Friedman Seminar: Sara C. Folta, PhD
This Friedman Seminar features Sara C. Folta, PhD, presenting "Preliminary Investigation of Civic Engagement as a Novel Approach to Behavior Change and Body Weight Improvement in African American Females: The Change Club Study." This seminar was held on November 4th, 2015.
Sara C. Folta, PhD, is an Assistant Professor at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University. She is an interventionist who conducts research in community settings to improve nutrition and physical activity using approaches from behavioral psychology, communications, and sociology. She currently leads two funded projects to promote cardiovascular health among African American women, one using civic engagement as a novel approach to behavior change and another exploring the historical, cultural, and environmental factors that impact health behaviors. She is also a co-investigator on multiple studies focusing on obesity prevention and nutrition and physical activity promotion in several age groups. She has served as Chair for both the Healthy Aging Division of the Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior and the Aging Special Interest Group of the Society of Behavioral Medicine. Dr. Folta received a B.A. in biology from Middlebury College (Phi Beta Kappa, Highest Honors), an M.S. in cell and molecular biology from the University of Vermont, and a Ph.D. in nutrition from Tufts University.