About the Summer Speaker Series for Students:

The goal of the fourth annual Summer Speaker Series for Students is to explore various public health nutrition topics related to food and nutrition security, federal nutrition assistance programs, COVID-19 implications, and nutrition equity through research, policy, and practice. Each week will feature presentations from speakers across different public health sectors on the fundamentals of the topic and give participants opportunities to network with experts in the field. Students of all levels are encouraged to attend.

This series is a collaborative effort of Healthy Eating Research, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Nutrition and Obesity Policy Research and Evaluation Network (NOPREN). To learn more or watch recordings from past Summer Speaker Series visit: https://nopren.ucsf.edu/student-resources

Speaker Series

The series will consist of 5 webinar presentations spanning timely and fundamental topics from childhood food insecurity, Food is Medicine, federal nutrition assistance programs (WIC, SNAP), drinking water and sugar-sweetened beverage research, and the long-term policy implications of COVID-19. The presentations will be held on the following Wednesdays from 4-5pm ET: June 14, June 28, July 12, July 26, and August 9, 2023.

Click here to register.

Student Presentations

At the end of the summer, students attending the speaker series will have the opportunity to present a project they worked on over the summer related to public health nutrition. Students may be selected to present their work during the final session of the speaker series or develop a poster that will be featured on the NOPREN website. The student presentations will be held on Wednesday, August 16th from 4-5pm ET. More detailed information regarding submission requirements and deadlines will be sent out in the future.

Series Schedule (all sessions will be held on Wednesdays from 4:00-5:00 pm ET)

• June 14 – Improving Nutrition Security During Early Childhood: Overview of policy, systems, and environmental approaches to improve nutrition security and reduce nutrition inequities among young children.
• June 28 – Food is Medicine: What does it mean? Where are we going? What they are, what the current evidence is, and why healthcare is interested in them
• July 12 – WIC Policy: Behind the Curtain: How WIC policy is made at the federal level and how WIC researchers can have a voice in the policy-making process.
• July 26 – Making Water Win: Policies to Build Quality and Access: An introduction to drinking water policies and programs to improve physical access, affordability, and drinking water quality that will be needed to ensure the integrity of drinking water systems, promote health and hygiene, and prepare for future public health challenges.
• August 9 – COVID-19 Policy Implications for USDA Child Nutrition Programs and SNAP: Lessons learned and future implications from USDA waivers related to Child Nutrition Programs and SNAP during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• August 16 – Student Presentations