authors

Rebecca Puhl

Rebecca Puhl, Ph.D., is Coordinator for Community and Weight Stigma Initiatives at the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University, where she is also an Associate Research Scientist. Dr. Puhl is responsible for identifying and evaluating promising community nutrition programs and coordinating research and policy efforts aimed at reducing weight bias. In addition to seeking ways to reduce weight bias, Dr. Puhl’s research examines societal and behavioral contributors to obesity. Her recent publications address the origins of weight stigma, stigma reduction interventions, coping with weight stigma, childhood food rules, and societal factors related to childhood obesity. She has presented on these topics to academic, professional, and community groups.

Kelly Brownell

Kelly Brownell, Ph.D., is the Director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity. He is also a Professor of Psychology and a Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health at Yale University. Dr. Brownell has published 14 books and more than 300 scientific articles and chapters, and he has advised members of congress, governors, world health and nutrition organizations, and media leaders on issues of nutrition, obesity, and public policy. Dr. Brownell was cited as a “moral entrepreneur” with special influence on public discourse in the history of the obesity field and was cited by Time magazine as a leading “warrior” in the area of nutrition and public policy. In 2006 Time magazine listed Kelly Brownell among “The World’s 100 Most Influential People” in its special Time 100 issue featuring those “whose power, talent or moral example is transforming the world.”

Kathryn Henderson

Kathryn Henderson, Ph.D., is a Research Associate at the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University where she is also an Associate Research Scientist and Clinical Director of the Yale Center for Eating and Weight Disorders. As a clinician, she provides individual and group therapy and family consultation for individuals with anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder and obesity. She provides clinical and research supervision to graduate students in the Psychology doctorate program at Yale, and clinical supervision to doctoral students at the University of Hartford Professional School of Psychology, where she is an adjunct faculty member.

Rogan Kersh

Rogan Kersh, Ph.D., is the Acting Associate Director of Public Policy and Government Initiatives at the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity. He served as a Robert Wood Johnson Fellow in Health Policy from 1998 to 2000, during which time he conducted research in Washington and developed an interest in lobbying on health policy issues. Dr. Kersh capped his research experience by starting a book on health care lobbying called “Unhealthy Influence?” and recently finished co-editing a book on medical malpractice reform. His work focuses on developing an array of options for how governments can combat obesity at the local, national, and international levels.

Carly Keidel

Carly Keidel is the Media & Communications Manager for the Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity. She studied psychology and creative writing at Yale University and wrote for several undergraduate publications, including the Yale Course Critique and the Yale Record. As Media & Communications Manager for the Rudd Center, she is responsible for coordinating the website, blog, seminar series, press relations, and other communications activities.

Sarah Novak

Sarah Novak, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Psychology Department at Hofstra University. Dr. Novak conducts research exploring the impact of personal relationships, especially marriage, on health behavior and psychological well-being. Her recent studies examine social control, or people’s attempts to regulate their partner’s diet and exercise behavior. Her research has demonstrated that these attempts at regulation can be effective in promoting positive changes, but they can also exact a psychological cost, especially in the context of low-quality relationships.

Marlene Schwartz

Marlene Schwartz, Ph.D., is Director of Research and School Programs for the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, where she oversees the scientific activities of a large group of research personnel. Since 1996, she has been Co-Director of the Yale Center for Eating and Weight Disorders. As a clinician, she provides individual and group therapy for individuals with anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder and obesity. As a researcher, her work bridges the fields of eating disorders and obesity. Dr. Schwartz has published papers on the assessment and specific psychopathology of binge eating disorder, and documenting and understanding the stigma of obesity. Her current research focuses on how the environment and parenting strategies affect childhood eating behaviors. She has worked with the Connecticut Department of Education on a large-scale research project to examine the impact of removing unhealthy beverages and foods from school cafeterias and vending machines.

Katherine Stevens

Katherine Stevens graduated from Yale in 2005 with a degree in anthropology. She is currently working towards her Master's degree in Fine Arts at the New School in New York City.

Christopher Wharton

Christopher Wharton is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University. Dr. Wharton’s research focuses on individuals’ interpretation of weight loss-related messaging in the media. Specifically, he developed a scale to measure skepticism toward weight-loss information and is interested in determining what factors increase or decrease individuals’ skepticism toward such messages. At the Rudd Center, Dr. Wharton also assists in research regarding assessment of school wellness policies related to the National School Lunch program.

Victoria Brescoll

Victoria Brescoll, Ph.D., is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University. She worked in the office of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton under a Congressional Fellowship from the Women’s Research and Education Institute, covering a variety of issues related to children and families. Her research interests include the applications of social psychology to public policy and law and, more broadly, media effects, persuasion, and stereotyping.

Stephanie Feldman

Stephanie Feldman grew up in Philadelphia and graduated from Barnard College summa cum laude with a degree in English in 2005. As an undergraduate she served as a Writing Fellow for the Erica Jong Writing Center, the General Manager of Barnard College Radio, and an editorial intern for Grove/Atlantic, Inc. She currently lives in Manhattan and works for a foundation that supports scholarship in the humanities.

Jennifer Otten

Jennifer Otten, MS, RD, is a doctoral candidate in nutrition at the University of Vermont. She has worked for over seven years at the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academy of Sciences in various capacities, including study director and the organization’s first-ever communications director. At the IOM, she produced and co-edited the report titled Dietary Reference Intakes: The Essential Guide to Nutrient Requirements. Before joining the IOM, Ms. Otten worked in public relations in the food and nutrition division at Porter Novelli. She holds a B.S. in nutritional sciences from Texas A&M University, a master’s degree in nutrition communications from Tufts University, and she completed her dietetic internship at Massachusetts General Hospital. Her current research interests include adolescent and adult behavioral weight management and nutrition communication and dissemination.

Corinne Moss-Racusin

Corinne Moss-Racusin studied Psychology at NYU and then worked as the Research Assistant at the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity. She is currently studying Social Psychology at Rutgers University in pursuit of her PhD. Her primary research interests are stereotyping processes, gender roles and gender differences, and methods for reducing weight-related stigmatization. More specifically, she is interested in how stereotypes shape behavior processes and self-monitoring, and how they in turn impact political psychology, the media, and health outcomes.

Meghan O'Connell

Meghan O’Connell is a Research Associate at the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University. Prior to coming to the Rudd Center, Meghan received degrees in social work and public health, and worked as a Research Associate at the Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center, where she managed nutrition and physical activity related studies, as well as research on adolescent and adult smoking cessation. Meghan is interested in childhood obesity prevention and minimizing the social costs to obese children. At the Rudd Center, her research focuses on the development of food preferences and eating habits in early childhood.

Michael Long

Michael Long earned his BA in Politics at Princeton University before working for four years as a public relations consultant for several pharmaceutical and biotechnology firms. He is currently employed as a Research Assistant at the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity while concurrently pursuing a Master of Public Health degree at Yale University. His primary research interests are evaluating school-based obesity prevention programs and identifying barriers to positive public response to health campaigns.

Becca Krukowski

Becca Krukowski is a Research Associate at the University of Arkansas Medical School College of Public Health, Center for the Study of Obesity. She earned her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Vermont. Her research interests include policy-based interventions for the prevention of obesity in schools, workplaces, and the community in general.

Michael LoPresti

Michael LoPresti graduated from Yale University with a degree in English. While at Yale, he worked on the weekly undergraduate newspaper, The Yale Herald, writing film reviews, editing the arts and entertainment section, and ultimately serving as executive editor. He played the trumpet in the Yale Precision Marching Band, and served as the manager of the band during his senior year. He is currently employed as a writer and copy editor for EContent, EventDV, and Streaming Media magazines. He is an avid reader of the dining section of The New York Times and has lately become more appreciative of food policy issues thanks in large part to his new exercise and diet regimen.

Beth Rocchio

Beth Rocchio, MD is a bariatric physician in private practice in East Greenwich, RI. She is also a board certified family physician and has completed a fellowship in maternal-child health at Brown University. She takes a special interest in emotional/compulsive eating and food addiction as causes of obesity. She is co-chair of the Rhode Island Department of Health Initiative for a Healthy Weight Healthcare workgroup as well as the recipient of the Woman of Achievement award for the local chapter of the Business and Professional Women.

Jennifer Pomeranz

Jennifer Pomeranz, JD, is Coordinator of Legal Initiatives for the Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity. Ms. Pomeranz has a long record of academic achievement, having received her B.A. from University of Michigan, her J.D. from Cornell Law School, and her Master’s degree from Harvard School of Public Health. Ms. Pomeranz is also a seasoned attorney and public health advocate, with work experience examining the interaction of public health law and industry self-regulation in the case of soda sales in public schools. At the Rudd Center, Ms. Pomeranz brings her legal expertise and passion for the issues concerning obesity to develop meaningful solutions to the public health crisis at hand.

Marjie Galler

Marjie Galler is a sophomore at Yale University. Her interest in obesity is part of her overall concern for public health. Her former work with the Women, Infants and Children Program (WIC) at the Palm Beach County Health Department has greatly impacted her perspective on food policy. With the Yale Community Health Educator program, Marjie teaches health topics in the New Haven Public Schools.

Chelsea Heuer

Chelsea Heuer is a Research Assistant at the Rudd Center. She earned a B.S. in Kinesiology from the University of Texas at Austin and a Masters in Public Health from Columbia University. Prior to earning her M.P.H., Chelsea worked as an exercise physiologist at J.P. Morgan Chase, where she planned and implemented employee health promotion programs. Her research interests include the impact of weight stigma on overweight and obese individuals and the development local and national policies aimed at improving the food and exercise environment.

Roberta Friedman

Roberta R. Friedman is the Director of Public Policy and Government Initiatives at the Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity. To develop statewide and New England-wide obesity prevention plans, Roberta has worked closely with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, the MA Partnership for Healthy Weight, and the New England Coalition on Health Promotion and Disease Prevention. She has also worked with many local school districts to aide in the implementation of federal wellness policies. Roberta has extensive experience developing legislation to improve school nutrition and organizing ad hoc coalitions to bring policies into practice.

Erica Kenney

Erica is working as a Research Assistant for the Rudd Center while she completes a Master's of Public Health degree at Yale. She earned a B.A. in Education at Brown University. Prior to coming to Yale, Erica worked as an educator and as a program associate at the New England Equity Assistance Center, helping to provide schools with tools that promote an equitable education for all students. Seeing firsthand the impact schools have on the childhood obesity epidemic spurred her interest in public health. Her research interests include school-based obesity prevention efforts, the role of taste preferences and culture in food choices, and eliminating racial disparities in childhood obesity.

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