Rachele Pojednic, PhD: Building Bridges in Nutrition Research
With integrity and perseverance, Rachele Pojednic, PhD, EdM, FACSM has worked her way from humble beginnings to becoming an international authority and thought leader in nutrition, muscle, and supplement research. Dr. Pojednic is Stanford Lifestyle Medicine’s Director of Education, has a faculty appointment at Stanford University, and serves as Chief Science Officer for the nationwide wellness company Restore.
For the past decade, Dr. Pojednic’s research has examined nutrition, supplementation, and exercise interventions on muscle physiology, performance and recovery, as well as muscle-related aging and longevity. She has published research on the effects of nutrition and exercise on sarcopenia, obesity, and type 2 diabetes, and has developed educational programs for healthcare professionals.
Part researcher and part educator, Dr. Pojednic has dedicated her career to conducting ground-breaking science, as well as effectively communicating the findings of her research to the public.
“It’s important to do solid research, but it’s equally as important to translate what we learn to those who need to hear it,” says Dr. Pojednic, who actively posts on Instagram and LinkedIn. “Right now, I can’t think of anything more important than collaborating among researchers and improving science communication.”
A Story of Resilience
Dr. Pojednic grew up with her parents and two younger sisters in a small town just outside of Worcester, Massachusetts. “I joke that we had more cows than people that lived in our town,” she says. “Growing up, it was abundantly clear that lifestyle was key to a healthy life and that living in a rural community created barriers to accessing many of the resources that supported those behaviors.”
“Even way back in high school, I wanted to learn about health and become a physician so I could help my family and community,” says Dr. Pojednic.
Even though she grew up without many resources or opportunities, Dr. Pojednic forged her way to success. She was the valedictorian of her high school class, which awarded her a full scholarship to Northeastern University in Boston.
“I’m a first-generation college kid,” says Dr. Pojednic. “When I left my home environment and attended college in Boston, I realized there was a whole different way to live. I majored in Exercise Science and joined the rowing team, so I was surrounded by peers and mentors that were active and led a healthy lifestyle.”
After graduating from Northeastern, she earned a master’s degree in education from Boston University, followed by a PhD in biochemical and molecular nutrition from Tufts University. For her postdoctoral fellowship, she trained in exercise and nutrition at the Institute of Lifestyle Medicine at Harvard Medical School.
With a passion for education, Dr. Pojednic has taught life sciences to students of various ages, from middle school to the university level. For many years, she taught on the East Coast at Simmons, Norwich, and Harvard Universities before coming to California in January 2023 when she joined the Stanford faculty and Stanford Lifestyle Medicine.
Building the Bridge between Academic and Industry Researchers
Having completed her postdoctoral training at Harvard, she has collaborated with researchers at Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, where federal funding has recently been acutely cut.
“It breaks my heart that my friends, mentors, and colleagues have had to stop their research, and many have lost their jobs since they rely on grants for their livelihood,” says Dr. Pojednic. “Nobody really knows what will happen next. What traditionally had been funded in the past and what is going to be funded in the future is up in the air right now.”
In this uncertain time, Dr. Pojedic has pivoted her career path from conducting research solely in an academic setting (which primarily depends on federal funding) to conducting research within the private wellness sector. Her current position is Chief Science Officer, in which she oversees the research conducted in RestoreLabs, leveraging the Restore platform of over 260 studios across the country.
“From the start, I told Restore that I’m not here to ‘rubber stamp’ your products. I’m here to do honest research and make sure your marketing claims are accurate. And to Restore’s credit, they enthusiastically agreed,” says Dr. Pojednic. “I know the public is skeptical of research done at private companies, but if researchers and corporations stay in integrity, I’m hopeful that we can earn people’s trust.”
As a scientist at Restore, Dr. Pojednic actively seeks to collaborate with researchers at Stanford and Harvard developing study designs and real world data that have evolved into larger-scale studies at these Universities.
“I don’t see it as an ‘either’ academia ‘or’ industry situation. I think researchers from both arenas can collaborate and share their findings as a pipeline for the greater good,” says Dr. Pojednic. “If we keep doing research in silos, we are never going to help real people. Especially with what is happening with federal funding, having corporations fund real-world pilot research could be a viable path to keep science going.”
Building the Bridge between Researchers and the Public (via Science Communication)
Equal to her passion for science is Dr. Pojednic’s commitment to conveying research to the public in a way that is accessible, relevant, and actionable.
“There are so many brilliant scientists who just aren’t good at Instagram,” says Dr. Pojednic. “If scientists were better communicators, the public would have more access to accurate health information, understand that our work is critical and helpful in their lives, and trust could be established between scientists and the public.”
Since many scientists struggle with communicating their science to the general public, Dr. Pojednic explains that there is a gap between what is happening in the lab and people’s everyday health concerns. This gap, or “vacuum” as she calls it, creates an opportunity for misinformation about science to spread, particularly through non-medically trained podcasters and social media influencers who present their opinions as facts.
“This clarity of communication directly from scientists is so important because if people don’t see research as valuable, the funding will continue to dwindle,” says Dr. Pojednic. “If science research stops altogether, where will the public get their health information? Will all their recommendations come from ‘wellness influencers’ on social media with no medical training? That simply can’t happen, so we, as researchers, must learn to communicate the value of our science better.”
