Our Work
Food Choice, Globalization and Health
Obesity Dyanamics
Reducing childhood obesity is perhaps the foremost public health priority in the U.S. and elsewhere. Our study will measure the dynamics of weight status during childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood and link these dynamics with key health outcomes during adulthood. We will also estimate the role of obesity disparities in adult chronic disease.
Crossroads to Health
Migration entails major lifestyle changes, with implications for social support, stress, new social and cultural norms, and diminished social status. Deteriorating health among immigrants is most marked in terms of obesity and diabetes. The goal of our research is to identify ways in which refugees assimilate into their new communities in ways that may affect their risks of obesity and diabetes.
Drivers of Food Choice and Globalization & Health
Globalized systems of food production and the rapid expansion of retail markets, contribute to the ongoing modification and displacement of food environments in low- and middle-income countries. Individuals are now faced with complex decisions about what, where, how, when, and for whom to produce, obtain, prepare, distribute, and consume food. The goal of this project is to quantify aspects of women’s and men’s food choices relevant for addressing the dual burden of malnutrition in India through data collection and analysis based in Vijayapura, a remote district in Southern India that globalization is just reaching.
Disparities in the burden and progression of multi-morbidity across adulthood
Approximately one fourth of the adults in the U.S. suffer from multi-morbidity, experiencing two or more
chronic cardio-metabolic diseases. It is necessary to understand how these unfold across adulthood.
The goal of this project is to understand the progression of multimorbidity, the age and timing of onset, and
differences in these across population groups in order to develop clinical practice guidelines and interventions.
