Cassandra J. Nguyen, Ph.D.
Co-Founding Director
Cassandra Nguyen is an Assistant Professor of Cooperative Extension in the Department of Nutrition at UC Davis. Dr. Nguyen completed a PhD and MS in nutrition at the University of Illinois after earning a BS in dietetics from Central Washington University. She leads the Applied Community-Oriented Research in Nutrition (ACORN) Lab that focuses on practical ways to improve nutrition by aligning food programs, community food access, and household food practices to make healthy lifestyles attainable for more people.
Jennifer T Smilowitz, Ph.D.
Co-Founding Director
Dr. Smilowitz is an Assistant Professor of Cooperative Extension. She has a well-established research career in clinical nutrition and lactation research that targets health in the first 1000 days from pregnancy through early childhood. As a lactation education counselor, Dr. Smilowitz built a multi-collaborative outreach program focused on infant feeding that educates families on lactation and breastfeeding. Her current research and outreach programs focus on critical issues that identify and address gaps in health equity across the lifespan, support community health and reduce chronic disease risk.