Megan Lott serves as Deputy Director for the Healthy Eating Research program and is based at the Duke Global Health Institute at Duke University. In this role, Megan manages day-to-day program operations, oversees coordination of scientific and administrative processes related to HER-funded research, engages in policy and advocacy collaborations with key partners, and identifies research priorities to advance program goals.

Prior to coming to Duke, Megan was at The Pew Charitable Trusts in Washington, D.C. While there, she served as a Senior Associate on the Kids’ Safe and Healthful Foods Project, a collaboration between The Pew Charitable Trusts and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which provides nonpartisan analysis and evidence-based recommendations on federal and state policies that affect the safety and healthfulness of school foods. In this role, Megan supported research, policy, and advocacy efforts aimed at improving the school nutrition environment, including managing the first ever Health Impact Assessment to be conducted on a federal rule making process.

Other prior experience includes serving as the Associate Policy Director for the Community Food Security Coalition and the National Farm to School Network, where Megan managed federal and state policy initiatives, including advocating for passage of the 2010 Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act. Megan is a Registered Dietitian with a BS in Nutrition Sciences and Dietetics from the University of Cincinnati and a Master’s in Public Health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Email: megan.lott@duke.edu