Following her doctorate degree, Rasmussen joined Cornell University in 1978 as a postdoctoral trainee and was shortly thereafter promoted to professor. In 1987, she was appointed program director for Cornell's Training in Maternal and Child Nutrition program.[2] During her early tenure at the institution, Rasmussen focused on how maternal obesity relates to breastfeeding performance and infant growth. In the early 1990s, she co-authored a study proving the positive effects vitamin A had supplementation had on nursing mothers in Indonesia.[3] As a result of this work and others, the World Health Organization changed its policies regarding vitamin A supplementation for nursing mothers.[2] She also helped to develop the Dannon Nutrition Leadership Institute in 1998 and served as its principal faculty member until 2017.[4]
In the later 1990s, Rasmussen published a study proving a link between overweight and obese women and less successful breast-feeding. Her research team reported that these mothers were 2.5 to 3.6 times less successful in starting breastfeeding than mothers who were not overweight.[5] Following this, Rasmussen oversaw another study and reported that women who observed the Institute of Medicine's (IOM) guidelines during pregnancy were more likely to be successful at breast-feeding than mothers who gained over 24 to 35 pounds.[6] Rasmussen was recognized for her work with the inaugural 2006 Excellence in Nutrition Education Award from the American Society for Nutrition.[7] She was also elected president of the International Society for Research on Human Milk and Lactation (ISRHML) and as president of American Society for Nutritional Sciences.[2]
As a result of her studies on how maternal obesity relates to breastfeeding performance, Rasmussen oversaw a committee to review and update the IOM's recommendations for weight gain during pregnancy.[8] During this time, she was the recipient of the 2009 Dannon Institute Mentorship Award for outstanding mentorship in the development of successful nutritional science investigators.[9] Rasmussen also received the 2012 March of Dimes Agnes Higgins Award in Maternal-Fetal Nutrition[2][10] and the ISRHML's Macy-György Award for "original scientific contributions to the study of human milk and lactation."[11] In 2017, she was recognized by the American Society for Nutrition with the Conrad A. Elvehjem Award for Public Service in Nutrition.[12]
In 2020, Rasmussen was selected for the 2019–20 SUNY Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence as someone who had "demonstrated a commitment to intellectual vibrancy, advancing the boundaries of knowledge, providing the highest quality of instruction and serving the public good."[13]
