Overall Goal:  My overall goal is to integrate research, teaching and outreach efforts.  I embrace a model of communiversity which engages communities in the research process and requires mutual respect on the part of researchers and community individuals. I am firmly committed to the idea of an engaged university and develop responsive, action-oriented research programs in line with community needs as recognized by community members.  In turn, knowledge learned from community research experiences is shared in the university classroom environment and facilitates the development of civically responsible professionals in the field of nutrition and dietetics.

Research Focus:  Delineating reasons for the disparate occurrence of chronic diseases and obesity among limited income populations is critical to the improved health and well-being of Oklahoma's population. My early training as an anthropologist has an influence on the selection of research methods for current studies.  Ethnography, participatory action research and focus groups are the main methods utilized in my research.  I have been involved in various research projects aimed at understanding how social and cultural factors influence limited income population group's perceptions of obesity, heart disease, and diabetes. 

Our research team is focused on the nutritional needs of Native Americans living in the Chickasaw Nation boundaries and I work with the Get Fresh program as the evaluation coordinator.  Our team of researchers have been working in coordination with the Chickasaw Nation "Get Fresh" nutrition program to develop social marketing programs which attend to cultural and financial aspects of health and food choices of Native American families living in the Chickasaw Nation boundaries. Drs. Chiquita Briley and Jean Van Delinder have been co-investigators in the the formative assessment phase of the social marketing work. 

Most recently Sarah Miracle, MS, RD/LD. Dr. Janice Hermann, and I have received a RIDGE grant to examine elder's vies of diabetes for the development of an indigenous diabetes prevention plan.  In the future, I plan to continue working towards the elimination of health disparities among Native Americans living in the Chickasaw Nation boundaries through transdisciplinary work. 

Student Research and Projects:  I have had the pleasure of working with a number of outstanding students whose projects are listed below.
 

Current students
 

coming soon	Teresa Jackson, MS student. Understanding Native Americans living in the Chickasaw Nation views of diabetes prevention.     Society for Nutrition Education 2008 Poster presentation: Formative Assessment of  Perceptions of Nutrition and Health among Native American Women Living in the Chickasaw Nation Boundaries Using a Social Marketing Approach
	Sarah Mugg, Undergrad Honor's student and recipient of Seretean Scholarship  . Honor's thesis: Understanding Native American women's views of diabetes. 2007 M. B. SERETEAN NUTRITIONAL SCIENCES SCHOLARSHIP
	Sandy Peterson, MS student, Facilitates project logistics.      Society for Nutrition Education 2008 Poster presentation: Formative Assessment of  Perceptions of Nutrition and Health among Native American Women Living in the Chickasaw Nation Boundaries Using a Social Marketing Approach
coming soon	Embrey Kriley Pollet, Undergrad recipient of Seretean Scholarship. Current MS student. Formative market testing of nutrition messages for the development of a social marketing campaign in the Chickasaw Nation boundaries.     2008 Tulsa District Dietetic Association Scholarship 2007 M. B. SERETEAN NUTRITIONAL SCIENCES SCHOLARSHIP Recipient

Past Students
 

coming soon	Cheryl Hull, MS student. Creative Component: Development of a proposal for a school based nutrition intervention utilizing the social cognitive theory and social marketing model.
coming soon	Toma Hunter, MS student. Using the social marketing model to understand factors influencing Native Americans living in the Chickasaw Nation borders views of nutrition and health.  Presentations Society for Nutrition Education 2008 Poster presentation: Formative Assessment of  Perceptions of Nutrition and Health among Native American Women Living in the Chickasaw Nation Boundaries Using a Social Marketing Approach
	Seung Eun Jung, MS student. Ethnic differences in factors influencing body weight in food stamp recipients. Presentations Comparison of Factors Influencing Body Weight among Diverse Individuals Receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Benefits (oral paper). 20th Annual OSU Research Symposium Friday, February 20, 2009 Student poster competition: OPHA 2009 Conference, Oklahoma City, Ok. April 9–10, 2009
coming soon	Keri Strait Layton, MS student. Utilizing an ecological perspective to delineate ethnic differences in overweight and obesity.  Research Bytes Highlight: September 2008
coming soon	Fatima Pina, Undergrad Honor's student. Evaluation of an online nutrition education program fro individuals residing in a homeless shelter and CASE grant recipient Grants & Awards    Mission of Hope Grant 2007-link coming soon Carter Academic Service Entrepreneur (CASE) 2006 grant recipient     Senior of Significance, Class of 2006-2007
coming soon	Laura Powell, MS student. Understanding limited resource elders' views of preferred educational delivery strategies. Presentations    Society for Nutrition Education 2008 Poster presentation:  Process Evaluation of Preferred Educational Delivery Strategies among Limited Resource Elderly

Past Research and Programming Interests: My ethnographic and Peace Corps' training in the Caribbean provided me with international research and nutrition programming opportunities.  My work in the Caribbean focused on sickle cell disease in Jamaican children at the MRC Sickle Cell Unit location at University Of the West Indies and herbal folk practices in St. Eustatius.  I have also worked in coordination with Dr. Barbara Stoecker on a grant for higher education in Iraq (Al-sharaka program for higher education in Iraq) .  One day, I hope to continue international research and aspire to develop international training opportunities for students at OSU.  Upon retirement, many moons from now, you may find me in the Peace Corps again.

The results of these projects have important implications for eliminating health disparities and providing quality nutrition programming tailored to the needs of diverse audiences. 

One of the major projects with which I was involved as the Nutrition Education Specialist (2000-2005) for Community Nutrition Education Programs (CNEP) was  the production of CD lessons in coordination with Ursula O'hara, Communications Specialist. Together we worked to develop technologically advanced curriculum for NEAs to use in teaching.  NEAs are working with laptops to deliver quality educational programs to Oklahomans.  We completed one CD covering basic MyPyramid concepts and partially completed a second CD covering nutrition basics such as food safety, meal planning and food budgeting before I began working as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Nutritional Sciences at OSU. 

An additional research interest  in the area of women's health is the effects of chemotherapy on body composition in premenopausal women diagnosed with breast cancer.  The intent of this work is to improve the overall physical and psychological well being of breast cancer patients and survivors.  My interest in this topic stems from personal experience being diagnosed with invasive breast cancer before age 35.