Christina Economos
Dean ad interim
- Co-Founder ChildObesity180
- Dean for Research Strategy
- The New Balance Chair in Childhood Nutrition
- Professor of Public Health and Community Medicine, Tufts University School of Medicine
Christina Economos, PhD, is the Dean ad interim, a Professor, the New Balance Chair in Childhood Nutrition, and holds professorships within the Tufts Medical School and Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life at Tufts University. She also serves as Co-Director of the Tufts Institute on Global Obesity Research. She leads a research team housed at the Friedman School studying behavioral interventions, strategic communications, and promotion of physical activity to reduce childhood obesity.
As the principal investigator of large-scale research studies, Dr. Economos has generated over $50 million in funding with a goal to inspire behavior, policy, and environmental change to decrease obesity and improve the health of America’s children. She has authored more than 150 scientific publications and speaks frequently at scientific and professional meetings.
She is also the co-Founder of ChildObesity180, a unique organization that brings together leaders from diverse disciplines to generate urgency and find solutions to the childhood obesity epidemic. With ChildObesity180 she develops, implements, evaluates, and scales high-impact obesity prevention initiatives. To date, the portfolio of ChildObesity180’s work has reached over 12 million children in all 50 states. She led the Shape Up Somerville study demonstrating that it is possible to reduce excess weight gain in children through multiple leverage points within an entire community.
Dr. Economos is involved in national obesity and public health activities and has served on four National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine committees where she is currently Vice Chair of the Roundtable on Obesity Solutions. In addition, she has been featured in numerous media outlets including CNN, NBC Nightly News, The Wall Street Journal, and Newsweek. Dr. Economos received a Bachelor of Science from Boston University, a Master of Science in Applied Physiology and Nutrition from Columbia University and a Doctorate in Nutritional Biochemistry from Tufts University
Read more about Chris Economos' work
Read her blog post for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Education
- Ph.D., 1996, Nutritional Biochemistry, The Friedman School, Tufts University
- M.S., 1990, Applied Physiology and Nutrition, Teachers College, Columbia University
- B.S., 1987, Cardiopulmonary Science, Boston University
