Nurgul Fitzgerald, Ph.D., is an assistant professor/extension specialist at the Family and Community Health Sciences Department and the Department of Nutritional Sciences; she is also a registered dietitian.

Dr. Fitzgerald's expertise involves type 2 diabetes and its risk factors. She examines the associations of obesity, and lifestyle (physical activity, diet), socioeconomic, and cultural characteristics in relation to diabetes prevention and control. Acculturation, food insecurity, community health worker (peer counselor) models among Hispanic populations, and epidemiologic approaches using national databases are some of the specific areas of her research.