Livingston Student Wins an International Competition

David Liptsyn, a biology major at NJIT, took first place in an international competition that tested students’ knowledge of nutrition.

Liptsyn convened recently with 9,000 other students in Nashville, Tenn., for the Health Occupation Students of America (HOSA) International Conference. HOSA, an organization for students who aspire to become health professionals, holds conferences and contests in every state. He took first place in the HOSA contest for nutrition and medical-nutrition therapy.

Liptsyn, a sophomore who hopes to attend medical school, thinks understanding nutrition is critical to combating the nation’s major healthcare problems such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes.

Back in March, he took first place in HOSA’s New Jersey competition for nutrition and was invited to represent the state at the international conference. He spent endless hours preparing for the exam, studying diligently while maintaining a 4.0 GPA and participating in research. For the last year, he has worked in Professor Eric Fortune’s lab, assisting him with research about the sensory and motor systems used to control animal behavior. Along with his love of biology, Liptsyn also likes nutrition.

“The HOSA contest has been an opportunity for me to challenge myself and learn more about nutrition and the human body,” he says. “My studies at NJIT have led me to realize the critical role that nutrition, stress management, and healthy lifestyle play in building good health.”

In the latter regard, this semester he co-founded the Meditation Club at NJIT, an organization that holds weekly meditation meetings for students.

“I want to be the kind of doctor who emphasizes proper nutrition and lifestyle in patient care,” says Liptsyn. “NJIT has given me the opportunity to take great classes and compete in contests while also doing research. I’m grateful for all these amazing opportunities.”

About NJIT

One of the nation’s leading public technological universities, New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) is a top-tier research university that prepares students to become leaders in the technology-dependent economy of the 21st century. NJIT’s multidisciplinary curriculum and computing-intensive approach to education provide technological proficiency, business acumen and leadership skills. With an enrollment of 11,300 graduate and undergraduate students, NJIT offers small-campus intimacy with the resources of a major public research university. NJIT is a global leader in such fields as solar research, nanotechnology, resilient design, tissue engineering and cybersecurity, in addition to others. NJIT ranks fifth among U.S. polytechnic universities in research expenditures, topping $110 million, and is among the top 1 percent of public colleges and universities in return on educational investment, according to Payscale.com. NJIT has a $1.74 billion annual economic impact on the state of New Jersey.