Melanie Bean, PhD, LCP

Associate Professor

Division

Pediatric Endocrinology and Metabolism

Research group

Healthy Lifestyles Center

Research areas

• Pediatric obesity treatment
• Obesity-related policy
• school food policy
• Randomized clinical trials
• Behavioral interventions

Biography

Pediatric obesity is a public health crisis with complex underpinnings and systematic and persistent sociodemographic inequities observed. I have a programmatic line of research focused on developing and implementing obesity interventions for at-risk populations to reduce these inequities. This work includes treatment interventions, with a focus on obesity intervention in high-risk adolescents, as well as obesity policy investigations, including those executed in schools regarding the National School Lunch Program. Future directions are to translate effective obesity treatments for dissemination into community settings and apply data-driven approaches to inform policy changes to reduce systematic inequities that drive obesity disparities.

See full bibliography

Collaborators

• Dr. Jessica LaRose (VCU)
• Dr. Suzanne Mazzeo (VCU)
• Dr. Edmond P. Wickham, III (VCU)
• Dr. Laura Caccavale (VCU)
• Dr. Ronald Evans (VCU)
• Dr. Hollie Raynor (Univ TN)
• Dr. Laura Thornton (UNC)
• Dr. Elisabeth DeJonge (GMU)
• Dr. Amy Gorin (UConn)

CHRI theme

Health Equity, Personalized and Translational Medicine

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