Brooke M. Bell, Ph.D.
Research Scholar
Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University
Email: brooke.bell@tufts.edu
Research Interests
Eating Behavior | Food Systems | Food Policy | Climate Change | Chronic Disease Prevention
About Me
I am currently a Research Scholar at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University. I previously graduated with a B.A. in Mathematics and a Ph.D. in Health Behavior Research (Public Health) from the University of Southern California (USC), and completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Yale School of Public Health from 2021-2022.
I am broadly interested in food systems, health and food policy, climate change, sustainability, and environmental justice. My current work examines how food systems and policies can be leveraged and transformed to encourage eating behaviors that both (i) improve chronic disease outcomes and (ii) help mitigate climate change and its subsequent effects on human health. Additionally, I conduct research that investigates the impact of climate change on eating behaviors, food systems, chronic disease risk, and health inequities.
My overarching research goal as a public health scientist and advocate is to contribute to the permanent development of healthy, equitable, and environmentally sustainable food systems for all.
Selected Publications
(See full list here)
Investigating mobility-based fast food outlet visits as indicators of dietary intake and diet-related disease (Preprint)
Validity and feasibility of the Monitoring and Modeling Family Eating Dynamics (M2FED) system to automatically detect in-field family eating behavior: observational study
Selected Projects
Racism and Health Journal/Book Club
I founded and facilitated the USC Department of Population and Public Health Sciences’ Racism & Health Journal/Book Club from 2020 to 2021. All of my materials and resources are freely available in the linked Google Drive folder.
Network of Diverse Scholars in Social Network Analysis (NODS-SNA)
I am a co-founder of NODS- SNA, an organization that promotes the presence and visibility of under-represented racial and ethnic minorities within the network science and social network analysis fields.
Advocacy
 Organized the Yale Black Postdoctoral Association's Earth Day Hike, April 2022 |  Co-organized the East LA Area Community Organizations Showcase with the USC Community Engagement team, March 2020 |  Co-organized the East LA Area Community Organizations Showcase with the USC Community Engagement team, March 2020 |  Co-organized the East LA Area Community Organizations Showcase with the USC Community Engagement team, March 2020 |  Attended the Legislative Action Days with the National Association of Graduate-Professional Students in Washington D.C., October 2018 |
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 Volunteered at the LA Food Policy Council's Party with a Purpose for #ABetterFarmBill, May 2018 |  Volunteered at the LA Food Policy Council's Party with a Purpose for #ABetterFarmBill, May 2018 |  Volunteered at the grocery distribution for FEAST LA, October 2020 |  Attended the APHA Speak For Health Hill Visits in Washington D.C., July 2019 |  Attended the APHA Speak For Health Hill Visits in Washington D.C., July 2019 |
 Volunteered at the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, August 2018 |  Volunteered to pack and distribute groceries at the Boyle Heights YMCA, April 2020 |  Volunteered to pack and distribute groceries at the Boyle Heights YMCA, April 2020 |  Organized the USC Santa Monica State Beach Clean-Up, July 2019 |  Volunteered as a LA County election worker, November 2020 |
 Co-organized the STEM Day of Discovery with the USC Community Engagement team at USC Keck School of Medicine, October 2019 |  Organized the Sustainability Fair at the USC Health Sciences Campus, November 2018 |  Organized the Sustainability Fair at the USC Health Sciences Campus, November 2018 |  Organized the Voter Registration Drive at Lincoln Heights Farmers Market, October 2018 |  Organized the Voter Registration Drive at Lincoln Heights Farmers Market, October 2018 |
 Co-organized and attended the USC DivestSC Rally, September 2019 |  Volunteered at the 24th Street Elementary School's Community Garden Day in Los Angeles, October 2018 |  Attended the Los Angeles March for Science, April 2017 |  Established the first Student Food Pantry at USC Health Sciences Campus, November 2018 |  Led the Health Behavior Research Student Association Executive Board, June 2018 |
 Volunteered at LA Food Policy Council's Healthy Neighborhood Market Installation, September 2017 |