Policy

Dr. Au's research is at the intersection of innovative dietary assessment, nutrition policy, and obesity prevention for low-income populations. Her work focuses on harnessing artificial intelligence to improve dietary assessment technology and examining how cross-utilization of safety net programs impacts nutrition security and health. She has a wealth of experience with evaluating nutrition policy changes in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children and the National School Lunch Program.

Dr. Engle-Stone's research is in global public health nutrition, with a focus on micronutrient nutrition among women and young children in low-income settings. Research themes include planning, monitoring, and evaluation of food fortification programs; cost-effectiveness and coherence among micronutrient intervention programs, and nutritional assessment.

Dr. Nguyen 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.

Dr. Stewart’s research focuses on the design and evaluation of nutrition and health interventions for women and young children in low income communities. She examines the effects of these interventions on growth, health, and development throughout the life course. She utilizes primarily community-based randomized controlled trials, longitudinal studies, and meta-analyses to synthesize evidence to inform improvements in programs or policy. She collaborates extensively with multi-disciplinary and multi-national teams and has had recent projects in Kenya, Malawi, Madagascar, Bangladesh, and Ecuador.

Dr. Haskell's research is focused on assessing the bioavailability of vitamin A from plant-based diets, and evaluating the efficacy and safety of vitamin A interventions in low-income countries.

Dr. Hess' research interests involve the design, implementation and evaluation of programs to control micronutrient deficiencies among children and women in low-income countries, and related issues of nutrient bioavailability, nutrient-nutrient interactions and nutritional assessment. The research program is generally carried out in the context of community-based intervention trials, using an efficacy or effectiveness study design.

Dr. Soule is a champion for innovation in community health, dedicated to designing interventions that enhance health outcomes, strengthen food security, and support economic prosperity. By leveraging emerging technologies and generative strategies, Dr. Soule advances solutions that drive systemic change. Dr. Soule integrates health education, research, and policy development to create sustainable solutions that improve quality of life for all.

Dr. Wessells' research interests are focused on micronutrient deficiencies among infants and young children in low-income countries, and the evaluation of therapeutic and preventive interventions designed to improve nutritional status in these populations. She is also interested in the dietary and biochemical assessment of nutritional status, and relationships between nutritional status, intestinal mucosal function and infection. She has extensive expertise in designing and implementing randomized controlled trials, as well as conducting systematic reviews and meta-analyses.