CUrrent Trainees

ERIN MORINI is a 2nd year student at Tulane University pursuing a Masters of Public Health (MPH) concentrating in Nutrition. She currently holds a degree in Nutrition with a minor in Psychology from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. While there she worked in Peer Health Education as well as in local childhood obesity prevention programs. She spent a few months after graduation working on a malnutrition research study in East Africa, where she solidified her love for international nutrition. She is a clinically trained Registered Dietetic Technician with the goal of attending Tulane’s Dietetic Internship to become a Registered Dietitian after her MPH. She is interested in maternal and child health, the impacts of diet on the environment, and food security, both domestically and internationally.

MIGUEL ANGEL LOPEZ is a second year PhD student at Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine pursuing a degree in Social, Behavioral, and Population Sciences with a concentration in Nutrition and Food Insecurity. He became a registered dietitian after receiving his bachelor’s degree in Nutritional Science from Texas Christian University (TCU), and holds a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology from Tulane University. Throughout his academic career, MiguelAngel has had the opportunity to help establish a breakfast program for low-income youth in Seville, Spain; investigate the prospective association between nontraditional biomarkers of obesity and abdominal obesity in Suzhou, China; and the relationship between the perceived nutrition environment and food insecurity in Lima, Peru. Currently, his research focuses on investigating the association between the surrounding food environment, community nutrition assistance programs, specifically The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), and food insecurity. For his dissertation, MiguelAngel hopes to be able to investigate the association between acculturation and nutrition-related outcomes, including food insecurity, among US-born, and foreign-born Hispanics living in the United States. He is interested in pursuing a career focused on alleviating social inequalities in nutritional outcomes.

BRANDI STEIN is a first year Masters of Public Health student at Tulane University. She grew up in Michigan and got her BS in dietetics from Michigan State University. She went on to complete her dietetic internship and then work as a pediatric and neonatal intensive care unit dietitian at the University of Virginia Health System. This role sparked her interest in maternal and child health, but she knew she wanted to shift her focus to community nutrition. Her professional interests include lactation and breastfeeding support, food security, and academia. Her personal interests include spending time outdoors, hanging out with her dog Lentil, and eating good food

AVNI GUPTA is originally from California, but has been in Austin for work since graduating from The University of Texas at Austin in December 2019. She completed her BS in Nutrition, Dietetics and is really excited at the prospect of completing her Master of Public Health Nutrition along with a dietetic internship through Tulane’s combined program, especially because of its emphasis in community nutrition. Anvi loves the community aspect of nutrition because of its ability to shape and mold a population’s health in a larger setting. In the past, she’s worked with two major research programs in Texas called Texas Sprouts and School Physical Activity and Nutrition (SPAN). These programs allowed her to educate children about nutrition and health, as well as gather anthropologic data and conduct dietary recalls to see if current nutrition programs are effective. The Maternal and Child Health Leadership Program offers her the opportunity to explore her passion for child nutrition, specifically in bringing about health education and awareness of nutrition to children and their families to reduce the risk of obesity and diseases as they age. Avni is most interested in learning more about designing programs and interventions to promote nutrition knowledge and overall health in populations that need it. When not busy with school or work, she loves to cook, bake, and be active, which is what inspired her love for nutrition at a young age.

JESSICA GARCIA, MPH, LD is a nutrition trainee with the Leadership Education in Adolescent Health (LEAH) Training Program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She has been selected for the Maternal & Child Health Bureau’s Division of MCH Workforce Development Trainee Ambassador Group (TAG). TAG is designed to foster connections between trainees across the MCH Training Programs, provide trainees with leadership development opportunities, and strengthen the link between trainees and MCHB.  Within the TAG, Jessica has taken on the roles of lead social media director (SMD) and member of the 2021 TAG application committee. As lead SMD, Jessica has delighted in the opportunity to conceptualize, develop, and lead efforts to facilitate trainee connections via social media and via the social media ambassador (SMA) mentoring program. One of the most beneficial aspects of the LEAH program that she has learned is how to successfully assess, diagnose, manage and mentor patients over telehealth. Jessica is passionate about working with the adolescent population especially those encountering eating disorders. She hopes to one day open her own eating disorder practice based on an interdisciplinary approach.

LAUREN PRINGLE is a first year student in the Coordinated Masters Program for a Public Health Nutrition focused MPH and dietetic internship at the University of Minnesota’s School of Public Health. She graduated with a B.S. in Nutritional Sciences and a focus in Public Health Nutrition from Michigan State University. Before moving from Michigan, she worked as an undergraduate research assistant at Michigan State on a project to determine the effectiveness of the Smarter Lunchroom strategies in k-12 schools across Michigan and as a maternal and infant health intern with the Michigan Dept. of Health and Human Services to aid in the planning of their Maternal Infant Health Summit and enhance their ambassador program. As an MCH trainee, she is involved with a research project studying positive deviance in child health and nutrition. In the future, she hopes to work in a rural or underserved community with adolescents and women of child bearing age to increase their health literacy and equity, food security, and self-efficacy.

NATALIE NATION is a first year MPH Nutrition student in the Coordinated Masters Program at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. She earned her bachelors degree in dietetics at St. Catherine University, where she was awarded the 2019 Nichole Miller Social Justice award for her work with the campus food shelf and in food justice advocacy on her campus. She enthusiastically dove into her public health nutrition studies at UMN and is happy to work alongside her fellow MCH trainees, where she helps to maintain the MCH trainee blog and developing a public service announcement in collaboration with the Crow River Food Council. Natalie’s interests include nutrition and health literacy and communication, public speaking and educating students, and food insecurity. She hopes to become a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and work with teens, college students, and young adults. Natalie also hosts her own nutrition podcast, Feed That Nation, which can be found on YouTube, Apple, and Spotify.

TOLU AWOKOYA is a first year Coordinated Masters Program student in the School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Nutritional Science from Iowa State University.  Before moving to from Ames, he was part of the 2019 Cohort of the Iowa State Dean’s Global Agricultural Leadership Program where he worked on a project with the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization on the implications that a global shift to a plant-based diet might have on health and nutrition, focusing women and children. As an MCH trainee, he is involved in a research project studying positive deviance in child health and nutrition. He is also involved in Early Childhood Family Education in Minnesota that works to enhance the ability of all families to provide the best possible environment for their child’s learning, nutrition, and growth. In the future, Tolu wants to work in the field of global health; specifically working to improve nutrition access, education, and quality for women and children in developing countries

SOMADEE CHEAM is a second year MPH Nutrition student in the Coordinated Master’s Program at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities where she also received her undergraduate degree in nutrition and dietetics in 2018. Before the last year of her undergraduate studies, Somadee had the opportunity to work with the Girls and Boys Club of South Minneapolis where she began her work with MCH populations. During that summer she helped to create and implement a nutrition education intervention which had both gardening and classroom components. Currently, she continues her work in MCH by working with the Minnesota Department of Health on strategic planning for their priorities for the Title V MCH block activities. She is interested policy, environment and systems changes that promote local and sustainable food procurement by institutions to provide nutritious foods to those who need it and stimulate local food systems.

REBECCA NAAB is a second year MPH Nutrition student in the Coordinated Master’s Program at the University of Minnesota. She received a B.A. in Environmental Sustainability from Baldwin Wallace University in her hometown of Cleveland, OH in 2010. After finishing her undergraduate education, she spent time in rural Montana as a FoodCorps volunteer where she helped develop a Farm to School program at a local school district. Following her FoodCorps experience, Rebecca joined Teach for America and worked as a middle school educator in Detroit, MI. It was through both of these experiences she learned the importance of nutrition and health education for young children and adolescents as well as how hunger affects the learning and the well-being of marginalized youth. As a trainee Rebecca has worked in conjunction with Bloomington Public Health to provide assistance and technical support at multiple charter schools in order to help advance and promote their school nutrition programs. Moving forward, she hopes to continue her work with schools to advance health education as well as cultivate new ideas about how to innovate school nutrition programs that emphasize cultural food preferences, reduce food waste, and allow children to nourish their bodies intuitively.