Healthy Eating and Activity Across the Lifespan

Funding Opportunities

We are not currently accepting funding applications.

We seek to support creative pilot projects that are broadly focused on healthy eating and physical activity and have the long-term potential for meaningful and measurable impact on local community health.

Successful projects will demonstrate use of an “integrated approach” to connect:

• Community resources
• Research
• Clinical practice
• Policy

Current Projects

Round one projects

• Promoting Community HEALth Where People Live Through a Community-Based Participatory Research Project
   Partners: University of Minnesota School of Nursing, University of Minnesota Extension, St. Paul Public Housing Agency, and Saint Paul - Ramsey County Public Health
• Walking Forward in Better Health

Community Emergency Assistance Programs (CEAP)

Round two projects

• Green Exercise for Cancer Survivors
    Partners: UMN Program in Health Disparities Research, The Loppet Foundation, University of Minnesota Masonic Children's Hospital

Publications

Berge JM, Adamek M, Caspi C, Grannon KY, Loth KA, Trofholz A, Nanney MS. The Mastery Matrix for Integration Praxis: The development of a rubric for integration practice in addressing weight-related public health problems. Prev Med. 2018 Feb 23;111:78-86. doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2018.02.024.

Berge JM, Adamek M, Caspi C, Loth KA, Shanafelt A, Stovitz SD, Trofholz A, Grannon KY, Nanney MS. Healthy Eating and Activity Across the Lifespan (HEAL): A call to action to integrate research, clinical practice, policy, and community resources to address weight-related health disparities. Prev Med. 2017 Aug;101:199-203. doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2017.06.018.

Presentations

Berge JM, Caspi C, Loth K, Grannon K, Shanafelt A. Marilyn “Susie” Nanney: The Impact and Legacy of Her Research on the Field, Community, and Colleagues. University of Minnesota Department of Family Medicine and Community Health Grand Rounds. September 12, 2018.

Pre-conference workshop (Nanney, Grannon). Integrating research, clinical practice, policy and community resources to address nutrition- and physical activity-related health disparities. International Society of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity. Hong Kong, China. June 3, 2018.

Harnessing the power of research, community, clinic and policy to build a culture of health (Nanney). Minnesota Academy of Family Physicians Innovation & Research spring conference. Bloomington, MN. March 3, 2018.

Current Course:

Harnessing the power of research, community, clinic, and policy to build a culture of health (GCC 3028/5028)

Fall Term 2019, Wednesdays, 2:30-5

Class Location: East Bank – 717 Delaware St SE
Primary Instructor: Katie Loth, PhD, MPH, RD, LD
Assistant Professor, Family Medicine and Community Health

Office Address: 717 Delaware St SE, Office 420
Minneapolis, MN 55414 
Office Phone: 612-625-4500
E-mail: kloth@umn.edu

Previous Course:

Matchmaking in Public Health: Intentional Integration Across Research, Clinical Practice, Community, and Policy to Promote Health Equity

Join us at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health Summer Public Health Institute!
Tuesday May 29 – June 1, 2018
8 am-12 pm
Academic Course Number: PubH 7200-104 #87975
Academic Credit: 1

For more information contact:
Summer Public Health Institute
Telephone: 612-626-8434
Email: phi@umn.edu

Director

Jerica Berge, PhD, MPH, LMFT, CLFE

Jerica Berge, PhD, MPH, LMFT, CLFE, is a tenured associate professor at the University of Minnesota Department of Family Medicine and Community Health. She is both a researcher and a behavioral medicine provider at the University of Minnesota North Memorial Family Medicine Residency Program. Her primary research interest is examining risk and protective factors for childhood and adolescent obesity in the home environment.

Berge is the co-director of Healthy Eating and Activity across the Lifespan (HEAL), which focuses on integration across research, clinical practice, policy, and community resources to inspire a culture of health.

She also serves as an associate director of the University of Minnesota Citizen Professional Center, which conducts and promotes community-based participatory research on problems of concern to communities and professionals.

Co-Director

Caitlin Caspi, ScD

Caitlin Caspi, ScD, joined the University of Minnesota Department of Family Medicine and Community Health research faculty in 2014. She was a fellow in the University of Minnesota Cancer-Related Health Disparities Education and Career Development Program where she explored the social and physical environment as a determinant of health behaviors in low-income urban residents. Caspi also conducted research at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Massachusetts for six years. She earned her ScD from Harvard University in social epidemiology.

Co Director

Katie Loth, PhD, MPH, RD

Katie Loth, PhD, MPH, RD, is an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota Department of Family Medicine and Community Health. She is both a researcher and a dietitian at the University of Minnesota North Memorial Family Medicine Residency Program. Her research explores social and environmental influences on child and adolescent weight status and disordered eating behaviors. Specifically, she is interested in identifying ways that parents can work to help their children develop and maintain a healthy weight and a healthy relationship with their bodies.

Core Faculty

Steven Stovitz, MD, MS

Steven Stovitz, MD, MS, directs the University of Minnesota Program in Sports Medicine. He also serves as medical director at the University of Minnesota Physicians Sports Medicine Clinic. His clinical work is divided between the University of Minnesota departments of Orthopedic Surgery and Intercollegiate Athletics, where he is a team physician for University of Minnesota athletes. Stovitz’s primary research involves a variety of issues in the study of obesity. He also is a fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine and a senior associate editor at the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

Key Staff

Amanda Trofholz, MPH, RD

Amanda Trofholz, MPH, RD, is a project director in the University of Minnesota Department of Family Medicine and Community Health. She manages several research studies exploring the association between risk and protective factors in the home environment and childhood obesity. Trofholz also brings experience in both community-based and qualitative research. Contact her at trofh002@umn.edu.

Matchmaking network

Matchmaking in science? This is the approach the HEAL Center has developed to accelerate and maximize efforts in addressing health disparities. HEAL matches teams that include representation across research, clinical practice, community, and policy domains to maximize impact and promote sustainability. HEAL not only facilitates matchmaking of community partners and researchers to create evidence-based interventions, but also steps beyond this to ensure that all four domains of research, clinical practice, community, and policy are represented to increase effectiveness and sustainability.