Carol L. Cheatham, PhD
Associate Professor, Psychology & Neuroscience
carol_cheatham@unc.edu
704-250-5010
Lab Website
An important member of the UNC Nutrition Research Institute’s research team, Carol L. Cheatham, PhD, focuses on how nutrition can improve children’s brain function. Specifically, her team studies the importance of nutrients for the development of memory and attention abilities.
Broadly defined, Dr. Cheatham’s research focuses on the relationship between an individual’s genome and the metabolism of nutrients, and how this leads to differences in cognitive and social development. Specifically, she is interested in the development of memory and attention as they are the basis for learning, and therefore school readiness. For example, her research asks if the supplementation of children’s diets with omega-3 fatty acids have an effect on their memory abilities over a determined period of time. Many different methods and tools are used in the Cheatham lab to assess abilities, including taking turns with the children building unique toys and the use of special equipment to read their brain activity while they are watching pictures on a computer screen.
“Dr. Cheatham is an expert on the importance of omega-3 fatty acids (fish oils) for normal brain development,” said NRI Director Steven Zeisel, MD, PhD, “This is an exciting and promising area of research that is changing the way women eat during pregnancy and lactation.”
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Julie Hasken, PhD, MPH
Research Associate, Cheatham Lab
Julie joined the NRI in 2012 as a Project Manager for Dr. Philip May focusing on the prevalence, child characteristics, and maternal risk factors of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) in the United States and South Africa. She earned her doctorate from the UNC-CH Department of Nutrition in 2021 and has been a postdoctoral research associate at the NRI in the May lab and the Cheatham lab. Julie earned her BS in Health Science from Truman State University and a Masters in Public Health, with a concentration in Health Education and Health Behavior, from UNC-CH. Julie is also a Certified Health Education Specialist.
Elizabeth Hommel
Study Coordinator, Cheatham Lab
Elizabeth joined the Cheatham team in January 2024 as an intern. More recently, she joined as a study coordinator after graduating from Belmont Abbey College with a BS in Biology in May of 2025. She was also a part of the women’s lacrosse team at Belmont Abbey. She is passionate about learning more in the field of clinical research and is excited to work with Dr. Cheatham in her lab. In her free time, she likes to be at the beach, exercise, read, and spend time with friends and family.
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2023
Cheatham, C.L., Lukowski, A.F., Bauer, P.J. (2023). Infant memory. In John H. Byrne (Ed.), Learning and Memory: A Comprehensive Reference (Second Edition), Academic Press, 2017, Pages 383–402, ISBN 9780128052914, https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-809324-5.21052-3.
2022
*Camerota, M., *Wylie, A.C., *Goldblum, J., *Wideman, L., Cheatham, C.L., Propper, C.B. (2022) Testing a cascade model linking prenatal inflammation to child executive function. Behav Brain Res. 431:113959. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2022.113959. Epub 2022 Jun 8. PMID: 35690156.
Cheatham, C.L., *Canipe, L.G. III, Millsap, G., Stegall, J.M., Chai, S.C., *Sheppard, K.W., Lila, M.A. (2022). Six-month intervention with wild blueberries improved speed of processing in mild cognitive decline: a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial. Nutr Neurosci.6:1-15. doi: 10.1080/1028415X.2022.2117475. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 36066009.
Cheatham, C.L., Nieman, D.C., Neilson, A.P., Lila, M.A. (2022). Enhancing the cognitive effects of flavonoids with physical activity : Is there a case for the microbiome? Frontiers in Neuroscience, 16, https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2022.833202
(*Student)
2021
*Canipe III, L. G., *Sioda, M., & Cheatham, C.L. (2021). Diversity of the gut-microbiome related to cognitive behavioral outcomes in healthy older adults. Archives of Gerontology & Geriatrics, 96,104464 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.archger.2021.104464
(*Student)
2020
Cheatham, C.L. (2020). Nutrigenetics, Fatty Acids, & Cognition, In Caterina, Martinez, & Kohlmeier (Eds.). Principles of Nutrigenetics and Nutrigenomics: Fundamentals of Individualized Nutrition (pp. 347-354), London, UK: Academic Press.
Cheatham, C.L. (2020). Nutritional factors in fetal and infant brain development. Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism, 75, 20-32. doi: 10.1159/000508052