Maya Vadiveloo, PhD RD is an Associate Professor of Nutrition in the Department of Nutrition at the University of Rhode Island.  She is a registered dietitian, epidemiologist, and behavioral scientist whose research focuses on using behavioral theory to favorably influence food choices, dietary quality, weight control, and eventually cardiovascular health.  She is interested in using insights from big data to develop strategies that make it easier for consumers to choose healthy foods that are tasty and filling with the ultimate goal of helping individuals and populations develop lifelong dietary patterns that they enjoy and that promote healthy body weights. Maya’s research in the Big Data and Eating Decisions lab employs a variety of research methods, including epidemiological analyses, laboratory and online studies, and qualitative methods.

Education

• Postdoctoral Fellowship (2013-2015) – Harvard School of Public Health, Harvard University Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Nutrition, NIH Ruth L Kirschstein Postdoctoral Fellowship
• Ph.D. (2008-2013) – New York University, Nutrition, Concentration: Nutritional Epideimology, Dissertation: A novel scoring method to evaluate associations between dietary variety and body adiposity in a national sample of U.S. adults
• M.S. (2005-2008) – Boston University, Nutrition and Dietetics
• B.A. (2002-2005) – Brown University, Human Biology, Graduated Magna cum Laude and with honors