Cara Ruggiero PhD, RD, LDN

Introduction

I am Research Associate in the MRC Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge. I previously completed the Harvard Wide Pediatric Health Services Research Fellowship where my research examined clinical and community approaches to address obesity and food insecurity within families. I am also a practicing registered dietitian, utilizing family-based approaches to pediatric feeding disorders and weight management.

I am an early career researcher interested in the intersection of food and family systems. The overarching goal of my research is to apply a family systems lens to efforts that aim to address obesity and food insecurity, with a particular focus on early life and family developmental transitions. I specialize in mixed methods research to address questions about the development of obesity in early life related to parent feeding practices and child eating behavior and develop effective interventions that are policy relevant. I am committed to generating evidence to inform programs and policies to address obesity in families experiencing food insecurity to support healthy growth for all children in a family.

Sample research questions I seek to answer

My training in nutrition, public health and human development and family studies positions me uniquely to design research questions and projects that utilize interdisciplinary thinking to translate results to impact change.

Through my line of research I aim to answer questions such as What is the association between food insecurity, family dynamics, and child weight status?; What is the feasibility and acceptability of ‘whole family’ interventions to address concurrent obesity and food insecurity within families?; How can food policies and assistance programs include more 'whole family' approaches?

Publications

You can view my published research on Pubmed: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/cara.ruggiero.2/bibliography/public/

If you are not affiliated with an academic institution and want to access a particular paper, please contact me directly.

Mentoring and Service

I have mentored students at the undergraduate and graduate level and am engaged with institutional diversity equity and inclusion initiatives related to curriculum revisions and recruitment activities.