Laura Saslow, Ph.D.


Associate Professor
Department of Health Behavior and Biological Sciences
Room 2178 NURS1

University of Michigan School of Nursing
400 North Ingalls Building
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-5482

Telephone: (734) 764-7836
Laura Saslow is accepting new PhD students.

Interests

  • Optimizing multi-component, online diet and lifestyle interventions
  • Supporting long-term dietary adherence with psychological tools
  • Self-management of chronic diseases using nutrition
  • Possible clinical applications of a very low-carbohydrate, ketogenic diet

Dr. Saslow is interested in creating and optimizing highly scalable technologically-enhanced diet and lifestyle interventions to improve health and well-being. Over the last several years she has been a principal investigator on several clinical trials, directed at type 2 diabetes, prediabetes, and their management, with an emphasis on physical and psychological well-being. To address barriers for self-management, her interventions teach psychological tools, including skills to increase the experience of positive affect and mindful eating. Her long-term goal is to become a leader in creating effective, multicomponent interventions for the treatment and prevention of chronic diseases. 

Current Research Grants and Programs

  • A small steps, low-literacy, breakfast-focused dietary self-management intervention for adults with poorly controlled type 2 diabetes. R01, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (PI)
  • Comparing two dietary approaches for type 2 diabetes. R01, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (PI)
  • Testing a very low-carbohydrate diet version of the Diabetes Prevention Program to reduce risk factors for type 2 diabetes. R01, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (PI)
  • Glycemic reduction approaches in polycystic ovary syndrome: a comparative effectiveness study. R01, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (PI)

Teaching

Dr. Saslow has three primary goals when teaching. She strives to ignite student interest, to promote their engagement with complex material, and to help them understand how knowledge gained in the classroom may be applied to solve real-world problems. She has taught for more than 15 semesters at the college level, including, at Vanderbilt University, the use of technology in education for several semesters, and at the University of California Berkeley, being the main instructor for Introduction to Psychology as well as helping to lead an honors research methods class for two years.

Notable Awards / Honors

  • Selected member of the American Diabetes Association’s Nutrition Scientific Review Committee, 2018-2019
  • Selected for the 1st Annual Training on Optimization of Behavioral and Biobehavioral Interventions, funded by NIH, 2016
  • Pilot research grants from the William Bowes, Jr. Research Fund and the Mount Zion Health Fund, 2012-2015
  • Selected for NIH Institute on Randomized Behavioral Clinical Trials, 2013
  • Awarded Selective T32 Postdoctoral Scholar Fellowship, UC San Francisco School of Medicine 2011
  • Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor, University of California Berkeley Department of Psychology, 2011

Education

  • Postdoctoral Scholar in Integrative Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 2011-2015
  • Ph.D. in Social and Personality Psychology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 2011
  • MS in Teaching and Learning (Education), Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 2004
  • BA in Psychology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 2000

Publication Highlights

  • Volek, J. S., Phinney, S. D., Krauss, R. M., Johnson, R. J., Saslow, L. R., Gower, B., ... & Hamdy, O. (2021). Alternative Dietary Patterns for Americans: Low-Carbohydrate Diets. Nutrients, 13(10), 3299. doi: 10.3390/nu13103299

  • Griauzde, D. H., Standafer Lopez, K., Saslow, L. R., & Richardson, C. R. (2021). A Pragmatic Approach to Translating Low-and Very Low-Carbohydrate Diets Into Clinical Practice for Patients With Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes. Frontiers in nutrition, 416. doi:10.3389/fnut.2021.682137

  • Missel, A. L., O’Brien, A. V., Maser, H., Kanwal, A., Bayandorian, H., Martin, S., ... & Saslow, L. R. (2021). Impact of an online multicomponent very-low-carbohydrate program in women with polycystic ovary syndrome: a pilot study. F&S Reports, 2(4), 386-395. doi: 10.1016/j.xfre.2021.08.008

  • Saslow, L. R., Moskowitz, J. T., Mason, A. E., Daubenmier, J., Liestenfeltz, B., Missel, A. L., Bayandorian, H., Aikens, J. E., Kim, S., Hecht, F. M. (2020). Intervention enhancement strategies among adults with type 2 diabetes in a very low–carbohydrate web-based program: Evaluating the impact with a randomized trial. Journal of Medical Internet Research Diabetes 5(3), e15835. doi: 10.2196/15835

  • Carmen, M., Safer, D. L., Saslow, L. R., Kalayjian, T., Mason, A. E., Westman, E. C., & Dalai, S. S. (2020). Treating binge eating and food addiction symptoms with low-carbohydrate Ketogenic diets: a case series. Journal of eating disorders, 8(1), 1-7. doi: 10.1186/s40337-020-0278-7

  • Griauzde, D. H., Saslow, L., Patterson, K., Ansari, T., Liestenfeltz, B., Tisack, A., ... & Richardson, C. R. (2020). Mixed methods pilot study of a low-carbohydrate diabetes prevention programme among adults with pre-diabetes in the USA. BMJ open, 10(1), e033397. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2019-033397

  • Evert, A.B., Dennison, M., Gardner, C. D., Garvey, W. T., Lau, K. H. K., MacLeod, J.,... Saslow, L. R., Uelmen, S.,Urbanski, P.B., & Yancy, W. S. (2019). Nutrition therapy for adults with diabetes or prediabetes: a consensus report. Diabetes Care, 42(5), 731-754. doi:10.2337/dci19-0014

  • Saslow, L. R., Summers, C., Aikens, J. E., & Unwin, D. J. (2018). Outcomes of a digitally delivered low-carbohydrate type 2 diabetes self-management program: 1-year results of a single-arm longitudinal study. Journal of Medical Internet Research Diabetes, 3(3), e12. doi: 10.2196/diabetes.9333

  • Saslow, L.R., Daubenmier, J.J., Moskowitz, J.T., Kim, S., Murphy, E.J., Phinney, S.D., Ploutz-Snyder, R., Goldman, V., Cox, R.M., Mason, A.E., Moran, P., Hecht, F.M. (2017) Twelve-month outcomes of a randomized trial of a moderate-carbohydrate versus very low carbohydrate diet in overweight adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus or prediabetes. Nutrition & Diabetes, 7. doi:10.1038/s41387-017-0006-9

  • Cucuzzella, M.T., Tondt, J., Dockter, N.E., Saslow, L., Wood, T.R. (2017). A low-carbohydrate survey: Evidence for sustainable metabolic syndrome reversal. Journal of Insulin Resistance, 2(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.4102/jir.v2i1.30

  • Saslow, L. R., Mason, A. E., Kim, S., Goldman, V., Ploutz-Snyder, R., Bayandorian, H., . . . Moskowitz, J. T. (2017). An online intervention comparing a very low-carbohydrate ketogenic diet and lifestyle recommendations versus a plate method diet in overweight individuals with type 2 diabetes: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 19(2), e36. doi: 10.2196/jmir.5806

  • Feinman, R., Pogozelski, W.K., Astrup, A., Bernstein, R. K., Fine, E. J., Westman, E. C., . . . Saslow, L. R., Worm, N. (2015). Dietary carbohydrate restriction as the first approach in diabetes management: Critical review and evidence base. Nutrition, 31(1), 1-13. doi: 10.1016/j.nut.2014.06.011

  • Saslow, L. R., Kim, S., Daubenmier, J. J., Moskowitz, J. T., Phinney, S. D., Goldman, V., . . . Hecht, F. M. (2014). A randomized pilot trial of a moderate carbohydrate diet compared to a very low carbohydrate diet in overweight or obese individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus or prediabetes. PLOS ONE, 9, e91027. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0091027