ASU nutrition students to present at national public health conference

Four students from Arizona State University, will present their research at this week’s American Public Health Association Annual Meeting and Exposition in Boston, Mass. The association attracts more than 13,000 attendees and a "who’s-who" of international and U.S. health innovators to share specific findings and strategies for improving health.

Graduate students Wendy Bader, Robin DeWeese, Jessie Green and Xuyang Tang will attend the meeting Nov. 2-6 to present their research completed in collaboration with their mentor, Punam Ohri-Vachaspati. Bader, DeWeese and Green attend the School of Nutrition and Health Promotion, part of the College of Health Solutions at ASU. Tang conducted her research while attending the School of Sustainability and now attends the School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota.

“The students have incredibly thought-provoking material to share with their peers and public health experts at this premier national conference,” Ohri-Vachaspati said. “Their findings have significant policy relevance that will not only be of interest to researchers, but also to decision-makers and practitioners in the field, which is pretty impressive for a student researcher.”

The students will be presenting oral presentations or posters at the meeting about their findings in the areas of obesity, children’s nutrition and fast food. The meeting’s theme is “Think Global, Act Local” and will focus on the increasingly global world of health – where disease outbreaks and prevention efforts can spread faster than ever before – and how public health interventions improve communities of all shapes and sizes. Health Solutions faculty will also be exhibiting at the conference.

“Conferences provide great learning and networking opportunities, especially for students like me and new professionals,” Green said. “I feel fortunate to be enrolled in a graduate program at ASU that offers such incredible support for its students.” The students received individual funding from ASU’s Graduate and Professional Student Association, the graduate and professional student’s student government at ASU. GPSA supports and promotes the success of ASU graduate and professional student research and development endeavors and provided the students with research grants, as well as travel grants so they may attend the conference.

“Having multiple students selected to present at this type of conference is a testament to our program, and especially to Dr. Ohri-Vachaspati, who has been an unbelievable mentor to all of us,” Green said.