My background as a registered dietitian set the foundation for my previous research experiences focused on reducing inequities in nutrition-related chronic disease burden and improving healthy eating and physical activity behaviors among children and adolescents from historically marginalized communities. As I enter the dissertation phase of my PhD program, I am shifting my research focus to examine policy variations in social safety net programs in relation to program participation and health outcomes with an emphasis on health equity and intersectionality. I am interested in developing as a mixed-methods researcher to examine social and structural determinants of maternal, child, and adolescent health.
Lenora is a PhD student in social and behavioral epidemiology at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health and a predoctoral fellow on the Minnesota Obesity Prevention Training Program (MnOPT) working with Dr. Nancy Sherwood. She is a mixed-methods researcher focused on social and structural determinants of maternal, child, and adolescent health with an emphasis on health equity and intersectionality. Lenora is a registered dietitian whose research interests are informed by previous work experience for the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program and in clinical pediatric endocrinology. With this background in health behavior, Lenora’s previous projects have examined how parents and children navigate nutrition and weight to inform clinical and public health interventions aimed at preventing nutrition-related chronic disease. Her current and upcoming projects include examining social determinants of pediatric cardiovascular health and evaluating federal food assistance programs.