Nutrition science in service of health equity.
I'm Alison Brown — a public health nutrition researcher whose work centers on the social determinants of health and nutrition-related disparities. I write, teach, and partner with communities to translate science into policy and practice.
From Spelman to The Gambia to Federal Service.
My path into nutrition began at home — watching my mother navigate the health consequences of obesity. It pushed me toward prevention rather than treatment, and toward the structural questions that decide who gets to live a long, healthy life and who doesn't.
As an undergraduate at Spelman College, I studied chemistry and joined the NIH-funded Minority Health International Research Training Program, spending a transformative summer in The Gambia studying the seasonality of malnutrition in infants. That experience reframed my career: I went from considering bariatric medicine to committing to public health.
I earned an MS in Applied Physiology and Nutrition at Columbia University's Teachers College, then a PhD in Food Policy and Applied Nutrition at the Friedman School at Tufts University. Today, as a Program Director at the NIH's National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, I help shape research that takes social determinants of health seriously — and brings communities into the science.
- PhD, Food Policy & Applied Nutrition · Tufts
- MS, Applied Physiology & Nutrition · Columbia
- BS, Chemistry · Spelman College
- Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN)
- Albert Schweitzer Fellow
- Co-Chair, NIH Diet, Nutrition, and Health Outcomes WG
A career spent at the intersection of science and service.
From federal policy advocacy in DC, through doctoral research at Tufts, to leading a nutrition health-disparities portfolio at the NIH — the through-line is community.
- 2018 — Present
Program Director, Nutrition & Health Disparities
NIH · National Heart, Lung, and Blood InstituteDivision of Cardiovascular Sciences. Lead nutrition health-disparities research portfolio and serve as Co-Chair of the NIH Diet, Nutrition, and Health Outcomes Working Group.
- 2019 — 2022
Adjunct Professor of Nutrition
Prince George's Community CollegeTeaching the next generation of public-health and allied-health professionals.
- 2023 — 2026
Board of Directors
American Society for Nutrition (ASN)Serving on the governing board of the leading professional society for nutrition researchers, advancing the field's strategic priorities and member community.
- 2017 — 2018
Health Disparities Clinical Fellow
Tufts CTSI · Tufts Medical CenterAnalyzed health disparities, insurance stability, and diabetes outcomes by race and ethnicity. Earned a graduate certificate in Clinical & Translational Science.
- 2012 — 2017
PhD, Food Policy & Applied Nutrition
Friedman School · Tufts UniversityDoctoral research on diet-related disparities. Albert Schweitzer Fellow. Recipient of the Gershoff–Simonian Prize and the Tufts Presidential Award for Citizenship & Public Service.
- Earlier
Research Associate
Center for Science in the Public InterestFederal nutrition policy and food-systems advocacy in Washington, DC.
- Volunteer
Manna Food Center · Boston NAACP · Boston Public Health Commission
Community service & civic engagementHunger-relief volunteering with Manna Food Center, leadership roles with the Boston Branch NAACP, and a Fellowship at the Boston Public Health Commission's Office of Health Equity.
Four threads, one question: who gets to be healthy?
My research sits at the intersection of nutrition science, chronic disease epidemiology, and the lived experience of the communities most affected by diet-related disparities.
Nutrition & Health Disparities
Understanding why diet-related disease tracks so closely with race, place, and income — and what kinds of interventions actually move the needle.
Social Determinants of Health
Embedding social, economic, and environmental context into nutrition research.
Community-Engaged Science
Building research that begins with — not about — the communities it's meant to serve. Co-designing studies, training, and translation.
Diet, Activity & Sleep Assessment
Improving how large-scale epidemiological studies measure what people eat, how they move, and how they rest.
Perspective on Advancing Health Equity: Enhancing Impact Through Collaboration
A perspective on how cross-sector collaboration — across federal agencies, academic researchers, and community partners — can amplify the reach and impact of health-equity science. Published in JACC Advances.
Convening across agencies to move the field forward.
I plan and lead scientific workshops with colleagues across the NIH, USDA, and CDC — bringing federal partners, academic researchers, and community organizations into the same room to shape the nutrition health-equity research agenda.
Food Insecurity, Neighborhood Food Environment, and Nutrition Health Disparities
Convened federal scientists, academic researchers, and community partners to map the state of the science on food insecurity and neighborhood food environments — and to chart research priorities for closing nutrition health-disparity gaps.
Advancing Health Equity Through Culture-Centered Dietary Interventions
Brought together federal partners and the field to elevate culturally-grounded dietary intervention research — centering community knowledge and lived experience as core inputs to evidence-based nutrition science.
Science doesn't change anything until it leaves the journal.
Alongside the research, I teach, mentor, and partner with community organizations. Some of the work I'm proudest of has happened in church basements, community gyms, and clinic waiting rooms — not conference halls.
Carney Hospital
Designed and led a patient education program in Dorchester through an independent study with master's students — bringing evidence-based nutrition guidance to a safety-net hospital.
Healthworks Community Fitness
Albert Schweitzer Fellowship project at the non-profit gym in Dorchester, building nutrition programming alongside the women they serve.
Manna Food Center
Volunteering with Montgomery County's leading hunger-relief nonprofit — distributing food, supporting nutrition education, and helping families across the DMV access fresh, healthy groceries.
NIH Diet, Nutrition, and Health Outcomes Working Group
Co-Chair. Coordinates strategy across NIH Institutes, Centers, and Offices to advance research on nutrition-related health disparities.
Faculty, Justice League, DEI Leadership Council
Faculty Search Committee, Admissions Committee, Diversity & Inclusion Leadership Council. Mentoring the next generation of nutrition scientists.
35+ peer-reviewed papers. 780+ citations. And counting.
Peer-reviewed research in leading nutrition, cardiovascular, and public health journals — indexed across PubMed, ResearchGate, and the major scholarly databases.
Food Insecurity, Neighborhood Food Environment, and Health Disparities: State of the Science, Research Gaps and Opportunities
Bridging the Gap: The Need to Implement Dietary Guidance to Address Cardiovascular Health
Perspective on Advancing Health Equity: Enhancing Impact Through Collaboration
Perspectives on Precision Nutrition Research in Heart, Lung, and Blood Diseases and Sleep Disorders
A Decade of Nutrition and Health Disparities Research at NIH, 2010–2019
Nutrition Disparities and Cardiovascular Health
Journals where the work lives
A selection of venues where my peer-reviewed research has been published.
- American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
- Journal of Nutrition
- Annual Review of Nutrition
- JAMA Network Open
- Circulation
- Nutrients
- Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
- Public Health Nutrition
- Health Equity
- Preventive Medicine
Honored, by people whose opinion I trust.
Awards aren't the point — but I'm grateful for the communities and institutions that have recognized this work and kept me accountable to it.
Available for keynotes, panels, and classroom visits.
I speak regularly to academic audiences, federal partners, community organizations, and student groups. Here are the topics I return to most.
Nutrition & Health Equity
Why diet-related disease is a justice issue, and what evidence-based interventions look like at scale.
Translating Science
How federally-funded nutrition research becomes policy, programs, and practice — and where the gaps are.
Community-Engaged Research
Designing studies with — not on — communities. Practical lessons from a decade of partnership.
Pathways into STEM & Public Health
For students and early-career scientists, especially from communities historically underrepresented in research.
Let's build healthier futures, together.
For speaking engagements, research collaborations, media inquiries, or mentorship — the best place to reach me is LinkedIn. I read every message.