Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences

Obesity, Nutrition, and Physical Activity

Breadcrumb

Obesity, Nutrition, and Physical Activity

Studying behaviors that guide our eating habits and physical activity.

Areas of Focus

Multilevel community-based interventions
Identification of social, cognitive, and affective mediators and moderators of intervention effects
Sophisticated statistical modeling of behavior change
Issues related to dissemination of efficacious interventions

Our faculty research obesity, nutrition (including breastfeeding) and physical activity. Faculty research in this area involves multilevel community-based interventions, with a particular focus on enhancing health equity and reducing racial and ethnic disparities for underserved populations.

Faculty

Jasjit Ahluwalia

Professor

Jasjit_Ahluwalia@brown.edu
Tayla von Ash

Assistant Professor

Tayla_Ash@brown.edu
Tanya Benitez

Assistant Professor (Research)

Tanya_Benitez@brown.edu
Beth Bock

Professor of Psychiatry & Human Behavior (Research)

bbock@lifespan.org
Lauren Bohlen

Assistant Professor

Lauren_Bohlen@brown.edu
Judson Brewer

Professor

Judson_Brewer@brown.edu
Shira Dunsiger

Associate Professor (Research)

Shira_Dunsiger@brown.edu
Kate Guthrie

Professor of Psychiatry & Human Behavior (Research)

Kate_Guthrie@brown.edu
Bess Marcus

Professor

bess_marcus@brown.edu
Andrea Mendoza-Vasconez

Assistant Professor (Research)

Andrea_Mendoza@brown.edu
Cara Murphy

Assistant Professor

Cara_Murphy@brown.edu
Amy Nunn

Professor, Professor Of Medicine, Executive Director, RI Public Health Institute

Amy_Nunn@brown.edu
Patricia Risica

Associate Professor, Director of Undergraduate Studies

Patricia_Risica@Brown.edu
Laura Stroud

Professor of Psychiatry & Human Behavior (Research), Director, Center for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine

Laura_stroud@brown.edu
Shufang Sun

Assistant Professor

Shufang_Sun@brown.edu
Alison Tovar

Associate Professor

Alison_Tovar@brown.edu
David Williams

Director of the Center for Health Promotion and Health Equity, Professor

David_M_Williams@brown.edu

Affiliated Research Centers and Labs

Center for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine

Works to discover new and improved health promotion and disease management approaches, focusing on the role of human behavior in health and disease.

Visit Page

Learn by Doing: Food Justice Pioneer

No obstacle is a match for MPH student Kerri Connolly. As deputy director of the Rhode Island Public Health Institute, she works tirelessly to improve food access for families. As a Brown MPH student, she works to acquire the skills she’ll need to achieve her food-system busting goals.

Read in Continuum Magazine