 7, 2026
- Apr 1, 2026
- Jun 24, 2026
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How It Works
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Faculty Author
Key Course Takeaways
- Analyze how individual biology and environmental factors influence dietary responses
- Critically assess key precision nutrition studies, evaluate research methodologies, and develop a PICO-based research question
- Evaluate precision nutrition’s impact on health outcomes, critically analyze consumer applications, and examine ethical implications of personal data management
- Analyze scientific data using R by performing data manipulation, creating visualizations with ggplot, and conducting basic regression analyses
- Navigate the “All of Us” Researcher Workbench user interface to create cohorts, concept sets, and datasets


What You'll Earn
- Precision Nutrition and AI Certificate from Cornell College of Human Ecology
- 50 Professional Development Hours (5 CEUs)
Who Should Enroll
- Health and nutrition professionals
- Data scientists
- Biopharma professionals
- Healthtech entrepreneurs and consultants
- Medical scientists
- Food scientists
- Agriculture and food systems experts
- Graduate students, postdocs, and academic researchers

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Precision Nutrition and AI
Select Payment Method | Cost |
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$3,750 | |