CURRENT AUTHORS
Izzuddin Aris, PhDIzzuddin Aris, PhD is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Chronic Disease Research Across the Lifecourse (CoRAL). He received his undergraduate degree in Biomedical Sciences, and his graduate degree in Epidemiology from the National University of Singapore. His research focuses on prenatal predictors of childhood growth, overweight/obesity and related cardio-metabolic disease.
|
Jason Block, MDDr. Jason Block (@jasonpblock) is the Associate Director of and an Associate Professor in the Division of Chronic Disease Research Across the Lifecourse (CoRAL). His main research interests are exploring governmental and institutional policies and programs intended to improve diet, enhance wellness, and combat obesity. He also is a general internist and sees primary care patients and works in a weight management clinic at Brigham and Women's Hospital. He is from Thibodaux, Louisiana, has two sons, and is a rabid New Orleans Saints fan.
|
Anna Grummon, PhDDr. Anna Grummon is a David E. Bell Fellow at the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies and a research fellow at CoRAL. As a behavioral scientist, Anna's research integrates randomized experiments with mathematical modeling to examine whether nutrition policies like warning labels, soda taxes, and food assistance programs affect what we eat and how healthy we are.
|
Peter James, ScDDr. Peter James (@peterjames7) is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Chronic Disease Research Across the Lifecourse (CoRAL). His research focuses on understanding how contextual factors, such as exposure to nature, the built environment, or the food environment, influence health behaviors and chronic disease. He is developing approaches using smartphones and wearable devices to better understand how our environment can influence our behavior. Peter enjoys biking around Boston in the summer, skiing in Vermont in the winter, and traveling as much as possible any time of the year with his wife, Leda.
|
Pi-I Debby Lin, PhDDr. Pi-I Debby Lin (@Pi_iDebbyLin) is a Research Fellow in the Division of Chronic Disease Research Across the Lifecourse (CoRAL). Her research focuses on understanding how environmental and dietary factors affect health outcomes across the lifecourse. She applies epidemiological methods to study the relationship between diet and various environmental chemicals, including arsenic, phthalate, and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), and evaluates intervention strategies that can reduce exposure levels. Debby is an Indigenous person from Taiwan, her Amis name is Lapic Kalay; she enjoys scuba diving, biking, and cooking.
|
Kat LynchKat Lynch joined CoRAL in June of 2017 as a Research Assistant on Project Viva. She received her BS in Public Health from Syracuse University in May 2016. At Syracuse, she was given many opportunities to engage in service learning, including an internship with the American Red Cross. After college, she went on to serve as an AmeriCorps VISTA, where she spent a year working in school-based health centers in Philadelphia. She enjoys traveling in her spare time (her goal is to visit all 50 US states), staying active, and using her creative skills to draw for fun.
|
Emily Oken, MD, MPHDr. Emily Oken (@EmilyOkenMD) is a Professor in the Division of Chronic Disease Research Across the Lifecourse (CoRAL). Her research focuses on how experiences during pregnancy, especially maternal diet and toxic exposures, can influence both the mother’s health and child’s health over the long term. She came to Boston for medical school and stayed on; she has now lived here longer than anywhere else she’s ever lived, but isn’t sure if that makes her a Bostonian yet. She has a son Obi and daughter Amara who think she makes the best chocolate chip cookies in the world.
|
Wei Perng, PhDDr. Wei Perng is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the Colorado School of Public Health. Her research revolves around perinatal origins of childhood obesity and related metabolic consequences. She has two boys and one dog, and enjoys napping (see former) in her free time.
|
Joshua Petimar, ScDDr. Joshua Petimar, ScD is a Research Scientist in CoRAL. His work is focused on the effects of public health nutrition policies on diet quality. His current work primarily uses sales data from food retailers and longitudinal data from large cohort studies to investigate research questions related to calorie labeling, nutrition assistance programs, and the effects of the food environment on diet and health.
|
Sheryl Rifas-Shiman, MPHSheryl Rifas-Shiman is the Senior Research Associate in CoRAL; she has an MPH in epidemiology and biostatistics. Her research is focused on nutrition and other exposures that occur during pregnancy and childhood, and the influence of these experiences on the health of both mother and child. She’s from Miami, was a professional ballet dancer, and has 1 son who is an actor.
|
Karen Switkowski, PhD, MPHDr. Karen Switkowski joined the Division in 2012 as the Project Manager for Project Viva, a longitudinal study of mother-child pairs examining predictors of childhood obesity and other health outcomes. She is now a Research Scientist working primarily on analyses of Project Viva data. Karen received a BA from Emory University and a PhD in Nutritional Epidemiology, an MS in Biochemical Nutrition and an MPH in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from Tufts University. Karen is interested in the effects of prenatal and infant nutrition on future health. She enjoys taking long walks and exploring new neighborhoods with her husband, son, daughter and dog. She also likes cooking, baking and eating different foods.
|
Lauren Cleveland, MS, MPHLauren Cleveland, MS, MPH is a Project Manager for the Division of Chronic Disease Research Across the Lifecourse (CoRAL). Her broad interests include U.S. food policy, nutrition and health communication, and maternal and child health. She completed her MS at Tufts University Friedman School of Nutrition where she focused on food policy and nutrition interventions and her MPH at Tufts University School of Medicine, Public Health and Professional Degree Programs where she concentrated in health communication. Lauren can be found on the North Shore hiking, Baking, reading or at the playground with her husband, and three sons.
|
Marie-France Hivert, MD, MMScDr. Marie-France Hivert is an Associate Professor in CoRAL. Among her main interests are understanding the fetal programming of obesity and diabetes, with a specific focus on interactions between genes and environment and epigenetic mechanisms. She is also leading interventions to support healthy lifestyle during pregnancy in the hope to improve metabolic health of both mothers and babies over the long term. She works as an Endocrinologist at the MGH Diabetes Center. She is a passionate ultimate frisbee player and loves swing dancing.
|
Chelsea Jenter, MPHChelsea Jenter, Director of Operations, manages overall operations within CoRAL. Prior to joining the division, Chelsea managed a variety of public health projects, including research on quality improvement and electronic health records, cancer, childhood depression. She has worked at HPHCI twice, the first time managing Project Viva at the very beginning when it was enrolling pregnant mothers. Outside of CoRAL, Chelsea enjoys time outdoors, artistic pursuits, and spending time with her husband and two daughters.
|
Denise Simon, MPHDenise Simon joined CoRAL in 2009 and is now a Project Manager in the Division. She earned her bachelor’s in Health Science at Boston University and her Master’s in Public Health in Maternal and Child Health at the BU School of Public Health. Her research interests include healthcare policy, pregnancy, postpartum care, and childhood obesity. Denise enjoys photography, biking through the busy streets of Boston, long runs through the Emerald Necklace Parks and along the Charles River, and relaxing at home while creating and experimenting with new recipes.
|
Emily Goldsmith, MAEmily Goldsmith, MA, joined CoRAL in June 2020 as the Operations Project Manager for Project Viva. Previously, she worked for two global health organizations, Pathfinder International and Management Sciences for Health, where she managed reproductive health and maternal and child health programs. In addition, she managed community health projects while serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Togo. She holds an MA in Law and Diplomacy from Tufts University and a BS in Development Sociology from Cornell University. She grew up in the Boston area and genuinely enjoys all four seasons and the different activities each provides; her favorites being winter skiing and late summer/early fall hiking (once the bugs are gone).
|
Casandra GongCasandra Gong is a rising third-year undergraduate student at The University of Massachusetts, Amherst studying Microbiology with a minor in Sociology. She plans to pursue a career in public health and healthcare. In her free time, Casandra is an instrumentalist and coordinator for UMass Amherst Lion Dance (UMassALD), an East-Asian cultural lion dance performance group.
|
Jenny Sun, PhDDr. Jenny Sun is a former Research Fellow in the Department of Population Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute. Her work focuses primarily on medication safety and the use of secondary databases to conduct pharmacoepidemiologic studies. Outside of work, Jenny enjoys staying active, spending time with family and friends, and exploring new places to eat.
|
PAST AUTHORS
We would like to acknowledge and thank our past authors for contributing such great work to our blog!
|
Catherine Briggs Avik Chatterjee, MD, MPH Nidhi Ghildayal, PhD Lauren Feichtner, MD, MPH Matthew W. Gillman, MD, SM Kristina Lewis, MD Mike Seward, MD Nicole Witham, RN, BSN Jennifer Thompson, MPP |
|
