Maral Misserian, Ph.D.

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Maral Misserian is a registered dietitian and Assistant Professor in the master’s in Clinical Nutrition (MCN) program at the School of Health Professions (SHP) at UT Southwestern.

Maral ‘s undergraduate education includes a BSc in Computer Science and diplomas in Fitness and Lifestyle Management and Holistic Nutrition.

In 2020, she earned a master’s degree in Clinical Nutrition from UT Southwestern, where she worked with Dr. Lona Sandon, the program director, on the prevention of uric acid nephrolithiasis.  Maral’s work involved the design, development, and delivery of a specialized diet and counseling for this condition. 

In 2024, Maral earned her PhD degree from the UT Southwestern School of Health Professions’ Advanced Clinical Research Program, where she was presented with the “Academic Excellence” certificate and was inducted into the Alpha Eta Society. Her research focused on developing interventions to affect behavior change in adolescents undergoing bariatric surgery. Maral’s mentor was Dr. Sarah Messiah, PhD, MPH, FTOS, Associate Dean of Research at the Peter O’Donnell School of Public Health. Maral based her dissertation on a study called TeenLYFT (lifestyle support for teens) conducted by Dr. Messiah and her team. The study examined the effect of a behavior lifestyle change program created by the study team on adolescents’ adherence to pre- and post-surgery requirements as well as weight loss maintenance.

During her PhD years, Maral worked as a PRN inpatient dietitian at Medical City Arlington, where she saw patients with different diseases. She was also part of the newly developed bariatric surgery team at the same hospital.

Before starting her higher education journey, she ran corporate fitness centers for many years and counseled numerous people on fitness and nutrition.

Maral's first paper related to TeenLYFT is entitled “Adaptation of a standardized lifestyle intervention to maximize health outcomes in adolescent metabolic and bariatric surgery patients.”  She also co-authored three more papers from the same study. She presented her work on TeenLYFT at the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery conference, the Texas Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics conference, and the annual CAPRA symposium, where she was the 2024 abstract winner.

Maral is an avid runner who has completed 4 half marathons. She enjoys cycling, swimming, and hiking. She also enjoys going to the symphony and the opera. 

She has volunteered at different organizations, including the Armenian Medical Association, Sinfonia Toronto, and her local church.