MEET THE TEaM

Marissa G. Hall, PhD is an assistant professor in the Department of Health Behavior at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health and a faculty fellow at the Carolina Population Center and Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. Her overarching career goal is to design and evaluate evidence-based food, tobacco, and alcohol policies. Much of her research focuses on policies in retail environments, including warning labels, marketing restrictions, and excise taxes. Dr. Hall applies a range of methodological approaches to explore policy-related research questions, including online experiments, randomized trials, qualitative studies, and structural equation modeling. Dr. Hall uses in-person and online retail laboratories to experimentally evaluate an array of regulations on consumer behavior. Her food policy research has a focus on anticipating the potential impact of policies on Latino populations. Her research has been funded by the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, the National Cancer Institute, and Healthy Eating Research, a program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Dr. Hall co-leads a national working group focused on promoting evidence-based front-of-package food labeling policies. She partners with the Global Food Research Program at UNC on her food policy research. Dr. Hall is committed to centering diversity, equity, and inclusion in her research, teaching, and service; she currently leads the Health Behavior Department’s Equity Task Force. In her free time, Dr. Hall enjoys spending time with her husband and two kids, hiking, running, reading, and watching both high- and low-brow TV.

  

FUN FACT: Marissa is aspiring to visit all 41 state parks in NC (as of 2023, she has been to 17, so there’s still some work to do!)  

Jennifer is an Assistant Director of Research at UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health and UNC's Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. She has over 10 years of experience managing multidisciplinary research projects. Her passion is advancing cancer prevention and control. Her research areas have focused on health communication, tobacco control, increasing HPV vaccination uptake, and clinical oncology research. She also serves on the UNC Lineberger Equity Council, which addresses health equity at Lineberger. In her free time, Jennifer enjoys cooking with her husband (they like to pick one new recipe to try each week), playing with her son, going to local coffee shops, playing tennis, and going for walks.

 

 

FUN FACT: Jennifer plays piano! She grew up playing and just recently got back into it as an adult. She enjoys playing classical music as well as learning nursery songs to play and sing with her son. 

Callie received her B.S. in Psychology from Berry College and her M.P.H. with a concentration in Health Behavior from UNC Chapel Hill. She has experience in health communications related to mental health, tobacco, and alcohol use. She is passionate about research that promotes health equity, especially in the LGBTQ+ community. In her free time, Callie enjoys baking, making pottery, reading, and walking on local trails. 

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FUN FACT: Unironically loves the movie Gremlins all year round (but yes, it does count as a Christmas movie!)

Cristina is both a Research Associate here at the UNC Health Policy Lab and Stanford School of Medicine Food Policy lab. Her research interests lie at the intersection of food systems, public health, and climate change with a focus on food policy, food labeling, behavior change, and food equity. She previously worked as a data analyst at the NYC Department of Education being involved in the implementation and monitoring of school meal programs and policies. She was also a Forefront Fellow with the Urban Design Forum developing policy recommendations and community-based projects to advance food equity in NYC. Cristina received her Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy-Biochemistry from Universidade de São Paulo and her MPH from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

 

FUN FACT: Cristina likes calligraphy. In an alternate universe, Cristina wouldn't mind being a scribe in medieval times.

Aline received a Master of Public Policy from Duke University and a BA in International Relations from the University of São Paulo, Brazil. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Health Behavior from the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. Her research interests include social and structural determinants of dietary behavior, dietary disparities, and food policy. Her current research is focused on front-of-package labeling policies, weight stigma, and food assistance programs in the US and Latin America. Her previous experiences include positions at the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, the World Bank, the Getulio Vargas Foundation, and the City of São Paulo.

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FUN FACT: Her spirit animal is the capybara and she is trained in Irish step dancing.

Ana Paula is a doctoral student in the Department of Health Behavior at the Gillings School of Global Public Health at UNC Chapel Hill. She is interested in nutrition policy and childhood obesity prevention interventions that bring positive changes to the food environment. Prior to starting her PhD, she worked as a research assistant at the Center for Studies on Tobacco and Health at the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation and at the Secretariat of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. Ana Paula has a BA in Pharmacy and Biochemistry from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, a MSc in International Relations from Institut Barcelona d'Estudis Internacionals, Spain, and an MPH from Johns Hopkins University, USA. In her free time, Ana Paula enjoys taking long walks, having coffee with friends, and backpacking.

 

FUN FACT: Given a choice, Ana Paula could survive on tahini.

Phoebe is a doctoral student in the Department of Health Behavior at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. Her research centers on the impact of unhealthy product marketing (e.g., alcohol, tobacco, food/beverage) on health behaviors, with the overall goal of preventing cancer and other chronic diseases. She received her B.A. in Health & Societies from the University of Pennsylvania, where she worked as a research assistant at Penn’s Tobacco Center of Regulatory Science. She received her M.S. in Health Behavior & Health Education from the University of Texas at Austin, where she studied the outdoor food and beverage marketing environment near schools.

 

FUN FACT: Phoebe grew up on a small farm and can answer basically any question you may have about goats.

Carolyn is a doctoral student in the Department of Health Behavior at UNC-Chapel Hill’s Gillings School of Global Public Health. Her research interests converge at the intersection of nutrition, agriculture, and equity. Prior to UNC, she held research and project management positions at the University of California Nutrition Policy Institute, USDA Economic Research Service and the Harvard University Food Literacy Project. She holds an M.S. in Food and Nutrition Policy and Programs from Tufts University and dual B.A. degrees in Economics and Environmental Studies from Wellesley College. 

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FUN FACT: Carolyn has driven across the U.S. 5 times.

Mafe received both a Master in Public Policies and Master in Public Health from Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá and has a B.S in Psychology from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá. Her research interests include commercial determinants of health, use of technology to promote health, environmental health, and food security, particularly in the context of public policy and implementation science. In her free time, Mafe enjoys watching movies, going for walks, reading, and trying new cuisines!

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FUN FACT: Mafe states, "If academia doesn't work out, I might join the circus—I'm so flexible I could be a contortionist, or at least try to be the best human pretzel!"

Chisom received her B.S. in Public Health Science from the University of Maryland, College Park, and her M.P.H. with a concentration in Health Behavior from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She currently works as a User Experience Researcher and Designer at The UNC Connected Health for Applications & Interventions (CHAI) Core and assists in Dr. Hall’s lab part-time. She is passionate about reducing health disparities and designing equitable health interventions. Her previous research was focused on tobacco control, youth vaping prevention, the concept of health identity, and human-centered design.

 

FUN FACT: Chisom has an identical twin sister, and no, they are nothing alike.

Emmanuel received his B.S. in Biopsychology, Cognition, and Neuroscience from the University of Michigan and M.P.H. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He currently works as a research analyst at Mathematica and assists in Dr. Hall's lab part time. In his free time, he likes to cook, go to the gym and catch a movie at the theater or a happy hour after work. His public health interests include qualitative methods, social determinants of health, health disparities, and health equity (particularly access to care, maternal and child health, and chronic disease management among others). 

 

FUN FACT: If he’s not on a trip, planning a trip, or buying a ticket for a trip happening within three months, he’s not okay…check on him… 

Sara received a Master of Public Health degree in Global Health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Bachelor of Science degree in Nutrition from Texas A&M University. Since 2018, she has blended her passion for nutrition, communications, and graphic design to create media for educational and research programs. On Dr. Hall’s team, she creates visuals for experimental stimuli. Before coming to North Carolina, Sara developed educational media for the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service Food and Nutrition Unit and conducted local food security research for the Texas A&M Sociology Department. She is passionate about sustainable food systems, food justice, and health education. Outside of work, Sara enjoys painting, making homemade Italian food, attempting to teach her cheese-motivated cat new tricks, and spending time outdoors. 

 

FUN FACT: Sara is a triplet! (And yes, triplet-telepathy is a thing.)