Principal Investigator
PEER REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS
Bias in the dietetics profession & practice
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A lack of diversity and inclusion related to a history of racism, classism, & bias, as evidenced by the low proportion of credentialed RDNs with marginalized identities, evidence that students with marginalized identities have disparate educational & professional experiences while facing more challenges, & lack of changes in policies and procedures (thus maintaining the status quo).
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This research primarily serves to explore how policies and practices governing dietetics perpetuate structural and covert bias and maintain the normativity of whiteness.
Feature article
The Mediterranean Diet is inherently racist.
This article names of few of the ways racism presents itself in nutritional epidemiology and in the Mediterranean Diet itself.
The Whiteness of the Mediterranean Diet: A historical, sociopolitical, and dietary analysis using Critical Race Theory
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Journal of Critical Dietetics, 2021
#InclusiveDietetics: A social media campaign improves beliefs associated with racial and ethnic diversity, equity, and inclusion in the dietetics profession
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Journal of Critical Dietetics, 2023
Nutrition Professionals Feel Underprepared to Serve Persons With Marginalized Identities
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Pedagogy in Health Promotion, 2022
A Call for Action to Address the Root Causes of Racial/Ethnic Health Disparities
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Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 2022
The Diagnosis and Treatment of PCOS in Marginalized Women With Social Disadvantage
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Future Dimensions in Clinical Nutrition Practice, 2022
Beyond BMI: Reckoning with the
Racist History of Body Mass Index and
Ending its Continued Burden on Women of Color
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Future Dimensions in Clinical Nutrition Practice, 2022
Systemic and institutionalized racism, not achievement gap factors, limit the success of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color in dietetics education and credentialing
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Journal of Critical Dietetics, Special Issue on Racism Against Blacks in Dietetics, 2021
Privilege in the Vegetarian and Plant-based Diet Movement
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Vegetarian Nutrition Update, 2021
A social media intervention to improve racial/ethnic diversity and inclusion in dietetics: Black voices centered
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Journal of Critical Dietetics, Special Issue on Racism Against Blacks in Dietetics, 2021
Exploring the Relationship between Cultural Humility and Professional Diversity through the Biased Mediterranean Diet
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Journal of Best Practices of Health Professions Diversity, 2021
We need data! The importance of collecting more and better data to achieve a diverse, inclusive profession
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The Digest, 2021
How Community Health Workers Can Improve Workforce Diversity and Dietary Outcomes.
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Nutrition Today, 2020
Developing Culturally Humility: An Inclusive Approach to Care for Persons with Type 2 Diabetes
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On the Cutting Edge, 2021
Persistence in nutrition education and credentialing among low-income minority students: A qualitative exploratory study.
Journal of Best Practices in Health Professions Diversity: Research, Education and Policy, 2019
Differences in Americans’ attitudes towards sustainable food by race/ethnicity, income, and education.
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Journal of Hunger and Environmental Nutrition, 2021
The Case for a Health at Every Size Approach for Chronic Disease Risk Reduction in Women of Color
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Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 2020
Inclusion is an Action Word.
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Journal of Critical Dietetics, 2019
Strategies and Recommendations to Increase Diversity in Dietetics
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Journal of the Academy and Nutrition and Dietetics, 2019
COVID-19, stress & educational equity
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The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic was sudden and intense in New York City, particularly for Bronx residents, the home of Lehman College. This research serves to better understand the impact of COVID-19 on students with marginalized identities, stress among faculty and students during the first year of the pandemic and the role of anchor institutions as critical levels of social (emotional, mental, instrumental, and informational) support.
Feature article
The pandemic has been hard on faculty.
Burnout is real.
The Faculty aren’t Alright: Faculty Stress Increased Over the First Year of
COVID-19
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Workplace: A Journal for Academic Labor, 2023
Female black, indigenous, and students of color demonstrate greater resilience than other students during a global pandemic
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Equity in Education & Society, 2022
Examining the psychometric properties of a refined perceived stress scale during the COVID-19 pandemic
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Journal of Prevention and Intervention in the Community, Special Issue on the COVID-19 Pandemic, 2021
Growing food locally: sustaining school & community gardens​
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The aim of this research is to explore strategies to increase community engagement in accessing healthy, culturally appropriate food through growing food locally in school and community gardens in the interest of food system equity.
Feature article
The first evidence-based framework to facilitate garden integration into schools
This article names of few of the ways racism presents itself in nutritional epidemiology and in the Mediterranean Diet itself.
Development of the GREEN (Garden Resources, Education, and Environment Nexus) Tool
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Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 2017
A systematic, mixed studies review of the outcomes of community gardening participation related to food justice.
Development and validation of the Just Community Gardening Survey: A measure of the social and dietary outcomes of community garden participation
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Electronic Green Journal, 2020
A nationwide snapshot of the predictors of and barriers to school garden success
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Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 2019
New York City fourth graders who receive a climate change curriculum with hydroponic gardening have higher science achievement scores
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Applied Environmental Education and Communication, 2019
Predictors of School Garden Integration: Factors Critical to Gardening Success in New York City
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Health Education and Behavior, 2018
School Gardens in the United States: Current Barriers to Integration and Sustainability
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American Journal of Public Health, 2018
Implementing and Sustaining School Gardens by Integrating the Curriculum
Health Behavior and Policy Review, 2017
A Complete History of the Social, Health, and Political Context of the School Gardening Movement in the United States: 1840–2014
Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition, 2016
Collaborations & works outside our primary research areas​
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We are fortunate to collaborate on research outside of our main foci. Below find publications resulting from some of that work.
Food for thought: Culturally diverse older adults' views on food and meals captured by student-led digital storytelling in the Bronx
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Journal of Urban Social Work, 2021
A new approach to integrating patient-generated data with expert knowledge for personalized goal setting: a pilot study
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International Journal of Medical Informatics, 2020
Acceptance of using cricket flour as a low carbohydrate, high protein, sustainable substitute for all-purpose flour in muffins
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Journal of Culinary Science and Technology, 2019