Research in the Byte Lab is supported by federal, foundation, and institutional funding. Current and completed awards are listed below.
Current Research Support
K01 Career Development Award (K01-HL165104)
- Funding agency: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
- Title: Development of personalized healthy food incentives to improve diet and cardiovascular risk
- Goals: To develop expertise in mixed methods, qualitative research, and machine learning in order to build a platform delivering personalized dietary incentives that promote diet quality among socioeconomically diverse adults with cardiovascular risk factors.
- Dates: May 2023 – May 2028
- Role: Principal Investigator
- Total award: $861,275
P-FITS: The Pediatric Food Intake Technology System (2R44HD103531)
- Funding agency: National Institutes of Health / NICHD, Small Business Innovation Research
- Goals: To conduct a validation study of a novel food frequency questionnaire for independent use by children ages 8–14.
- Dates: September 2023 – August 2026, with a one-year no-cost extension through August 2027
- Role: Co-Investigator (15%); PI: Weiss
- Total award: $1,999,784 including indirect costs (Co-Investigator, 15% effort)
URI Proposal Development Funds
- Funding agency: University of Rhode Island
- Title: Feasibility and testing of an insurance-based monetary incentive program for improving diet and physical activity behaviors among households with low income
- Goals: To conduct a pilot feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness trial of nutrition and physical activity incentives using a scalable payment infrastructure among low-income households in Rhode Island.
- Dates: July 2026 – August 2027
- Role: Co-Principal Investigator
- Total award: $30,000
Completed Research Support
What’s On Your Plate Rhode Island
- Funding agency: Bloomberg Philanthropies, University of Illinois Chicago
- Title: Changes in fruit and vegetable intake among SNAP participants in response to 2-for-1 fruit and vegetable incentives in Rhode Island
- Goals: To evaluate the impact of a SNAP incentive on fruit and vegetable consumption and diet quality among SNAP participants in Rhode Island, compared with Connecticut.
- Dates: December 2022 – May 2026
- Role: Co-Principal Investigator (15%), with Alison Tovar
Impact of Medicaid ACO funding for health-related social needs on dietary quality and health (R01 DK12415-01)
- Funding agency: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
- Goals: To evaluate the impact of a new state Medicaid program funding food and housing services on dietary quality, stress, health, and healthcare utilization, and to assess implementation within a large healthcare organization.
- Dates: October 2019 – September 2024
- Role: Consultant; PI: Thorndike
Developing and Testing a Produce Prescription Implementation Blueprint to Improve Food Security in a Clinical Setting
- Funding agency: Peterson Foundation
- Dates: September 2022 – September 2023
- Role: Consultant; PIs: Tovar and Frank
Summer Grant Writing Award
- Funding agency: University of Rhode Island, College of Health Sciences
- Goals: To submit an R01 focused on implementing rapid dietary screening into the electronic health record.
- Dates: August 2022 – September 2022
- Role: Principal Investigator
NIFA Multistate Research Project (RI0018-NC1196)
- Funding agency: United States Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture
- Title: Food systems, health, and well-being: understanding complex relationships and dynamics of change
- Goals: To analyze practices effective at increasing food and nutrition security, and to apply food systems approaches to nutrition and health challenges among vulnerable population groups.
- Dates: July 2018 – September 2021
- Role: Co-Investigator (10%)
New Innovator in Food and Agriculture Research — Smart Cart Study (Grant ID 534298)
- Funding agency: Foundation for Food and Agricultural Research
- Title: Individually-targeted incentives, diet quality, and health outcomes among adults
- Goals: To investigate the influence of targeted versus untargeted incentives on the diet quality of food purchases over time.
- Dates: September 2017 – August 2020; no-cost extension through August 2021
- Role: Principal Investigator, with Stephen A. Atlas and Ashley Buchanan
- Total award: $600,000
Determinants of Grocery Purchase Quality in the Food Acquisition and Purchase Study
- Funding agency: Rhode Island Foundation Medical Research Grant
- Title: Correlations between the dietary quality of US food purchases and diabetes prevalence
- Dates: June 2018 – December 2019
- Role: Principal Investigator
- Total award: $25,000
Produce for Better Health Foundation
- Title: (1) Manipulating the sensory variety of fruits and vegetables to increase their intake; (2) DigIn Rhody Community Gardens Study (no-cost extension, $5,999.53)
- Goals: (1) To investigate whether increasing variety in shape and color is associated with greater fruit and vegetable intake among adults; (2) to investigate the longitudinal effects of community gardens on diet quality in a low-income housing complex.
- Dates: January 2015 – December 2016 (unrestricted no-cost extension)
- Role: (1) Principal Investigator, with Josiemer Mattei, Christina Roberto, and Vicki Morwitz; (2) Co-Principal Investigator, with Alison Tovar and John Taylor
- Total award: $15,000
American Heart Association Founder’s Predoctoral Fellowship (12PRE9320023)
- Title: Associations between dietary variety and body adiposity using a novel scoring method
- Dates: January 2012 – October 2013
- Role: Predoctoral fellow
- Total award: $44,000
Marketing Science Research Award (#4-1669)
- Funding agency: Marketing Science Institute
- Title: Mere belief effects: the effects of food health labels on consumers’ perceived and experienced satiety
- Dates: September 2010 – May 2012
- Role: Principal Investigator, with Vicki Morwitz and Pierre Chandon
- Total award: $9,984
Steinhardt Summer Grant Pre-Doctoral Fellowship Development Award
- Funding agency: Steinhardt School, New York University
- Dates: June 2010 – August 2010
- Total award: $2,300
Training, Mentoring, and Institutional Support
URI Cyberteams CAREERS Project
- Funding agency: University of Rhode Island / National Science Foundation Cyberteam CAREERS
- Goals: To support development of a personalized diet incentive app.
- Dates: November 2023 – May 2024
- Role: Faculty mentor; PI / Supervisor
Ruth L. Kirschstein Postdoctoral Fellowship (T32DK770319)
- Funding agency: National Institutes of Health
- Role: Postdoctoral fellow, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
URI / RI INBRE Summer Bridges to Graduate School Research Fellowship
- Goals: To expose an incoming graduate student to research using big data.
- Dates: May 2019 – July 2019
- Role: PI / Supervisor
URI / RI INBRE Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF)
- Goals: To expose an undergraduate student to research using big data.
- Dates: May 2018 – July 2018
- Role: PI / Supervisor
URI Healthcare Workforce Transformation
- Title: Interprofessional Continuing Professional Education (ICPE)
- Goals: To expand ICPE training for Rhode Island healthcare professionals.
- Dates: January 2018 – December 2018
- Role: Co-Investigator
Carnegie Corporation of New York / URI Global Faculty Travel Support
- Title: A model of excellence in public health: exploring opportunities for global inter-professional continuing education in Cuba
- Dates: June 2016
- Role: Nutrition delegate; grant writer
- Total award: $10,000
URI International Education Week
- Title: Networking reception for health professional alumni for continuing inter-professional education opportunities in Cuba
- Dates: November 2016
- Total award: $500
Last updated September 2026.