UMN Trainee Spotlight: Junia N Brito

Junia is a first-year PhD student in Social/Behavioral Epidemiology at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health (SPH). She is originally from Brazil, where she received her dietetic training and worked as both a clinical dietitian and as a dietitian food service manager. While living in the U.S., Junia has completed an MBA with a Healthcare Management concentration at Bellevue University and received an MPH Nutrition degree from the University of Minnesota. This post describes her experiences as a student and MCH Nutrition trainee.

Here in the U.S., some of my previous leadership-volunteer experience included being a Nutrition Educator Specialist for Urban Ventures focused in teaching ethnically diverse children from public schools about food and health. Additionally, I have engaged in a community & health development project as a Nutritionist Manager consultant for the Green Garden Bakery -a minority youth-led garden and bakery enterprise supported by the not for profit organization Urban Strategies Inc.

Since I joined the SPH, I have been engaged in multiple research projects and related activities. During the Summer of 2016, I completed the field experience requirement for the MPH Nutrition program at the Women, Infants & Children (WIC) Program’s Office at the Minnesota Department of Health. Using Minnesota’s WIC program data, I explored two main questions: First, what are the predominant reasons given by mothers enrolled in Minnesota WIC program for stopping breastfeeding during the first year of their child’s life, and second, do these reasons vary according to race, ethnicity or country of origin. These findings can be found at the Breastfeeding in Minnesota’s WIC Program FACT SHEET 2018 webpage. I have also been working as a research assistant in multiple research projects, with areas of study encompassing child nutrition & parenting behavior, dietary intake & sedentary behavior among sedentary office workers, and other health related outcomes.

As an MCH Nutrition Trainee, I have attended multiple professional development opportunities, updated and reviewed book chapters focused on overweight and obesity, sports nutrition, diabetes mellitus and eating disorders in children and adolescents, and engaged in quarterly trainee conferences and collaborative discussion calls with fellow MCH Nutrition trainees. It has been a fun and exciting journey!