Hope Barkoukis
Chair, Department of Nutrition, School of Medicine
Associate Professor, Department of Nutrition, School of Medicine
Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Professor of Wellness and Preventive Care, School of Medicine
Faculty Co-Lead, Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Wellness and Preventive Care Pathway, School of Medicine
Area of Focus: Nutrition for the aging and aged, culinary medicine, vitamins, nutrition for healthcare professionals, sports nutrition
Hope Barkoukis describes her path as “fate intervening.” After earning both her master’s and doctorate at Case Western Reserve University, she planned to return to private practice designing wellness programs for Fortune 500 companies. Instead, the granddaughter of restaurant owners stayed on campus—and hasn’t looked back.
“I worked summers in my family’s restaurant throughout adolescence,” she explained. “So food and nutrition felt like home.”
Today, as chair of the Department of Nutrition and associate professor at the School of Medicine, Barkoukis oversees a team whose research spans basic nutrition science, culinary medicine, behavior change, and omics—which includes the study of biological molecules such as genes, proteins and metabolites to understand their role in health—all housed under one roof.
There’s no typical day in her role; every morning brings new challenges—balancing advocacy for faculty, staff and students with institutional realities.
“Our department environment is one with a very positive ethos because that is my top priority,” she explained. “When individuals feel valued, they are most productive. We collectively advance education and research because every single person in this department takes the position that this isn’t just their ‘day job.’ Their research and their devotion to education is their passion.”
Among her recent projects is a collaboration with University Hospitals’ dermatology team, investigating how the Mediterranean diet affects psoriasis symptoms and systemic inflammation in patients on biologic therapies. Her earlier work on carbohydrate quality and glucose metabolism underscored a key takeaway: “Total dietary patterns, not single nutrients, drive metabolic health.”
Barkoukis also spearheaded the university’s state-of-the-art teaching kitchen, a dream realized through the Mandel Wellness and Preventive Care Pathway. Each month, hundreds of undergraduate, graduate and medical students hone culinary and lifestyle skills in hands-on classes—an approach that earned her the School of Medicine’s Health Innovation Award in November 2024.
“Culinary and lifestyle medicine concepts—nutrition, food education, sleep, stress reduction—are woven throughout our curriculum,” Barkoukis explained. “Our department’s unique strength is our expertise in basic science, omics research and marrying multiple research lines under one theme: food as medicine.”
Her advice to aspiring nutrition professionals? Engage early—through the department’s six minors, BA/BS, MS and PhD programs—and get involved in research and community outreach.
“We have so many opportunities for student research and community engagement that will make all the difference for them in their future,” she pointed out.