The interdisciplinary nature of the Department of Maternal and Child Health is one of its key attributes. The backgrounds of the faculty include demography, epidemiology, nutrition, obstetrics, pediatrics, psychology, social work, and sociology. Education for leadership in the field, and advocacy on behalf of maternal and child health, are crucial activities of the department. There is also a strong focus on both domestic and international maternal and child health issues. The faculty includes more than 50 individuals who hold either primary or joint appointments.
Nutrition offers degree programs at the undergraduate, master's, and doctoral level.
The department provides a broad training curriculum in public health sciences and offers courses in the physiological, biochemical, and behavioral aspects of nutrition and their applications in the health of human populations. The faculty is fully committed to training graduate students in public health and the nutritional sciences to become the leaders in the field during the next century. All doctoral students complete a set of core course requirements drawn from each of the three divisions, providing a breadth of nutrition knowledge that is a unique aspect of Carolina's Nutrition training program. The Public Health Leadership Program provides public health professionals with leadership training to meet the challenges of providing, improving, and assuring health care within a dynamic and complex social and economic environment. One of the key features of the program is that the curriculum is tailored to meet student learning needs and incorporates acquired skills and knowledge from prior work experience.