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Biography
My research aims to eliminate nutrition-related health disparities across the life course. I am currently investigating glucose and insulin dynamics during pregnancy to inform more personalized prenatal care with a goal of setting families up for a lifetime of health and well-being. Moving from clinical to community settings, I also investigate how organizations and collaborative groups, such as coalitions and Food Policy Councils, can support healthy, sustainable communities. During my research career, I have employed qualitative and quantitative methods to understand and address complex nutrition and public health challenges. Example projects include studying the influence of taste perception genes on participants’ response to a community-based dietary intervention; implementing a school district-wide initiative to strengthen their school meals program; and using systems science approaches to study and support multi-sector coalitions working together to promote child health equity in their communities. I work to promote health equity through my research by engaging racially and ethnically diverse participants, and by investigating sources of health inequities and strategies for addressing them.
I joined the Friedman faculty after completing a postdoctoral fellowship at the Center for Health Equity Research in the School of Medicine at UNC Chapel Hill. I completed my PhD in Nutrition with an emphasis on Interventions and Policy at the Gillings School of Global Public Health at UNC. Prior to beginning graduate work, I worked in a nutrition biochemistry lab at Columbia University and then got hands-on agricultural experience by working on farms in France, Italy, and Turkey.
