Assistant Professor
Indiana University Bloomington
I am an Assistant Professor of Nutrition Science in the Department of Applied Health Sciences at the Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington. I received my BA in Experimental Psychology from the University of California, Santa Barbara and later went on to earn my PhD in Nutritional Biology with a specialization in Public Health from the University of California, Davis. As a postdoctoral Research Nutritionist at the USDA-ARS Human Nutrition Research Center in Grand Forks, ND, I coordinated a clinical trial examining the effects of protein distribution (even versus skewed) among breakfast, lunch, and dinner on changes in body composition during weight loss in women. I also investigated the role of protein distribution on moderators of weight loss such as cravings, dietary restraint, intuitive eating, and eating behavior regulation. In addition to managing the study, I developed and taught behavioral weight loss classes grounded in health behavior change theory and motivational interviewing techniques. In addition to extensive experience running randomized controlled trials, I have used nominal group technique to investigate barriers and facilitators to adherence to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommendation for vegetable consumption as well as barriers to adherence to a weight loss diet in women. Currently, at the SPH-B I am a co-investigator for the Culturally Appropriate Recipes for Impactful Nutrition Goals for Communities (CARING for Communities) study aimed at developing a healthful, culturally appropriate diet (the Midwestern Diet) that includes pork and to evaluate acceptability and consumption in comparison with the Mediterranean Diet that does not include pork. My scholarly interests include biobehavioral and environmental determinants of food choice, motivations for eating, gender differences in dietary responses to stress, and obesity prevention and treatment. I am currently in the planning stages of research exploring implicit associations between healthful/unhealthful foods and taste preferences in parent-adolescent dyads.