Marlene Schwartz
Marlene Schwartz, PhD, is the Deputy Director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University. She received her BA from Haverford College and her MS and PhD in Psychology from Yale University. She completed her clinical internship at the Yale Medical School and post-doctoral training in the Yale Department of Psychology. Prior to joining the Rudd Center, she served as Co-Director of the Yale Center for Eating and Weight Disorders from 1996 to 2006.
Dr. Schwartz's research is focused on how home environments, communities, and school landscapes shape the eating attitudes and behaviors of children. She frequently collaborates on state projects with the Connecticut State Department of Education, including a large research study of Connecticut’s K-12 School Wellness Policies and a statewide assessment of preschool nutrition and physical activity policies. These studies were funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Healthy Eating Research Program. Dr. Schwartz was also the recipient of a transition grant from RWJF in 2008 to create a website based on the school wellness policy coding system she developed with national colleagues. Her other areas of research include studies on the effect of food marketing directed at children, and how the WIC program changes the accessibility and affordability of healthy foods in low-income neighborhoods.
