Join Our Quarterly Collaborative Meetings to learn more!
Time: 10:00am
Dates:
Friday October 17th, 2025
Friday, January 16th, 2026
Friday, April 17th, 2026
Friday, July 18th, 2026
Please email Olivia Thomas to be added to the calendar invite.
Interdisciplinary Leadership:
| Olivia Thomas, MS, RDN | Population & Translational Studies Director of Nutrition Innovation and Implementation at BMC, where she oversees the Nourishing Our Community program which includes the Rooftop Farm, Teaching Kitchen, Therapeutic Food Pantry, and a portfolio of food-based programs embedded in clinical care |
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| Anna Brennan, PhD | Population & Translational Studies Associate Professor in the Department of Global Health at the BU School of Public Health, whose research focuses on chronic disease and health systems research |
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| Vipul Chitalia, MD | Mechanistic Studies Professor of Medicine in Nephrology at BU, whose research focuses on post-translational protein modifications, especially polyubiquitination, in vascular diseases linked to cancer and kidney failure |
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| Maria Kukuruzinska, PhD | Mechanistic Studies Associate Dean for Research; Professor of Translational Dental Medicine; Director, Predoctoral Research Program; Chair, Department of Translational Dental Medicine |
Summary
The Food is Medicine Pre-ARC is a joint initiative between Boston Medical Center (BMC) and Boston University (BU) that brings together interdisciplinary researchers, clinicians, and implementation experts to advance the science and practice of food-based healthcare interventions.
Food-based interventions, collectively referred to as Food is Medicine (FIM), are gaining national attention as essential strategies for preventing, managing, and reversing chronic disease. While the link between nutrition and health has long been established, integrating food access and nutrition services into the standard delivery of medical care remains a relatively new frontier. FIM interventions have shown promise in addressing a broad spectrum of conditions, including diabetes, hypertension, fatty liver disease, obesity, and certain cancers. These interventions are relevant across the lifespan, from pregnancy and early childhood to aging populations.
Moreover, food is not just medicinal, it is personal, cultural, and social. To be effective, FIM interventions must go beyond clinical risk factors to incorporate individual preferences, social determinants, and systemic inequities. This demands a research agenda that is interdisciplinary, community-informed, and methodologically robust.
Thus, Our Pre-ARC is organized around four core and interconnected research domains:
- Basic to Translational Research – Bridging basic science with real-world practice.
- Community Engagement – Ensuring that interventions are informed by and responsive to the populations they serve.
- Education – Training the next generation of FIM researchers, clinicians, and community leaders.
- Clinical Research – Conducting rigorous trials and implementation studies within healthcare settings.
Opportunities for Collaboration
We are actively seeking collaborators with expertise or interest in the following areas:
- Molecular and mechanistic biology, including nutrient-gene interactions and pathways.
- Food and public health policy, especially related to reimbursement, healthcare integration, and social determinants of health.
- Clinical trials and implementation as it relate to FIM (possible collaborations with https://www.bu.edu/research/centers-institutes/evans-center-for-implementation-and-improvement-sciences/
Meeting Schedule
Quarterly Collaborative Meetings – Pre-ARC Program Overview
These high-level meetings will bring together all working groups to share progress, challenges, and updates across the ARC initiative.
- Meeting Dates (all at 10:00 AM): Friday, October 17, 2025; Friday, January 16, 2026; Friday, April 17, 2026; Friday, July 18, 2026
Ongoing Working Groups
These working groups are collaborating to launch small, internally funded pilot projects while actively pursuing research grants to further develop and scale their focus areas
- FIM for Postpartum Hypertension
Lead: Alana Brennan
Team members: Kelsey Egan, Cristina Gago, Sheree Boulet, Megan Sandel, Olivia Thomas
Focus: Implementing and evaluating FIM interventions for postpartum individuals with high blood pressure
Meeting cadence: Tuesdays at 4:00 PM, every other week
- Food Pantry Home Delivery Impact Study
Lead: Ana Población and Olivia Thomas
Team members: Maryellen Lopez, Sarah Gurney, Cristina Gago
Focus: Implementation and evaluation of home-delivered pantry boxes for high-need patient populations
Meeting cadence: Monthly, rotating schedule
- Wearable Devices and Chronic Disease Monitoring
Lead: Megan McCrory and Vipul Chitalia
Members: Olivia Thomas, Megan Sandel, Alana Brennan
Focus: Exploring the role of wearable technology in monitoring and supporting patients with chronic conditions
Meeting cadence: Monthly, rotating schedule
- Value Based Procurement
Lead: Ana Población and Olivia Thomas
Members: Margot Tang, Alexandra Hill-Paduano
Focus: Mapping local food resources and integrating locally sourced food into hospital food services to strengthen the regional food system.
Meeting cadence: Tuesdays at 3:00pm, every other week
- Nutrition Mechanistic Research
Lead: TBD
Members: TBD
Focus: Mapping local food resources and integrating locally sourced food into hospital food services to strengthen the regional food system.
Meeting cadence: Monthly (TBD)
If you are interested in joining our quarterly meetings or working groups, please contact Olivia Thomas.
Current Core Group:
| Kelsey Egan, MD, MSC | Research Focus: Improving clinical-community integration in health outcomes for children and families | |
| Jessica Peters, RN, RD, LDN | Outpatient Nutrition Manager, BMC | |
| Dani Brooks, MPH | Health Research Manager | |
| Richard Sheward, MPP | Director of System Implementation Strategies, Children’s HealthWatch Assistant Professor |
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| Ana Poblacion, PhD, MSC | Research Focus: pediatric nutrition and ending food insecurity in households with children through the increase in access to healthy foods | |
| Renee Boynton Jarrett, MD, ScD | Founding Director, Vital Village Community Engagement Network Associate Professor |
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| Christina Gago, PhD, MPH | Research Focus: Food Security, Nutrition Assistance, Early Childhood Care & Education, Health Equity, Parenting, Health Behavior Interventions, Implementation Science | |
| Rebecca Rudel, DrPH, MPH, RD | Implementation scientist and evaluator; Research Focus: the intersection between clinical care and public health | |
| Norma Gonzalez, MPH | Focus: health and education for underserved populations | |
Current Advisors:
| Pablo Buitron de la Vega | ||
| Naomi Hamburg | ||
| Ismail Samad | ||
| Barbara Corkey | ||
| Mallika Sabharwal | ||
| Jonathan Berz | ||
| David Opp | ||
| Latchman Hiralall | ||
Archived Special Meetings, Events:
Special Presentation, March 12, 2025, Innovating Nutrition highlighting an Intro to Food is Medicine as well as the Future of food and nutrition, also featuring Innovation spotlights on: BMC QI food and nutrition project & Wearing diet tracking assessment devices Panel speakers, Megan McCrory, PhD, Lorrin Liang, BU 3 rd year medical student & Megan Sandel, MD
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On Dec 6, 2024, current research was highlighted during a Synopsis 5′: research talks & networking event.
Talks given by Pre-ARC leadership included
Olivia Thomas, MS, RD, LDN, PhD student (Background and the Food is Medicine Movement & Introduction to the Food and Nutrition Pre-ARC)
Stacey Zawacki, DrPH, RD, LD (Education Research)
Kareem King, BA (Community-Based Participatory Research)
Megan Sandel, MD https://www.bumc.bu.edu/camed/profile/megan-sandel (Clinical Research)