Progress 12/15/18 to 12/14/23
Outputs
Target Audience:Target audiencesinclude individuals, groups, market segments, or communities that will beserved by the project. Where appropriate, youshould alsoidentify population groups such as racial and ethnic minorities and those who are socially, economically, or educationally disadvantaged. Effortsinclude acts or processes that deliver science-based knowledge to people through formal or informal educational programs. Examples include: formal classroom instruction, laboratory instruction, or practicum experiences; development of curriculum or innovative teaching methodologies; internships; workshops; experiential learning opportunities; extension and outreach. Final Report The target audience served by this project includes three doctoral fellows, two of whom come from under-represented groups (both identify as Latina; one is bilingual with English as their second language). All fellows were subsequently engaged in research and teaching activities that reached socioeconomically and racial/ethnically diverse audiences. For instance, both Stern and Wilhite worked with youth from lower-income schools through their research activities at BPS and in the SPLASH study, respectively. Valdes-Valderrama has focused her thesis work on supplemental nutrition programs such as WIC and SNAP, examining both through a health equity lens. All fellows participated in coursework in Nutrition Science, Food Policy and Study Design with deeper and specialized training related to Agricultural Sciences (Stern), Policy (Valdes Valderrama) and Behavior Change (Wilhite). This training took the form of classroom instruction, experiential learning opportunities (e.g., served as graduate research assistants on various research-related projects), and engagement in team science through their involvement with our ChildObesity180 research initiative. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The Fellows engaged in various training and professional development opportunities throughout the award period. These included but were not limited to: Seminars/Speaker Series Participation (institutional, external): Tufts Friedman School Speaker Series. All Fellows participated in the weekly Friedman School Speaker Series held through the academic year, which also provides networking lunches with the guest speakers. Seminars provided by external federal organizations (e.g., U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and USDA) and nonprofit organizations (ReFED) HER-NOPREN Summer Speaker Series for Students, which took a deep dive into policy, systems, and environmental (PSE) change strategies. Membership to Professional Societies (and attendance at their related annual conferences): American Society for Nutrition (Stern, Valdes-Valderrama) Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (Stern) American Public Health Association (Wilhite) International Society for Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity (Wilhite) Scientific meeting participation (national, regional and local) - brief list: National Science Foundation meeting on Sustainable Diets in Annapolis Maryland (2019). LCA Food 2020, which provided interactive learning sessions and seminars on assessing the environmental impacts of foods. RISE 2019 National Conference, "Transforming University Engagement in Pre- and Post-Disaster Environments: Lessons from Puerto Rico" at the University at Albany, State University of New York. 019 Food Systems Symposium, "Food Tech & Food Justice: Can We Talk?" hosted by the Tufts Environmental Studies Program, Tufts Tisch College of Civic Life, the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, and Tufts Dining 2021 Tufts Research and Data Symposium for Food and Nutrition titled "Mitigating Health Disparities in Nutrition and Public Health." Additional Training Ms. Stern conducted research within the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in the Office of Research and Development to quantify the environmental impacts of food waste and determine the benefits of different waste management pathways and opportunities for source reduction. Ms. Valdes-Valderrama participated in several trainings (e.g., dialogue facilitation) and short courses (e.g., Nutrition and Food Systems online training course) and workshops (e.g., 2-day workshop on "Foundations of Data Equity" and a 3-day workshop on the Cochrane Systematic Review Standard Author Training. Meeting Planning/Scientific Dissemination Ms. Wilhite organized a panel as part of the Tufts Student Research and Data Symposium entitled, Sociocultural Influences on Body Size Ideals: Mitigating the Effects of Weight Bias in Nutrition and Public Health" Ms. Valdes-Valderrama, co-hosted a discussion for the Friedman School community on the book "Decolonizing Academia: Poverty, Oppression, and Pain" by Clelia Rodríguez, and collaborated with planning two major events: the Breaking the Silence symposium and the 2020 Stanley N. Gershoff Symposium at the Friedman School. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Research results have been disseminated to diverse audiences in a variety of ways ranging from presentations to the scientific community at national, regional, and local meetings, peer-reviewed manuscripts, and through policy work among other dissemination channels. Policy: Ms. Stern worked with advocates (e.g., the Union of Concerned Scientists), federal agencies (e.g., USDA FNS NERO), and local organizations (e.g., Boston Public Schools) to disseminate her work and influence policy to enact changes within school districts, including development of a toolkit school districts to enact similar changes. Ms. Wilhite virtually lead a team of advocates in September 2020 for the biannual Eating Disorders Coalition Capitol Hill Day. Breanne presented to several members of Congress on the importance of supporting three bills that would enhance mental health equity. Ms. Valdes Valderrama was invited to participate in the "Listening Session for the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health: Dismantling Silos to Strengthen Nutrition and Food Security Research" conducted by Food Tank in July 2022. The outcome of the conversation was compiled and submitted to contribute to the work done during the conference later that fall. Presentations (non exhaustive list - one example per Fellow provided; complete list in annual reports) Wageningen University Food Systems Innovation Challenge in association with the Food Systems Summit of the United Nations (Stern) "Reflecting on [Community]" on a panel titled "University Role in Relief: Reflections on Universities' New Roles in Disaster Response" at the RISE 2019 National Conference in November (valdes Valderrama) "Physical literacy for school-aged children" presentation to the Massachusetts Alliance for Physical Health, Education, Recreation and Dance (MAPHERD) organization (Wilhite) Other: Ms. Stern co-founded a sustainable diets journal club at the Friedman School and engaged scientists from around the world in this research exchange. Through this effort, she engage new members, determined the major themes covered each month, and enrolled guest speakers. Mrs. Wilhite Conway initiated and founded the Weight Stigma and Eating Disorder Alliance at Friedman. The club's mission is to become a multidisciplinary group of students across Tufts campuses promoting wellbeing and health while bringing awareness to weight stigma and disordered eating in nutrition science and policy. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Goal 1: recruit a highly qualified cadre of doctoral candidates with strong research and leadership potential,with active outreach to programs serving historically disadvantaged populations Accomplished: Recruited and trained three doctoral students with strong research and leadership potential; two of whom are from historically disadvantaged populations. Goal 2: Train Fellows through interdisciplinary coursework and experiential learning, including systems approachesand behavioral science Accomplished: Trained all fellows through interdisciplinary coursework and experiential learning including systems approaches and behavioral science. Relevant Coursework (non-exhaustive list): "Environmental Life Cycle Assessment", an interdisciplinary course to technically evaluate the environmental impacts of food production in order to make dietary recommendations (Stern) "Food Justice: Critical Approaches in Policy and Planning" at the Tufts Urban and Environmental Planning (UEP) Department, an interdisciplinary course that spans the fields of urban planning, law, geography, and nutrition, among others (Valdes-Valderrama) Experiential Learning: Experiential learning activities included things like: On site visits to other institutions such as Washington State University to expose students to the unique community and economy in Skagit Valley centered around whole grains. USDA NIFA NNF Stern led this activity with several Friedman masters students to explore the impacts of wheat breeding and grain processing on the nutrition, taste, and functionality of whole grain. Training in systems science, specifically Group Model Building wherein Valdes-Valderrama participated in a hands-on workshop applying GMB techniques for challenging food insecurity. The audience was high school student participants of the Leadership for Social Change summer program of Tufts Tisch College of Civic Life. She also attended a Community-based System Dynamics/Group Model Building Design Lab hosted by our Tufts Childhood Obesity 180 Initiative. During her interdisciplinary coursework in "Food from Production to the Marketplace", Ms. Wilhite collaborated with the Center for Science in the Public Interest to design an advocacy campaign to reduce the ubiquity and marketing of sugar sweetened beverages on Tufts University campus and adopt more comprehensive good food guidelines to improve food and beverages offered and sold on campus. Goal 3: provide mentorship, career and professional development, and crossschooland university collaborations Accomplished: Provided mentorship, career and professional development for all fellows and pursued collaborations within and across Tufts and other academic institutions. Mentorship accomplishments: All fellows participated in small group and 1-1 mentoring sessions with their Advisors, Thesis Committees, and other mentors within and outside of Tufts throughout the training period. Ms. Valdes Valderrama also received a prestigious award from the Yale Ciencia Program, which provided additional mentorship. She also served as a mentor to undergraduate students participating as in the summer internship program of the Tufts Institute for Global Obesity Research. Ms. Wilhite has supervised and mentored 4 masters students to conduct her research and trained 10 graduate research assistants to support data collection activities. Cross-Institution Collaborations: The composition of their Thesis Committees included multidisciplinary expertise; two fellows included mentorship from other Academic institutions such as Johns Hopkins (Sterns), George Washington University (Wilhite) and Cornell University and Duke University (Valdes Valderrama) Professional development trainings Fellows participated in various training opportunities such as the week-long training on sustainable food systems hosted by the Danone Institute North America (Stern) and several hosted by the Yale-Ciencia Program (Valdes-Valderrama) Goal 4: evaluate progress and achievements using objectiveperformance measures Accomplished: All fellows were monitored for their progress across the PhD milestones. Stern completed all milestones by the end of this award period. Valdes-Valderrama and Wilhite have accomplished 9 out of 10 milestones, and will accomplish the final milestone (Dissertation Defense) in 2024. Other objective measures of performance included submission of scientific abstract presentations, peer reviewed manuscripts, teaching assistantships, guest lectures, and award nominations and received. Examples include: During the 2021 fall semester, Ms. Valdes Valderrama worked as the TA for a class titled, "Food Justice: Critical Approaches to Policy and Planning." The course is a cross collaboration with the Tufts Department of Urban and Environmental Planning and is led by Dr. Julian Agyeman, a leader of the just sustainability movement. Ms. Wilhite was the TA for the course Community and Public Health Nutrition where she attended class, led discussions, held office hours, graded papers and worked with student directly on their semester long grant writing projects. Ms. Valdes-Valderrama received the Healthy Eating Research (HER) Nutrition and Obesity Policy Research and Evaluation Network (NOPREN) Healthy Food Retail COVID-19 Early Career Scholar Research Award while Ms. Wilhite received a Tufts Institute for Global Obesity Research (TIGOR) Pilot Grant for Trainees in Obesity Research. Goal 5: position Fellows to make lasting impact through scholarship, policyinfluence, and community transformation. Scholarship All Fellows have disseminated their scholarship in various ways including at scientific meetings and through peer reviewed publications. Examples include, a manuscript on linking government databases on nutrition and health with databases on other elements of sustainability such as resource use, greenhouse gas emissions, and economic factors such as food costs (Stern). Policy Influence All Fellows pursued policy-relevant research for their thesis - Ms. Stern focused on the federal school meals program, Ms. Valdes-Valderramas has focused on federal supplemental nutrition programs and Ms. Wilhite is focused on federal, state, and local physical activity laws Community Transformation Ms. Stern designed menus for Boston Public Schools to improve the nutritional quality of lunches while reducing environmental impacts, and student plate waste. Ms. Stern presented this work to BPS. Ms. Valdes Valderrama was a student delegate of the Friedman School on the Tufts University Medical Campus's Joint Committee on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. for the Catalyzing Communities project of the ChildObesity 180 research team. Ms. Wilhite was a member of the Student Alliance for Social Justice and Racial Equity, a student group committed to creating and more diverse and inclusive school through structural and social changes.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Stern, Alexandra L., Stephen Levine, Scott A. Richardson, Nicole Tichenor Blackstone, Christina Economos, and Timothy S. Griffin. 2023. Improving school lunch menus with multi-objective optimisation: nutrition, cost, consumption and environmental impacts. Public Health Nutrition 26, no. 8 (2023): 1715-1727.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Stern, A.L., Blackstone, N.T., Economos, C.D. and Griffin, T.S. 2022. Less animal protein and more whole grain in US school lunches could greatly reduce environmental impacts. Commun Earth Environ 3, 138 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-022-00452-3
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Wilhite B, Hennessy E, Economos C, Sacheck J, Zive R, Odalen C, Herrick S, Hatfield DP. (2023) Operationalizing behavioral theory in a communications campaign to improve physical activity (PA) parenting behaviors. International Society for Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity (ISBNPA) Annual Conference. Uppsala, Sweden.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Wilhite B, Hatfield DP, Sacheck J, Chui K, Odalen C, Herrick S, Economos C, Hennessy E. (2023) Engaging families in a school-home physical activity (PA) intervention: perspectives from administrators, educators, and parents in the Supporting Physical Literacy at School and Home (SPLASH) pilot trial. American Public Health Association (APHA) Annual Conference. Atlanta, GA.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Wilhite B and Hennessy E. (2023) Lets Make a SPLASH: Results of the Supporting Physical Literacy at School and Home Feasibility Trial. Massachusetts Association for Health Physical Education Recreation and Dance (MAHPERD) Annual Meeting. Worcester, MA.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Wilhite B, Sacheck J, Hatfield DP, Chui K, Hennessy E. (2023) Applying the Social Ecological Model to the design, implementation, and evaluation of strategies for improving physical activity during the early childhood and school-aged years. Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy. Boston, MA.
|
Progress 12/15/21 to 12/14/22
Outputs
Target Audience:AngélicaValdes Valderrama In June 2022, Ms. Valdes Valderramadefended the proposal of her thesis, "Assessing Emerging Technologies and Innovations to Federal Nutrition Programs through a Health Equity Lens." The theoretical framework used to unify her three aims is called "Getting to Equity in Obesity Prevention," developed by Dr. Shiriki Kumanyika and adapted by Angélica to identify how specific aspects of two federal nutrition programs (SNAP and WIC) and a technology (online grocery shopping) can better suit the needs of historically disadvantaged populations. With SNAP, Angélica is questioning the use of only one dietary pattern in the Thrifty Food Plan that is used to set maximum SNAP benefit amounts. Furthermore, Angélica will be conducting a rapid review and incorporating data from interviews to WIC staff to develop a framework for incorporating equity into new projects for delivering nutrition education and breastfeeding support. This aim connects to another project Angélica has been collaborating with, USDA/Tufts Telehealth Intervention Strategies for WIC, on which she's been consulting to develop the coding for health equity. As for online grocery shopping, Angélica conducted interviews to identify barriers and facilitators to online shopping for people across different levels of income and subjective social status. Breanne C. Wilte ?Ms. Wilhite is the Project Manager for The Supporting Physical Literacy at School and Home (SPLASH) Study in collaboration with the New York Road Runners. The rising NYRR program serves more than 100,000 kids in New York City's five boroughs and more than 240,000 kids nationally, typically from underrepresented and historically disadvantaged communities. Breanne has assisted in the design, implementation and evaluation of the pilot study and will oversee daily operations of the RCT starting in the Fall of 2023.?Ms. Wilhite volunteered as a mentor for the Nutrition Equity Scholars Program from January through May of 2022. Breanne met with her mentee, a local high school student, weekly to discuss current and future educational/career planning. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?AngélicaValdes Valderrama Interdisciplinary coursework:As part of the Yale Ciencia Academy,Ms. Valdes Valderrama took two courses on the iBiology online learning platform developed by researchers at the Yale School of Medicine. The first was "Strategies for Effective Public Engagement," which explained the concept of public engagement beyond communication for STEM scientists and led Angélica through a series of reflections that resulted in a public engagement project. The second was "Share Your Research: How to Give a Good Talk" and focused on developing skills for effective dissemination of science to various audiences. These courses required completion of assessments and provided a certificate at the end. Experiential learning activities:In March 2022, Ms. Valdes Valderrama organized a panel entitled "Career Talks: Food and Nutrition Policies and Programs" for the Tufts Nutrition Data Symposium. She coordinated with the four panel speakers in preparation for the session, created the panel questions, moderated the panel discussion, and fielded the questions of the audience. Career and professional development activities:Ms. Valdes Valderrama was chosen as a 2022-2023 Fellow for the Yale Ciencia Academy for Professional Development (YCA). She attended the kick-off meeting at Yale University in June 2022, where she was introduced to her cohort, the YCA team, and the program curriculum. Over the course of a year, YCA Fellows participate in a minimum of 80 hours of online and in-person expert-led workshops, panels, group conversations, and mentoring in the areas of professional development and career planning; interpersonal and scientific communication, and public engagement with science; and establishing productive mentoring relationships. The YCA program also connects Fellows to a diverse network of mentors and peers. Additionally, Angélica engaged in service activities for the Tufts Friedman School. She was on the student committee involved in the recruiting process for a faculty position in Food and Nutrition Equity. She participated in group interviews, developed questions for the committee, attended the candidates' job talks, and gave feedback about the candidates. She was also involved with the Racial Justice subcommittee of the research team she belongs to, ChildObesity 180. Her involvement included actively participating in discussions of racial justice topics relevant to the team's work and identifying concrete actions for addressing racial disparities in different parts of the research process. Breanne C. Wilte Experiential learning activities:Ms. Wilhite passed her qualifying exam in February 2022. At that time her provisional LOI became her LOI, and she began working on her thesis proposal. She has held regular thesis committee meetings during this time.Her thesis proposal is in its final round of revisions. Ms. Wilhite anticipates defending her thesis proposal in March or April 2023. Career and professional development activities:Ms. Wilhite worked as a RA for a colleague, Angélica M. ValdésValderrama, in the fall of 2022. Breanne coded transcripts from interviews and took part in the analysis of results. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?AngélicaValdes Valderrama Policy work:Ms. Valdes Valderrama was invited to participate in the "Listening Session for the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health: Dismantling Silos to Strengthen Nutrition and Food Security Research" conducted by Food Tank in July 2022. The outcome of the conversation was compiled and submitted to contribute to the work done during the conference later that fall. Presentations:Ms. Valdes Valderrama gave an invited lecture, "Hablemos sobre la raza" (Let's Talk About Race) to a Community Public Health Nursing course at the University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez. Breanne C. Wilte Policy work:Ms. Wilhite has submitted a study protocol to the Tufts SBER IRB to complete the research proposed in aim 3 of her dissertation. This project aims to collect and interpret the factors influencing implementation of physical activity policies in Title 1 elementary schools in MA. Breanne plans to conduct interviews with principals and PE educators from eligible schools throughout MA. Mixed-methods results from this project will improve the design and implementation of current and future PA policies in K-12 schools. Presentations:Ms. Wilhite gave presentations in CO180 research team meetings and the doctoral student seminar in 2022.Breanne organized and led a full day stakeholder convening in October 2022 for the SPLASH project. Stakeholders from both NYRR and Friedman were present. Ms. Wilhite presented initial results from the SPLASH pilot study evaluation and led discussions on planning procedures for the RCT.Ms. Wilhite will be presenting for students at Boston Public Schools in March 2023 and will bepresenting research findings at the ISBNPA conference in June 2023. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Ms. Valdes Valderrama and Ms. Wilhite's fellowships ended in 2022, however, they are continuing to spend their Education Allowances (e.g., presenting at conferences, etc.) as a result of delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
AngélicaValdes Valderrama Mentors and mentorship experiences: Ms. Valdes Valderramacultivated her peer mentorship skills with three different groups in the past year. First, she continued co-managing 2 writing groups, one with colleagues at the Tufts Friedman School and another with colleagues at Arizona State University. Also, she has a designated peer mentor through the Yale Ciencia Academy Fellowship curriculum and sessions focused specifically on learning to be a better mentor. Additionally, served as a mentor to undergraduate students participating as in the summer internship program of the Tufts Institute for Global Obesity Research from July-August. Cross-school and university collaborations:As part of one of her dissertation aims, Ms. Valdes Valderrama is working with a team that includes researchers from the Tufts Friedman School, Penn State University, and Duke University. The team developed an optimization model similar to USDA's Thrifty Food Plan to better understand nutrition-cost tradeoffs. Furthermore, Angélica is collaborating with researchers from the Tufts Friedman School, the Center for Clinical Evidence Synthesis at Tufts Medical Center, Boston University, the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, and the Hirsh Health Sciences Library on the project "Metabolic and physiological effects of added isolated or synthetic fiber to the diet of children across the age spectrum: A scoping review". Additionally, Angélica continues to co-manage a community of doctoral-level food systems scientists from Puerto Rico focused on food and nutrition studies. Awards:Ms. Valdes Valderrama was awarded an Early Career Scholar Research award by the HER-NOPREN Healthy Food Retail Work Group and WIC Learning Collaborative. She used the funding from NOPREN in the analysis and manuscript preparation phases of one of her dissertation aims. She also won a Yale Ciencia Academy Fellowship. Breanne C. Wilte Mentors and mentorship experiences:At Friedman, Ms. Wilhite works closely with and is supported by her academic and thesis chair advisor, Dr. Erin Hennessy. Dr. Hennessy is an Assistant Professor within the Nutrition Interventions, Communication and Behavior Change division, in addition to the Director ad interim of ChildObesity180. Breanne receives additional support and feedback from her thesis committee members, including Dr. Erin Hennessy, Dr. Daniel Hatfield (Friedman), Dr. Jennifer Sacheck (GW School of Public Health) and Dr. Kenneth Chui (Friedman).Breanne has been and is currently the supervisor and mentor for three research assistants in CO180. The first RA, Ann Suarez Mendoza, worked with Breanne from May-August 2022. Breanne trained Ann in conducting qualitative interviews and analysis techniques with NVivo. The two current RAs, Sarah Jones and Sarah Hulit, are master's students at Friedman. Breanne meets with them weekly and outlines tasks to be completed by the RAs. Breanne has mentored the RAs from September 2022 until the present and will continue to do so throughout the spring 2023 semester. Cross-school and university collaborations:Breanne worked on an hourly basis as the graduate assistant for the Director of the Office of Business Operations, Courtney King, at Friedman. Breanne held this position from February to December 2022. In this role Breanne created and managed a student funding database and disseminated the tool to the Friedman doctoral, staff and faculty communities. Awards:Ms. Wilhite submitted an abstract for the 2023 ISBNPA conference and was selected for an oral presentation, as well as, nominated for an award. Results will be released in June.Breanne submitted a grant proposal to the Tufts Institute for Global Obesity Research (TIGOR)Pilot Grant for Trainees in Obesity Research. If awarded the $5,000 grant Breanne will use the funds to support work related to the third aim of her dissertation. Results will be released on or before March 15, 2023. Volunteer/Philanthropy:After Hurricane Fiona passed through Puerto Rico leaving heavy damage in September 2022, Angélica worked with La Brigada Solidaria del Oeste (BSO) to provide relief to vulnerable communities in Western Puerto Rico. She contributed to fundraising efforts, helped to organize a storage space for non-perishable foods and hygiene items, and visited several communities to distribute aid directly. Angélica continued to be actively involved through December. Volunteer/Philanthropy:Ms. Wilhite sponsors two students in Lugacraft, Uganda through monthly donations to the non-profit It Takes a Village. The donations help support the school related costs for the children to help them continue with their education.Breanne is a member of the 2023 Tufts Marathon Team and will be running in the 127th Boston Marathon in April of 2023. As a member of the team, Breanne has a fundraising goal of $3,000. All the proceeds from her fundraising efforts will go towards research and educational opportunities at Friedman. Teaching Assistantships:Ms. Wilhite was the TA for N228: Community and Public Health Nutrition from October through December 2023. She attend class, led discussions, held office hours, graded papers and worked with student directly on their semester long grant writing projects.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Domenichiello AF, Wilhite B, Nara P, Pitcher MH, Keyes GS, Mannes AJ, Bushnell MC, Ramsden CE. (2022) Biochemical and behavioral effects of decreasing dietary linoleic acid and increasing eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid in a rat chronic monoarthrits model. Prostaglandins Leukot Essent Fatty Acids. 187:102512. doi: 10.1016/j.plefa.2022.102512.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Under Review
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Ms. Breanne Wilhite submitted an abstract in December 2022 for the 2023 International Society of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity (ISBNPA) conference in Sweden in June 2023.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Ms. Breanne Wilhite will be submitting an abstract in March 2023 for the 2023 American Public Health Association in October 2023.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Ms. Breanne Wilhite is currently working on two manuscripts related to the SPLASH pilot study. She will be submitting both in early 2023.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Ms. Angelica Valdes Valderrama: Understanding Barriers to and Facilitators for Online Food Retail at Different Levels of Income and Perceived Social Status, presentation at the meeting of the American Public Health Association.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Ms. Angelica Valdes Valderrama: "How Expanding the Definition of Healthy Affects Assessments of the Cost of Healthy Food, included as part of an organized symposium proposed as a Joint Track Session for the 2023 meeting of the Agricultural & Applied Economics Association.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Ms. Angelica Valdes Valderrama: Understanding Barriers to and Facilitators for Online Food Retail at Different Levels of Income and Perceived Social Status, presented at the HER-NOPREN Healthy Food Retail group meeting in December 2022.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Ms. Angelica Valdes Valderrama: Understanding Barriers to and Facilitators for Online Food Retail at Different Levels of Income and Perceived Social Status, presented at the 2022 meeting of the American Public Health Association.
|
Progress 12/15/20 to 12/14/21
Outputs
Target Audience:Alex Stern: Ms. Stern has continued her dissertation research which works directly with Boston Public Schools on improving the nutritional quality and acceptability of lunches. The Boston Public School district population is majority economically disadvantaged, Hispanic, and Black. Additionally, Ms. Stern led an assessment of the barriers to increasing the procurement of food produced locally for school lunches in Boston Public Schools. The assessment included recommendations to support Boston Public Schools as they source nutritious foods for students grow or produced in New England. Angélica Valdes Valderrama: Ms. Valdes Valderrama has framed her overall dissertation to analyze innovations relevant to federal nutrition programs using a health equity lens, operationalizing how equity can be incorporated. Two of the three specific aims of the dissertation directly address historically disadvantaged populations. The first is to develop a health equity framework for adoption, implementation, and evaluation of telehealth in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). A health equity framework may serve as a practical tool to guide academics, program designers, and WIC practitioners as they navigate integrating telehealth into WIC service delivery. The second is to identify barriers and facilitators to online shopping for people across different levels of income and subjective social status. Understanding how people with different levels of income and subjective social status interact with the new retail option of online grocery shopping can inform the incorporation of this strategy into the SNAP and WIC programs. Breanne Wilhite: Ms. Wilhite primarily works on The Supporting Physical Literacy at School and Home (SPLASH) Study in collaboration with the New York Road Runners. The rising NYRR program serves more than 100,000 kids in New York City's five boroughs and more than 240,000 kids nationally, typically from underrepresented and historically disadvantaged communities. Breanne will center two of her thesis aims around this project. Ms. Wilhite will also be a mentor starting in January 2022 for the Nutrition Equity Scholars Program at The Friedman School. The program partners with youth in Boston to help build capacity and solve problems related to food, nutrition, fitness and equity in the community. As a mentor Breanne will provide academic support to students and assist in connecting students to related resources. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Alexandra (Alex) Stern: Ms. Stern in no longer taking classes but attends seminars provided by the Friedman school and external organizations such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and U.S. Department of Agriculture. Recently, she attended a lecture and panel on the environmental impacts of food waste hosted by the nonprofit ReFED, and a discussion on labeling schemes and indexes for sharing information to consumers on the sustainability of foods hosted by Tufts University Friedman School. Ms. Stern has attended two virtual conferences and numerous virtual meetings which relate to her areas of research. These include the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry Europe 31st Annual Meeting, the American Society of Nutrition conference NUTRITION 2021, FoodID Food Transparency Rountable on transparency in labeling and use of antimicrobials in livestock production, and a USDA meeting on Child Nutrition Reauthorization: Nutrition Opportunities and Considerations. Ms. Stern has started working with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in the Office of Research and Development to quantify the environmental impacts of food waste and determine the benefits of different waste management pathways and opportunities for source reduction. Ms. Stern intends to transition into a full-time fellowship with the EPA after completing her PhD in 2022. This work will focus on behavioral interventions to reduce food waste, and modeling techniques to quantify food waste and the environmental impacts of food waste. Ms. Stern works closely with faculty at Tufts University department of engineering to receive support on engineering methods for modeling diets.This summer, Ms. Stern assisted a group of epidemiologist, and nutrition and data scientists, led by Nicole Tichenor Blackstone, PhD in integrating data on the environmental impacts of diets with data on health outcomes associated with diets. Angélica Valdes Valderrama: During the 2021 fall semester, Ms. Valdes Valderrama took a course titled "Doctoral Research Seminar: Food and Nutrition Policy" where she presented her dissertation work in preparation for her proposal defense and heard about the interdisciplinary research efforts of the other students. Additionally, she took several short training courses in various topics throughout the year. In January 2021, she took the Nutrition and Food Systems online training course presented by the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University (Friedman School) as part of the Feed the Future Ethiopia Growth through Nutrition Activity. It focused on defining food systems, explaining conceptual frameworks used to define them, and places where interventions could be created to improve nutrition within them. In February 2021, she participated in the Foundations of Data Equity Workshop hosted by "We All Count." This 2-day workshop introduced her to a systematic way of thinking about integrating equity into data at every stage of the conception of a project including a host of tools, checklists, and practices to help me do it. In July 2021, she participated in the 3-day Cochrane Systematic Review Standard Author Training workshop at Tufts University School of Medicine, which introduced her to the methods and standards of systematic reviews with Cochrane. This led to an offer of a research assistant position in a scoping review of the effect of added fiber on children's diets. From June-August 2021, she joined the HER-NOPREN Summer Speaker Series for Students, which took a deep dive into policy, systems, and environmental (PSE) change strategies. The topics included U.S. Food Systems, Healthy Food Retail, School Wellness, Early Childhood, Nutrition Guidelines, Drinking Water Access & Sugar-Sweetened Beverages, Food & Nutrition Security, and Student Presentations. Alongside two colleagues, Alex Schmall and Beth Williams, Ms. Valdes Valderrama co-coordinated and moderated a UN Food Systems Summit Independent Dialogue titled "The Path to Food Sovereignty in the United States: Experiences from Food Systems Leaders in the American Southwest and Puerto Rico" held in June 2021. Furthermore, Ms. Valdes Valderrama has been closely involved in the Racial Justice work group of the research team she is affiliated with, ChildObesity 180. The group formed during the summer of 2021, seeking to incorporate racial justice and equity into the work the team is doing and began meeting regularly in the fall. Ms. Valdes Valderrama led a talk on Critical Race Theory in October 2021 and another on irresponsible practices in equity research in November 2021. Ms. Valdes Valderrama is part of two writing groups that meet weekly. One is with colleagues from Arizona State University and meets on Zoom for remote co-working sessions. The other is with colleagues from the Friedman School for goal setting and accountability. Both have been instrumental for Ms. Valdes Valderrama to make progress on her writing and dissertation milestones. Furthermore, Ms. Valdes Valderrama co-manages a community of doctoral scholars from Puerto Rico that are doing doctoral work in food and nutrition studies. Ms. Valdes Valderrama co-coordinated a panel for the 2021 Tufts Research and Data Symposium for Food and Nutrition titled "Mitigating Health Disparities in Nutrition and Public Health." She moderated the conversation between Dr. Jossiemer Mattei (Harvard Chan School of Public Health), Dr. Pablo Méndez Lázaro (University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus), Dr. Jenny Zhen-Duan (Harvard Medical School), Dr. Maria Carlota Dao (University of New Hampshire), and Dr. Sara Folta (Friedman School). Breanne Wilhite: Ms. Wilhite completed her required degree coursework in September 2020. In the summer of 2021 Breanne audited NUTR400: Grant Writing for additional practice in preparing grants and providing peer feedback. Her primary deliverable for the course will be used to inform her thesis proposal. In working towards the relevant PhD milestones, I (1) drafted and submitted her provisional Letter of Intent (LOI), (2) selected her thesis committee members and (3) held her first thesis committee meeting in June 2021. Thesis committee meetings and the thesis proposal defense will be held in early 2022. Ms. Wilhite has been preparing for her Qualification exam since August 2021 and will be completing the examination in January 2022. She receives career and professional development mentoring from a distinct Friedman committee, including Dr. Erin Hennessy, Dr. Ed Saltzman, Dr. Christina Economos and Matthew Hast. Dr. Economos is the Chair of the NICBC division and the Director of ChildObesity180. Mr. Hast is the Assistant Dean of Student Affairs at Friedman. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Alexandra (Alex) Stern: Ms. Stern's dissertation assesses the sustainability of meals served in the National School Lunch Program to inform policy change. Ms. Stern plans to share her research findings with advocacy groups to ensure that her work informs policy. Some of her recommendations include changing the meal patten requirements for the National School Lunch Program. Additionally, Ms. Stern will share her work with Boston Public Schools to enact changes within the school district and has created tools for other school districts to enact similar changes. Angélica Valdes Valderrama: Ms. Valdes Valderrama worked with the Puerto Rico Science Policy Action Network (PRSPAN) during the spring semester, collaborating to coordinate short online lectures on policy-relevant topics in Puerto Rico from experts. She was also invited to give two lectures during the fall semester. The first was titled "Current Programming: Public Schools, Nutrition Assistance (SNAP, WIC), and Health Impact Assessments," given as part of the course "Food Justice: Critical Approaches in Policy and Planning" at Tufts University. The second was titled "Food Sovereignty and Food Security in the US: Nutrition Assistance and Health Impact Assessments" as part of the course "Intergovernmental Relations" at the Department of Public Affairs and Security Studies of the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. Breanne Wilhite: In March 2021, Ms. Wilhite moderated a panel for the annual Tufts Student Research and Data Symposium. Ms. Wilhite organized the panel speakers, topics for discussion and presented over Zoom to more than 100 participants, including both Tufts and non-Tufts affiliated scientists. The panel was titled Sociocultural Influences on Body Size Ideals: Mitigating the Effects of Weight Bias in Nutrition and Public Health. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Angélica Valdes Valderrama andBreanne Wilhite will continue with the activities described above and in the application. Alex Stern completed her fellowship in December 2021.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Despite a another challenging year, with COVID-19, we have successfully provided training for our Fellows through interdisciplinary workshops, talks, and training opportunities. We took advantage of many online offerings from across the Globe and within the University, including may of racial justice and systemic racism. We provided more customized small group and 1-1 mentoring sessions to ensure the Fellows were on track, inspired and cared for during this difficult time. Alexandra (Alex) Stern: Ms. Sterns Friedman mentors and thesis committee members are Drs. Timothy Griffin, Nicole Tichenor Blackstone and Christina Economos. Most recently, Ms. Stern has received mentorship from Stephen Levine, PhD an emeritus professor at Tufts University in the engineering department, and Zack Conrad, PhD an assistant professor at William and Mary. Dr. Levine has assisted Ms. Stern in analyzing school lunch data using optimization and linear programming. Using these methods, Ms. Stern has designed menus for Boston Public Schools which improve the nutritional quality of lunches while reducing environmental impacts, and student plate waste. Ms. Stern plans to present this work to Boston Public Schools to aid in future menu planning. With Dr. Conrad, Ms. Stern published a manuscript on linking government databases on nutrition and health with databases on other elements of sustainability such as resource use, greenhouse gas emissions, and economic factors such as food costs. This past summer/fall, Ms. Stern provided mentorship to an undergraduate research assistant from The University of Notre Dame, Ms. Radoslava Pribyl Pierdinock, and a graduate research assistant at the Friedman School, Ms. Rachel Kinney. Ms. Stern met regularly with the research assistants from May to October 2021 and supported them in studying nutrition standards for the National School Lunch Program, methods for qualitative data collection, plain language report writing, and data analysis. In the spring of 2021, Ms. Stern was the teaching assistant and developed and presented lectures for NUTR331: Environmental Life Cycle Assessment which uses concepts from environmental engineering to assess the environmental impacts of the on-farm production of foods. Angélica Valdes Valderrama: During 2021, Ms. Valdes Valderrama formally named her dissertation committee, including four excellent mentors for her in different aspects. Dr. Erin Hennessy (Friedman School) is a supportive and kind committee chair that has aided Ms. Valdes Valderrama in every step of the doctoral process. Her mentorship has been invaluable for creating the overall framework as well as supervising one of the specific aims. Dr. Parke Wilde (Friedman School) and Dr. Norbert Wilson (Duke University) are each supervising one of the specific aims of Ms. Valdes Valderrama's dissertation. Drs. Hennessy, Wilde, and Wilson meet with Ms. Valdes Valderrama on a weekly basis to discuss project tasks and progress. Dr. Angela Odoms-Young (Cornell University) is also on the dissertation committee and has provided important comments for the equity focus and the specific aim that is connected to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). Dr. Nanguneri Nirmala (Tufts Medical Center) has been a key mentor for Ms. Valdes Valderrama in understanding the process of systematic evidence synthesis. She will also be involved in one of the specific aims of Ms. Valdes Valderrama's dissertation for her expertise in conducting scoping reviews. Ms. Valdes Valderrama successfully applied for the Healthy Eating Research (HER) Nutrition and Obesity Policy Research and Evaluation Network (NOPREN) Healthy Food Retail COVID-19 Early Career Scholar Research opportunity. She was granted $5,000 for data analysis of one of the specific aims of her dissertation. From September 2019-March 2021, Ms. Valdes Valderrama was a student delegate of the Friedman School on the Tufts University Medical Campus's Joint Committee on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. Additionally, during the 2021 spring semester Ms. Valdes Valderrama volunteered to collaborate in applying a health equity lens to the Request for Partnerships sent out to recruit new communities for the Catalyzing Communities project of the ChildObesity 180 research team. During the 2021 fall semester, Ms. Valdes Valderrama worked as the TA for a class titled, "Food Justice: Critical Approaches to Policy and Planning." The course is a cross collaboration with the Tufts Department of Urban and Environmental Planning and is led by Dr. Julian Agyeman, a leader of the just sustainabilities movement. Breanne Wilhite: At the Friedman School, Ms. Wilhite works closely with and is supported by her academic and thesis chair advisor, Dr. Erin Hennessy. Dr. Hennessy is an Assistant Professor within the Nutrition Interventions, Communication and Behavior Change division, in addition to the Associate Director of ChildObesity180. Ms. Wilhite receives individual mentoring from Dr. Edward Saltzman as well. Dr. Saltzman is the Academic Dean at Friedman. Ms. Wilhite receives additional support and feedback from her thesis committee members, including Dr. Erin Hennessy, Dr. Daniel Hatfield, Dr. Jennifer Sacheck and Dr. Kenneth Chui. In collaboration with partners at RNYRR and Friedman, Ms. Wilhite created, adapted and completed pilot intervention materials for the SPLASH project. Breanne formulated and finalized pilot study evaluation materials as well. The project was initiated in 6 NYC public schools (K-5) in October 2021. Breanne presented the process of designing the communications materials to her research group, ChildObesity180, in May 2021. Ms. Wilhite sponsors two students in Lugacraft, Uganda through monthly donations to the non-profit It Takes a Village. The donations help support the school related costs for the children in order to help them continue with their education. Ms. Wilhite was the teaching assistant (TA) for N218: Communication Strategies in Nutrition and Health Promotion for the second spring semester in a row (January-May 2021). Breanne worked directly with student groups to provide feedback on semester-long projects and held weekly office hours for additional student support.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Conrad, Z., A. Stern, D. Love, M. Salesses, A. Cyril, et al. (2021). "Data Integration for Diet Sustainability Analyses." Sustainability 13(14).
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Under Review
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Stern, A., N. Tichenor Blackstone, C. Economos, T. Griffin. (2021) Environmental impacts of the United States National School Lunch Program. Communications Earth and Environment. Under review
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Economos, C., A. Stern, T. Griffin. (2021). White Paper on the Use of Antimicrobials in Animal Livestock and Transparency in Food Labeling. Developed for FoodID.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Stern, A., S. Levine, S. Richardson, N. Tichenor Blackstone, C. Economos, T. Griffin. (2021) Designing school lunch menus with minimal environmental impacts using linear programming and optimization. In progress.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Stern, A., S. Levine, S. Richardson, N. Tichenor Blackstone, C. Economos, T. Griffin. (2021) Optimization methods to enhance school lunch: improving nutritional quality and consumption, while reducing costs and manage environmental impacts. In progress.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Stern, A., and S. Richardson. (2021) Relationship Between Nutrient Density and Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Lunches Served at a Large Urban School District American Society for Nutrition, Nutrition 2021 Conference. June 7-10, 2021. Online. Oral Presentation.
- Type:
Websites
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Stern, A. Local Plates, Global Minds: A case study in local food procurement for public institutions. Available from: https://sites.tufts.edu/lpgm/files/2021/11/Qual-Report20211026.pdf
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Stern, A., N. Tichenor Blackstone, C. Economos, T. Griffin. (2021) Environmental impacts of foods served in the United States National School Lunch Program Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry Europe 31st Annual Meeting. May 3-6, 2021. Online. Oral Presentation.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Kinney, R., and A. Stern. Presentation to Boston Public Schools on the Final Qualitative report, Local Plates, Global Minds: A case study in local food procurement for public institutions. November 17, 2021.
|
Progress 12/15/19 to 12/14/20
Outputs
Target Audience:Angélica Valdes Valderrama was invited to join the planning committee for an event hosted by the Tufts Clinical and Translational Science Institute called "Breaking the Silence: Confronting Exclusion in Research." She helped to shape the theme of the event, come up with the questions for breakout group discussions, and train dialogue facilitators to lead them. The committee included people from the Tufts Clinical and Translational Science Institute, Tufts University School of Medicine, and Tufts School of Biomedical Sciences.Additionally, she designed a syllabus for a directed study course that focused on issues of justice in nutrition as part of her specialization. Alex Sternhas continued her dissertation research which works directly with Boston Public Schools on improving the nutritional quality and student acceptability of lunches. The Boston Public School district population is majority economically disadvantaged, Hispanic, and Black. BreannaWilhite primarily works on The Supporting Physical Literacy at School and Home (SPLASH) Study in collaboration with the New York Road Runners. The rising NYRR program serves more than 100,000 kids in New York City's five boroughs and more than 240,000 kids nationally, typically from underrepresented and historically disadvantaged communities. Breanne plans to use this project to frame her thesis work. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Angélica Valdes Valderrama:Angélica has developed strong mentoring relationships within the Friedman School. Dr. Erin Hennessy was a fantastic mentor and coach throughout the process of studying for the doctoral candidacy qualifying exam and is now the chair of her dissertation committee. Dr. Parke Wilde was her academic advisor and is also on her dissertation committee. Dr. Norbert Wilson, who recently left the Friedman School for Duke University, mentored Angélica in developing her specialization and is also on her dissertation committee. Two other key professors who guided Angélica through the qualifying exam process are Dr. Lynn Ausman and Dr. Nicole Tichenor Blackstone. Peer mentoring from fellow Friedman School doctoral students Laura Lara-Castor, Meghan O'Hearn, Danielle Krobath, Rachel Silver, and Gabriela Fretes was also important for Angélica as she studied for her qualifying exam.Outside of the Friedman School, Dr. Julian Agyeman of the Tufts University Department of Urban and Environmental Planning has been a key mentor for Angélica in the realm of food justice. Dr. Marla Pérez Lugo, Sociology Professor at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez, Visiting Professor in Environmental Sociology at Macalester College (2020-2021) and Luis Alexis Rodríguez Cruz, PhD Candidate in the Food Systems Graduate Program at the University of Vermont are important mentors for Angélica, especially in matters related to navigating academia and topics related to Puerto Rico.Additionally, Angélica has also been involved in co-mentorship. As she studied for her qualifying exam, she paired up with other fellow students going through the process including Bree Wilhite, Ana Maafs, Stacy Griswold, Kamal Kasturi, and Violeta Chacón. Angélica is also part of a writing group with two doctoral students from Arizona State University, Yiamar Rivera-Matos and Ana Termin. Angélica is also a co-founding member of the Puerto Rico Food Systems Doctoral Student Collaborative alongside students from SUNY-Buffalo and the University of Vermont. Alex Stern:In October, Ms. Stern attended the conference LCA Food 2020. The conference provided interactive learning sessions and seminars on assessing the environmental impacts of foods.This year, Ms. Stern became a member of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. In May of 2020, Ms. Stern organized networking conversations with the following Friedman alumni working for the federal government: Betsy Rakola at USDA AMS; Melissa Bailey at USDA AMS; Laura Carrol at FDA; and Franciel Dawes at USDA FNS. Breanne Wilhite: Ms. Wilhite has been preparing for her Qualification exam since September 2020 and will be taking the examination in the Spring/Summer of 2021.Ms. Wilhite started preparing for her Letter of Intent in December 2020 and will work to complete this step of the doctoral program within the next few months.Ms. Wilhite was the lead TA for N301: Nutrition in the Lifecycle from January-March 2020. Ms. Wilhite was the TA for N218: Communication Strategies in Nutrition and Health Promotion from January-May 2020. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Angélica Valdes Valderrama:In July 2020, Angélica co-hosted a discussion for the Friedman School community on the book "Decolonizing Academia: Poverty, Oppression, and Pain" by Clelia Rodríguez. She and her co-host Violeta Chacón used the eloquent words of the writer to point out some of the colonizing structures they have encountered in their careers thus far and created a welcoming space for other members of the Friedman School community to do so as well. During the 2020 Fall semester, Angélica worked alongside her colleague Alexandria Schmall to bring together Friedman School students in a Food Systems Working Group in preparation for the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit.During the electoral season of 2020, Angélica volunteered on the campaign of José Javier Muñiz Quiñones for the District 19 seat in the PR House of Representatives. She informed his position on areas related to food systems, including infrastructure and climate change. Alex Stern:Ms. Stern's dissertation assesses the environmental impacts of meals served in the National School Lunch Program to inform policy change. Ms. Stern plans to share her research findings with advocacy groups to ensure that her work informs policy.In June 2020, Ms. Stern joined a multi-disciplinary group which synthesized research findings from the newest Scientific Report of the 2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. This group plans to present its findings internally at the Friedman School and provide synthesis resources externally.Ms. Stern presented the results of her first research aim in November to the Sustainable Diets Journal Club and during the Friedman Doctoral Seminar. In November 2020, Ms. Stern participated in the Wageningen University Food Systems Innovation Challenge in association with the Food Systems Summit of the United Nations. This presentation was a pre-recorded video which addressed a food system challenge. Breanne Wilhite:Ms. Wilhite virtually lead a team of advocates in September 2020 for the biannual Eating Disorders Coalition Capitol Hill Day. Breanne presented to several members of Congress on the importance of supporting three bills that would enhance mental health equity. Breanna also delivered the following presentations: Demands for Action:An Open Letter to the Friedman Senior Leadershipon Dismantling White Supremacy. Another Tufts is Possible Webinar, Boston, MA, July 2020. An Age-Old Bias in Unprecedented Times: A Discussion on COVID-19 and Weight Bias. Friedman Committee on Social Justice, Inclusion and Diversity, Boston, MA, May 2020. Adolescent Nutrition, Physical Activity and Eating Disorders. N301 Guest Lecturer, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Boston, MA, Mar 2020. Applying Creativity to Build a Communications Campaign. N218 Guest Lecturer, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Boston, MA, Jan 2020. Health and Wellness in Adolescence: Nutrition, Physical Activity, Obesity and Eating Disorders. Malden Catholic High School Guest Lecturer, Malden, MA, Jan 2020. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Students will continue with the activities described above and in the application.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Despite a very challenging year, with COVID-19, we have successfully provided training for our Fellows through interdisciplinary workshops, talks, and training opportunities. We took advantage of many online offerings from across the Globe and within the University, including may of racial justice and systemic racism. We provided more customized small group and 1-1 mentoring sessions to ensure the Fellows were on track, inspired and cared for during this difficult time. Angélica Valdes Valderrama:During the Spring semester of 2020. Angélica took NUTR 301: Nutrition in the Life Cycle. The course covered human development across nutrition, dietetics, physiology, anatomy, and different aspects of human health.From January 2020 to January 2021, Angélica spent the bulk of her time studying for her doctoral candidacy qualifying exam. She passed in late January 2021. The process of studying required her to practice research design for a grant-writing task and also prepare for an oral defense in the topics of Nutrition, US Food Policy, and Issues of Justice in Nutrition.Beginning in the summer of 2020,Angélica joined a working group with professors and fellow doctoral students to distill the information in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans Scientific Report. The work is ongoing, with the plan to report back the distilled information to the Child Obesity 180 Research Team. Alex Stern:Ms. Stern receives mentorship from a diverse cadre at the Tufts Friedman School. This year she has expanded her mentorship team to include professors at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, William and Mary University, and University of Michigan. Breanne Wilhite:Ms. Wilhite completed her required degree coursework in September 2020.Ms. Wilhite works closely with and is supported by her academic and proposed thesis chair advisor, Dr. Erin Hennessy. Dr. Hennessy is an assistant professor within Nutrition Interventions, Communication and Behavior Change division.Ms. Wilhite additionally receives mentorship and guidance from Dr. Dan Hatfield, research assistant professor within the NICBC division at Friedman.Breanne meets regularly with Dr. Ariella Korn, who received her PhD from Friedman in May 2020. Ari has served as a peer mentor to Breanne from the start of her program.Ms. Wilhite has been a member of the Student Alliance for Social Justice and Racial Equity since the summer of 2020. The group is comprised of students from Friedman committed to creating and more diverse and inclusive school through structural and social changes.Ms. Wilhite has been working closely since the summer of 2020 with a sub-group from Child Obesity 180 on a project summarizing and assessing the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans Scientific Technical Report.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Submitted
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Alex Stern submitted a manuscript to the International Journal of Food Science and Technology which is currently under review: "The impacts of germinating organic wheat: effects on phytic acid, resistant starch, and functional properties of flour, and sensory attributes of sourdough bread".
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Submitted
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Ms. Stern submitted an abstract to the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry Europe 31st Annual Meeting: Environmental impacts of foods served in the United States National School Lunch Program and will be submitting an abstract to the American Society of Nutrition Conference: Relationship between greenhouse gas emissions and nutrient density of lunch menus in Boston Public Schools .
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Ang�lica Valdes Valderrama coauthored an op-ed in Claridad, a Puerto Rican newspaper, to commemorate Food Sovereignty Day in collaboration with her colleagues from the Puerto Rico Food Systems Doctoral Student Collaborative. They discussed food sovereignty in the archipelago and implications for food systems planning.
|
Progress 12/15/18 to 12/14/19
Outputs
Target Audience:Within the research team of ChildObesity180, Ms. Angélica Valdeshas had the opportunity to collaborate with Group Model Building (GMB) work that is being carried out in the neighborhood of East Boston as part of the Childhood Obesity Modeling for Prevention and Community (COMPACT) study. Angélica has assisted in 2 GMB sessions done with parents and caregivers to identify the elements they believe affect childhood wellbeing in their community. The participants were immigrants from Central and South America and their concerns reveal their historic disadvantage: immigration status, housing affordability, unemployment, family separation, increasing racial discrimination, language barriers, food insecurity, and gentrification of their neighborhood. Angélica has also been involved with facilitating dialogues that center the experiences of underprivileged groups and facilitates understanding between people from different communities at Tufts University and beyond. She received training in dialogue facilitation techniques from the Tufts Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) and Essential Partners in February and March 2020. She applied her skills to facilitate a dialogue between Black and Latinx members of the Roxbury community, members of the Tufts community, and clinical scientists from Tufts about diabetes care and research in March 2020. She was also selected to form part of Dialogues on Diversity and Inclusion, an initiative of the Social Justice, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy. She will be participating in the dialogues to discuss issues of diversity and inclusion at her school and will serve as a dialogue facilitator for discussions of the same topic with community members of the Tufts University School of Medicine Public Health Programs. Mrs. Breanne Wilhite Conway received her Masters in Public Health from Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health in May 2019. During her masters, Breanne worked as a research assistant and teaching assistant in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences helping to conduct research and implement policies on the social determinants of health to help achieve health equity for disadvantaged populations, particularly vulnerable mothers and children. She hopes to continue to reduce health disparities through equitable nutrition and physical activity interventions during her doctoral program. Ms. Stern's dissertation research focuses on improving the lunches served in the National School Lunch Program. As part of her research, she is working with Boston Public Schools on improving the nutritional quality and student acceptability of menus while reducing the environmental impacts and costs of lunches. The Boston Public School district serves over 55,000 students across 125 schools with a majority Hispanic and Black population. Approximately 70% of the students are considered economically disadvantaged. Under the community eligibility provision, students at Boston Public Schools receive a free lunch every day. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Angélica Valdes:Angélica participated as a panelist in the RISE 2019 National Conference, "Transforming University Engagement in Pre- and Post-Disaster Environments: Lessons from Puerto Rico" at the University at Albany, State University of New York. She not only learned about responsible management of disasters from the point of view of different stakeholders, she also participated in creating the mission statement and goals for the RISE network as it moves forward. Angélica was also a participant in the 2019 Food Systems Symposium, "Food Tech & Food Justice: Can We Talk?" hosted by the Tufts Environmental Studies Program, Tufts Tisch College of Civic Life, the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, and Tufts Dining. She is also an active participant of the weekly speaker series at the Friedman School and has taken the opportunity to meet and network with various speakers in the past year, including food activist Leah Penniman, food insecurity and poverty researcher Travis Reynolds, obesity researcher David Ludwig, and psychologist obesity researcher Adolfo Cuevas. Additionally, Angélica has received training from Jonathan Garlick, Tufts CTSI, and Essential Partners in dialogue facilitation to learn to lead conversations on contentious topics that foster mutual understanding. Angélica is currently a student member of the American Society of Nutrition. Breanne Wilhite Conway:Mrs. Wilhite Conway is working on developing her career and professional development activities with ChildObesity180. Breanne currently works as a graduate research assistant for Dr. Erin Hennessy. As of now, Breanne is working to finalize the IRB submission for the FEED Study: Following Early Eating in Dyads. There is uncertainty with the study given the current outbreak of COVID-19, but pending a decline in the transmission, Breanne will work to recruit, screen and administer study appointments. Breanne will then collect data, conduct data analysis and participate in manuscript writing and submission. Alexandra Stern:This year, Ms. Stern became a member of the American Society of Nutrition. As Ms. Stern progresses in her career, she will consider joining other professional networks.In March of 2019, Ms. Stern participated in a National Science Foundation meeting on Sustainable Diets in Annapolis Maryland. At the meeting, Ms. Stern worked with preeminent sustainable diets researchers including Dr. Martin Heller from University of Michigan, Dr. Greg Thoma at the University of Arkansas, Dr. John Finley at the United States Department of Agriculture, and Dr. Catherine Benoit Norris from New Earth B.Tufts Friedman School also offers networking lunches with the weekly guest speakers series and alumni networking nights. Ms. Stern attends these events regularly. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Angélica Valdes: Policy work:As part of the RISE 2019 Workshop, Angélica brainstormed and led group discussions among the cohort of students about the goals, values, mission, and direction that the RISE Network should take as it explores environmental resilience and the role of universities. Furthermore, Angélica is currently in conversations with the Puerto Rico Science Policy Action Network about potential collaborations. Community work:Within the Tufts community, Angélica has collaborated with planning two major events: the previously mentioned Breaking the Silence symposium and the 2020 Stanley N. Gershoff Symposium at the Friedman School. The Gershoff Symposium is an annual event meant to consider important current topics in nutrition. The topic for 2020 was the gut microbiome. Presentations:Angélica has given 2 presentations in the past year. She gave a presentation titled "Reflecting on [Community]" on a panel titled "University Role in Relief: Reflections on Universities' New Roles in Disaster Response" at the RISE 2019 National Conference in November. In December 2019, she and her teammates presented an evaluation titled "Differential Impacts of [Mercy Corps] Food Security Project Interventions on Resilience and Recovery From Shocks" to classmates and leaders in econometric impact evaluations from the Millennium Challenge Corporation, World Bank, and Mercy Corps. Arno Bratz, the Mercy Corps Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Manager in Development Food Security Activity in the Democratic Republic of Congo was present and gave feedback. Breanne Wilhite Conway Policy work:Mrs. Wilhite Conway continually leads groups of advocates on both Capitol Hill and the MA State House during meetings with Senators and House Representatives. During these meetings Breanne works to rely the message of various state and national bills and policies that promote the prevention of eating disorders and reduce the impact of weight stigma on vulnerable populations. Breanne received a travel scholarship with Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health to travel to DC in May 2019 and May 2020. The May travel has been postponed to September 2020 due to COVID-19 precautions. Breanne additionally led a team in November 2019 at the MA state house to advocate for two bills (H.1941 and H.3892) that she helped collect evidence for during her masters. She hopes to continue these efforts throughout her program, in addition to pursuing new opportunities, in order to promote and translate public health nutrition research into policy and system changes. Presentations:Breanne was a guest lecturer in the two courses she was a teaching assistant for this Spring 2020. The first course N218, Breanne lectured on how to apply creativity to build a communications campaign. During this talk she co-led an ideation session with a Friedman alum and ChildObesity180 program manager. In the second course N301, Breanne lectured on adolescent nutrition, physical activity and eating disorders. Lastly, Breanne gave a talk to the students at Malden Catholic High school in January 2020 on health and wellness in adolescence. During this informal 1-hour talk Breanne focused on nutrition and physical activity behaviors and the consequences of both obesity and eating disorders. Other:Mrs. Wilhite Conway initiated and founded the Weight Stigma and Eating Disorder Alliance at Friedman. The club's mission is to become a multidisciplinary group of students across Tufts campuses promoting wellbeing and health while bringing awareness to weight stigma and disordered eating in nutrition science and policy. The group is still in the beginning stages, but is officially recognized as a Friedman student group. Alexandra Stern Policy work:Ms. Stern has begun conversations with the Union of Concerned Scientists in Washington, DC. She plans to work with this advocacy group towards the end of her dissertation to share her research findings with Congress Members in order to inform Farm Bill policy and Child Nutrition Reauthorization.Ms. Stern will also be sharing her dissertation research directly with the United States Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Services Northeast Regional Offices. She is working with this team to understand how to best implement her research methodology across school districts. Presentations:Ms. Stern will be presenting her research "Effects of increasing germination duration on the nutrient content, and functional and sensory attributes of whole wheat bread made from organic hard red wheat" at the American Society of Nutrition conference this May. Other:Ms. Stern co-founded a sustainable diets journal club at the Friedman School. Since its inception, they have attracted an audience from around the world. They have scientists from the University of Michigan, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, and the Mexican National Institute of Public Health participating in the research exchange. This is a powerful means to share information and stay informed with the latest science. As a co-founder, Ms. Stern engages new members, determines the major themes covered each month, and enrolls guest speakers. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Students will continue with the activities described above.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Angélica Valdes:Interdisciplinary coursework:Angélica took NUTR 400: Grant Writing. As part of a mixed cohort of students focusing on different kinds of research, she engaged in peer review and discussion of proposals for studies involving bench science using animal models, policy analysis, and interventions. Angélica took 3 highly interdisciplinary courses during the 2019 Fall Semester, 2 of which were outside the Friedman School. She took NUTR 285: Food Justice: Critical Approaches in Policy and Planning at the Tufts Urban and Environmental Planning (UEP) Department. Students from Friedman and UEP engaged in weekly discussions of readings and cases that focused on justice across the food system. The topics spanned the fields of urban planning, law, geography, and nutrition, among others. She also took EIB-E247: Econometric Impact Evaluation for Development at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts. This course required previous knowledge of econometrics and also included topics across the fields of economic development, nutrition, and statistics. At the Friedman School, Angélica took NUTR 303: Determinants of US Food Policy at the Friedman School. The class analyzed the different elements of the policymaking processes and institutions in the US as well as parts of the food system. Topics and applications spanned the disciplines of economics, political science, nutrition, statistics, and environmental science. This semester, Angélica took NUTR 301: Nutrition in the Life Cycle. This course covered important topics that spanned the disciplines of nutrition, dietetics, physiology, anatomy, and different aspects of human health. Experiential learning activities:Angélica has taken every hands-on opportunity she can to learn more about Group Model Building (GMB). In July 2019, she assisted in the facilitation of a workshop applying GMB techniques for challenging food insecurity. The audience was high school student participants of the Leadership for Social Change summer program of Tufts Tisch College of Civic Life. In February 2019, Angélica attended a Community-based System Dynamics/Group Model Building Design Lab hosted by Childhood Obesity 180 and the COMPACT team. It involved a mix of presentations, hands-on GMB activities, reflection and discussion, small-group breakout sessions for project design, and an opportunity to hear from and network with other community and research partners involved in this type of work. Mentors and mentorship experiences:Angélica has been very fortunate to find mentors within Tufts Friedman School, from other parts of Tufts University, and external partners. Within Friedman, she has mostly worked with people specializing in economics, community public health interventions, and systems science. Her academic advisor is Parke Wilde, an economist specializing in US food policy. Her research advisor is Erin Hennessy, who works with ChildObesity180 to promote health through better nutrition and physical activity in at-risk communities. Angélica is also receiving mentorship from another economist at the Friedman School, Norbert Wilson, as she further explores topics of justice and equity in nutrition. Other members of the ChildObesity180 team have also mentored Angélica including director Christina Economos and COMPACT project administrator Julia Appel. Two doctoral students have been important mentors for Angélica: Gabriela Fretes, specializing in Food and Nutrition Policy and Programs; and Ariella Korn, specializing in Nutrition Interventions, Communications, and Behavior Change. For her dialogue facilitation work, Angélica has received support from Jonathan Garlick, a cancer biology and tissue engineering scientist that seeks to blend bench and civic science. Maria Carlota Dao, an energy metabolism scientist at the Tufts-USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Healthy Aging (HNRCA) has been a role model and friend to Angélica, sharing insights across common heritage. Breanne Wilhite ConwayInterdisciplinary coursework:Mrs. Wilhite Conway has been completing the necessary course work over the past year to fulfill the degree requirements for the master's degree in Nutrition Interventions, Communication and Behavior Change and for the qualifying exam. Breanne will complete her coursework in May and take this exam in September 2020. Experiential learning activities:Through coursework in Mrs. Wilhite Conway's N226: Food from Production to the Marketplace, Breanne had the opportunity to collaborate with the Center for Science in the Public Interest. Within a team of colleagues, she designed an advocacy campaign to reduce the ubiquity and marketing of sugar sweetened beverages on Tufts University campus and adopt more comprehensive good food guidelines to improve food and beverages offered and sold on campus. Breanne hopes to increase her experiential learning activities throughout her doctoral degree program. Mentors and mentorship experiences:At Friedman, Mrs. Wilhite Conway works closely with her academic and proposed thesis chair advisor, Dr. Erin Hennessy. Dr. Hennessy is an assistant professor within Nutrition Interventions, Communication and Behavior Change and specializes in nutrition behavior changes through the lifecycle, primarily focusing on the maternal-infant dyad and adolescent period of life. Breanne receives mentorship from Dr. Dan Hatfield, research assistant professor within NICBC. Dr. Hatfield specializes in applied community and behavioral communication campaigns and interventions. Alexandra SternInterdisciplinary coursework:Over the past year, Ms. Stern has taken NUTR 331: Environmental Life Cycle Assessment. This interdisciplinary course explores how to technically evaluate the environmental impacts of food production in order to make dietary recommendations. It requires work in the fields of environmental science, engineering, nutrition, agronomy, and chemistry.Ms. Stern audited MATH 87: Mathematical Modeling to support her dissertation research. This course covers the theoretical foundations to optimization modeling and linear programming. This mathematical technique will be used in Ms. Stern's dissertation to create optimal menus for Boston Public Schools. Experiential learning activities:In August of 2019, Ms. Stern led an experiential learning trip to Washington State University for master's students. The trip focused on exposure to the unique community and economy in Skagit Valley centered around whole grains. Students visited WSU to explore the impacts of wheat breeding and grain processing on the nutrition, taste, and functionality of whole grain bread. In October 2019, Ms. Stern participated in a week-long training on sustainable food systems hosted by the Danone Institute North America. The training covered topics in nutrition, corporate social responsibility, agriculture, food systems, and policy. This training provided one-on-one conversations with diverse food system stakeholders from community garden managers to the former United States Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Kathleen Merrigan. Mentors and mentorship experiences:Ms. Stern receives mentorship from a diverse cadre at the Tufts Friedman School, Tufts University, and external partners. At the Friedman School, Ms. Stern works closely with agronomists, economists, nutritionists, and epidemiologists. The chair of Ms. Stern's committee is Dr. Timothy Griffin a crop and soil scientist who specializes in sustainable diets and food systems. Ms. Stern also receives mentorship from faculty at the College of Arts and Sciences, including an engineer, Dr. Stephen Levine. Dr. Levine's work focuses on building computer models of environmental and economic systems.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Submitted
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Stern, A. Cereal Chemistry, "Effects of increasing germination duration on the nutrient content, and functional and sensory attributes of whole wheat bread made from organic hard red wheat.
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