October 2023: Center Representation
October 2023:
Center Representation
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“SAMHSA Food and Mood Meeting
Principal Research Scientist Carmen Byker Shanks presented at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Food and Mood Meeting - Creating Conversation/Building Connections and Collaborations on August 22 in Denver, Colorado. The goal of this meeting was to integrate regional work in food access/nutrition and mental health and substance use disorders. In Making the Case for Food and Mood, Byker Shanks reviewed the convergence of food security and nutrition security, and explored how they intersect with child behavioral health, including mental health, adverse childhood experiences and substance abuse. Byker Shanks emphasized that combining different approaches and nutrition programs, such as the Center for Nutrition and Health Impact’s (formerly the Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition) Walmart Foundation-funded food insecurity related measures and the Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program (GusNIP), is key in increasing the purchase and intake of fruits and vegetables, increasing food and nutrition security, improving health outcomes and decreasing healthcare use and costs among youth.Pictured above: Principal Research Scientist Carmen Byker Shanks presenting Making the Case for Food and Mood.”
“Proposal Defense
Graduate Research Assistant Sueny Paloma Lima Dos Santos is officially a PhD candidate! On August 23, Lima Dos Santos presented her proposal defense on the Intersections of Antenatal Care and Breastfeeding: A Multi-Country Analysis Addressing the Social Determinants of Health and highlighted demographic health survey data from various Latin American countries.Pictured above: Graduate Research Assistant Sueny Paloma Lima Dos Santos celebrating after her proposal defense.”
“HEAN Annual Meeting
Postdoctoral Fellow Eliza Short participated in the Health Equity Action Network (HEAN) Annual Community and Scientific Partners Meeting 2023 in Bethesda, Maryland from September 13–14. Short attended both as an Early Stage Investigator (ESI) to learn about National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant writing and a post-doctoral co-investigator of a school nutrition study in Arkansas led by Principal Research Scientist Chris Long. Organized over two days, this year’s sessions aimed to strengthen community and scientific partnerships, highlight innovations addressing Multiple Chronic Disease (MCD) disparities, advance meaningful community engagement across the research continuum and leverage opportunities across NIH Centers to promote HEAN’s agenda, priorities and best practices.Pictured above: Postdoctoral Fellow Eliza Short at the 2023 HEAN Annual Meeting in Bethesda, MD.
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“WIC Technology, Innovation and Vendor Management Conference
Adjunct Senior Research Scientist Jennie Hill, Postdoctoral Fellow Mayra Crespo Bellido, Project Coordinator Cara Cliburn Allen and Senior Research Associate Sarah Kersten attended the 2023 National WIC Association’s Technology, Innovation and Vendor Management Conference in Portland, Oregon from September 27–29. Convening WIC staff from state and local agencies, researchers, technologists and stakeholders, this conference highlighted current technological innovations and their impact on the experience of people who utilize WIC. Conference tracks included participant access, nutrition education and breastfeeding support, the WIC shopping experience, evaluation and quality improvement, and data linkages to enhance recruitment and retention. On September 27, Hill and colleagues from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service (USDA FNS) presented updates on the WIC Online Shopping Grant.”
“NIH Virtual Workshop
Postdoctoral Fellow Miguel Ángel López gave a five-minute flash talk presentation entitled, Echando Una Mano: Community Food & Nutrition Assistance Providers’ Perceptions of Their Ability to Adequately Serve Low-income & Non-English speaking Latino Adults in the U.S., at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Advancing Health Equity Through Culture-Centered Dietary Interventions to Address Chronic Diseases virtual workshop on September 29. The two-day virtual workshop allowed experts to review how culture-centered approaches that integrate cultural foodways and sociocultural factors can improve adherence to healthy dietary patterns and reduce diet-related diseases across diverse populations that are marginalized. López highlighted his dissertation, Death by English: Navigating an Anglo-Centered Food and Nutrition Environment as a Linguistically Isolated Latino Adult Living in the United States, which focused on community food and nutrition assistance providers’ (CFNPs) perceptions of non-English speaking Latino/a/x adults with limited income in the U.S., and CFNPs’ ability to provide adequate food and nutrition assistance to them.”