Education
PhD, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 2017
MPH, Yale University, 2010
BS, University of California, Irvine, 2008
Overview
My research, teaching, and civic engagement are driven by a focus to advance health equity through the lens of planning for food systems and healthy communities. I use mixed-methods to examine macro-level influences on food systems and diet-related outcomes. With the goal of informing impactful solutions and policy, I also work in partnership with civil society actors and government agencies to build on community assets and strengths.
As part of a multi-country project in the Global South, I lead an interdisciplinary research team to mitigate food and health inequities of small-scale farmers experiencing urbanization and climate change pressures in Kerala, India. In the US context, I directed a study to strengthen linkages between neighborhood revitalization efforts and community health through more place- and health-conscious strategies in Baltimore, MD.
Honors and Awards
11th Annual Postdoctoral Research Symposium (1st Place), University at Buffalo, State University of New York, 2019
C. Sylvia and Eddie C. Brown Community Health Scholarship, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 2012-17
4th Annual Epidemiology Poster Award Recipient (1st Place), The Obesity Society Epidemiology and Population Health Section, 2016
Community Based System Dynamics Institute, Social System Design Lab, Washington University in St. Louis
Harry D. Kruse Publication Award in Human Nutrition, 2016