Positions

Overview

  • Amanda L. Willig, PhD, RD, is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases, School of Medicine. She received an undergraduate degree in Nutrition and Dietetics and minor in Business Administration from Louisiana Tech University. She then completed her dietetic internship and MS in Nutrition at Virginia Tech University. Dr. Willig earned her PhD in Nutrition Sciences with training in Biostatistics at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Her current research focuses on nutrition and physical activity to prevent health disparities in adults with HIV.

    • Selected Publications

    Academic Article

    Year Title Altmetric
    2020 Obesity Affects the Association of Bioelectrical Impedance Phase Angle With Mortality in People Living With HIV 2020
    2019 Cognitive Reserve Over the Lifespan: Neurocognitive Implications for Aging With HIV 2019
    2019 Associations of food insecurity and psychosocial measures with diet quality in adults aging with HIV 2019
    2019 Physical Activity Intensity is Associated with Symptom Distress in the CNICS Cohort 2019
    2019 Physical functioning among patients aging with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Versus HIV uninfected: Feasibility of using the short physical performance battery in clinical care of people living with HIV aged 50 or older 2019
    2018 Practice Paper of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics: Nutrition Intervention and Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection 2018
    2018 Racial disparities in the prevalence and control of hypertension among a cohort of HIV-infected patients in the southeastern United States 2018
    2017 Monocyte bioenergetic function is associated with body composition in virologically suppressed HIV-infected women 2017
    2017 Associations between At-Risk Alcohol Use, Substance Use, and Smoking with Lipohypertrophy and Lipoatrophy among Patients Living with HIV 2017
    2017 Vitamin D Supplementation Does Not Affect Metabolic Changes Seen With ART Initiation. 2017
    2016 Higher time-updated body mass index: Association with improved CD4+ cell recovery on HIV treatment 2016
    2016 Metabolic Complications and Glucose Metabolism in HIV Infection: A Review of the Evidence 2016
    2016 Challenges to Healthy Eating Practices: A Qualitative Study of Non-Hispanic Black Men Living With Diabetes 2016
    2016 The Silent Epidemic - Frailty and Aging with HIV. 2016
    2015 Diabetes Connect: African American Women’s Perceptions of the Community Health Worker Model for Diabetes Care 2015
    2015 Body mass index and early CD4 T-cell recovery among adults initiating antiretroviral therapy in North America, 1998-2010 2015
    2015 Obesity is Associated with Race/Sex Disparities in Diabetes and Hypertension Prevalence, but Not Cardiovascular Disease, among HIV-Infected Adults 2015
    2015 Physical Activity Patterns of Latina Immigrants Living in Alabama 2015
    2015 Development of a theory-based, peer support intervention to promote weight loss among Latina immigrants 2015
    2015 Diabetes Connect: African American Men's Preferences for a Community-based Diabetes Management Program 2015
    2014 Metabolic consequences of HIV: Pathogenic insights 2014
    2014 Home-schooled children are thinner, leaner, and report better diets relative to traditionally schooled children 2014
    2014 Body mass index, depression, and condom use among HIV-infected men who have sex with men: A longitudinal moderation analysis 2014
    2014 Intuitive eating practices among African-American women living with type 2 diabetes: A qualitative study 2014
    2012 Multimorbidity patterns in HIV-infected patients: The role of obesity in chronic disease clustering 2012
    2012 HIV infection and obesity: Where did all the wasting go? 2012
    2012 Genetic admixture, social-behavioural factors and body composition are associated with blood pressure differently by racial-ethnic group among children 2012
    2012 Parental feeding practices and socioeconomic status are associated with child adiposity in a multi-ethnic sample of children 2012
    2011 Body fat and racial genetic admixture are associated with aerobic fitness levels in a multiethnic pediatric population 2011
    2011 Birth weight is associated with body composition in a multiethnic pediatric cohort 2011
    2011 African genetic admixture is associated with body composition and fat distribution in a cross-sectional study of children 2011
    2010 Associations among calcium intake, resting energy expenditure, and body fat in a multiethnic sample of children 2010
    2010 Adjusting adiposity and body weight measurements for height alters the relationship with blood pressure in children 2010
    2010 Cost ramifications of increased reporting of detectable plasma HIV-1 RNA levels by the roche COBAS ampliprep/COBAS TaqMan HIV-1 Version 1.0 viral load test 2010
    2010 The Role of European Genetic Admixture in the Etiology of the Insulin Resistance Syndrome in Children: Are the Effects Mediated by Fat Accumulation? 2010
    2009 Uncoupling protein 2 Ala55Val polymorphism is associated with a higher acute insulin response to glucose 2009
    2009 Physical fitness, activity, and insulin dynamics in early pubertal children 2009
    2006 Nutritional, health and behavioral factors are associated with body composition in elderly Puerto Rican women 2006
    2006 Genetic admixture is associated with visceral adipose tissue in Puerto Rican women 2006

    Research Overview

  • Dr. Willig's research goal is to reduce health disparities using nutrition and physical fitness to prevent/treat chronic disease. Her current work focuses on improving the quality of life for persons living with HIV who experience increased risk of cardiometabolic diseases.

    • Principal Investigator On

    Investigator On

    Teaching Overview

  • Dr. Willig's education mission is to increase the nutrition and health behavior knowledge and of healthcare providers. She has led local, national, and international courses and lectures to promote nutritional health literacy among students and practitioners.

    • Teaching Activities

    Education And Training

  • Doctor of Philosophy in Nutrition Sciences, University of Alabama at Birmingham 2010
  • Master of Science in Nutrition Sciences, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University 2004
  • Bachelor's Degree in Dietetics/Human Nutritional Services, Louisiana Tech University 2000
  • University of Alabama at Birmingham Medicine - Infectious Diseases, Postdoctoral Fellowship 2012

    • Full Name

  • Amanda Willig