Yarisbel Melo Herrera

  • PhD Student
  • Department of Nutrition, Tovar Lab (Brown School of Public Health)
  • Email: ymelo@uri.edu
  • Office Location: Fogarty 119

Program

PhD in Health Sciences

Lab 

Tovar Lab (Brown University School of Public Health)

Big Data and Eating Decisions (BYTE) Lab

Courses- Teaching Assistant

  • NFS 210: Applied General Nutrition
  • NFS 212G: Public Health Nutrition
  • NFS 440: Macronutrient Metabolism
  • NFS 395: Nutrition in the Lifecycle II
  • NFS 443: Nutrition Assessment
  • NFS 444: Nutrition and Disease
  • NFS 276G: Food, Nutrition, and People

Biography

Yarisbel Melo Herrera is a Registered Dietitian and Ph.D. Candidate in Health Sciences with an emphasis in Nutrition at the University of Rhode Island. Her research interests include perinatal nutrition, women’s health, federal nutrition assistance programs, and health equity. As a Latina of color born and raised in Panama City, Panama, Yarisbel is also passionate about helping reduce health disparities in the Hispanic/Latinx community and promoting diversity and inclusion in research and the dietetics profession.

Yarisbel Melo Herrera CV

Awards

  • Student Diversity Award Recipient, Massachusetts Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 2020
  • Nutritional Sciences Honors Student, Texas A&M University, 2019
  • College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Outstanding Senior Merit Award Nominee, Texas A&M University, 2019

Research

Yarisbel’s dissertation focuses on improving the diet quality of WIC-participating women using digital food environments.

Education

  • Ph.D., Health Sciences, University of Rhode Island, 2021-present
  • M.S., Nutrition and Dietetic Internship, Boston University, 2021
  • B.S., Nutrition, Texas A&M University, 2019