Jayna M. Dave Lab

The goal of Dave Lab is to create an equitable environment for obesity and chronic disease prevention among minority low-income families by bringing about meaningful and pragmatic socio-environmental changes.

The research conducted in Dave Lab can be described in three broad themes:

1. Utilizing community-engaged approaches to population health, including design, implementation, and evaluation of interventions targeting environmental, behavioral, and psychosocial factors contributing to obesity and diet-related chronic diseases in various settings, including preschool, schools, and family and community-based settings.
2. Exploring social determinants of health inequity, including food and nutrition insecurity, hunger, and racial and economic disparities related to nutrition and diet-related chronic diseases.
3. Investigating the role of food assistance programs on nutrition and health outcomes.

Dave Lab utilizes qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods research to incorporate the complexities of real-world practice and produce meaningful and useful outputs linked to obesity and chronic disease prevention that are relevant to several stakeholders. These stakeholders include fellow researchers and clinicians, community members, and most importantly, individuals directly affected by improving clinical and community practice, i.e., individuals from minority socio-economically disadvantaged families.