Principal Investigator: Kristine Madsen, MD MPH
Kris is an Associate Professor in UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health, and her research focuses on identifying programs and policies to reduce childhood obesity and health disparities. She has led numerous school-based studies involving over 100 schools in the Bay Area, and she has collected body mass index (BMI) and survey data on over 1,000 students. Kris has conducted a series of studies related to BMI screening and reporting in schools.
Senior Investigator: Hannah Thompson, PhD MPH
Hannah is a Research Scientist at UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health. Hannah has worked directly with hundreds of schools, conducting research related to physical education and BMI assessment. Hannah conducted focus groups with parents during the first year of the grant to develop the high-quality BMI reports used in The Fit Study.
Project Coordinator: Jenny Linchey, MPH
Jenny worked on Dr. Madsen’s research team for 7 years and coordinated data collection for several large-scale studies involving hundreds of schools. She also worked with Dr. Madsen on her studies of national BMI screening policies and methods of BMI notification in California. Ms. Linchey oversaw coordinated all aspects of the study, working closely with schools across California.
Co-Investigator: Pat Crawford, DrPH RD
Pat is an emeritus Professor at UC Berkeley and co-founder of the Nutrition Policy Institute (NPI) within Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of California. NPI is a nationally recognized research center focused on program and policy efforts to improve nutrition and reduce obesity with an emphasis on low-resource populations. Pat has overseen the recruitment and retention of hundreds of schools for many multi-year studies.
Senior Investigator: Lorrene Ritchie, PhD RD
Lorrene is Director of NPI and Cooperative Extension Specialist in the University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources. She has devoted her career to the development of interdisciplinary, science-based, and culturally relevant solutions to child obesity. Her current research interests include the relationship between school-level programs and policies and student dietary intake, the impact of policy on nutrition practices in childcare settings, and the impact of WIC nutrition education on child feeding practices.
Research Associate: Shalika Gupta, MA
Shalika is a third-year PhD student in Epidemiology. She holds a BS in Environmental Sciences and MA in Biostatistics from UC Berkeley. With the support of Dr. Madsen, Shalika assisted with data management, performed statistical analyses, and helped prepare manuscripts of the study results.
Research Assistant: Ana Ibarra-Castro, BA
Ana was an invaluable research assistant for The Fity Study, coordinating data collection, processing, and management, as well as providing support with literature reviews for the Fit Study. She worked with the Madsen research team for 3 years after graduating from UC Berkeley with a degree in Public Health.