Megan Knapp PhD MPH

Megan Knapp PhD MPH

Assistent Professor

Dr. Megan Knapp conducts research related to factors that impact food environments, food security, and food access and choice.

Dr. Megan Knapp conducts research related to factors that impact food environments, food security, and food access and choice. Supporting healthy eating patterns through improving access and availability healthy foods is one key strategy for addressing health disparities and reducing negative health outcomes such as cancer, obesity, and cardiovascular disease. She has utilized both primary and secondary quantitative and qualitative data in her research. Working with community-based programs and organizations, she has developed methods and tools for evaluating programs and policies to improve nutrition environments.

Currently, Dr. Knapp is working on research that address food security in early childhood settings and schools. One project examines the impact ofCOVID-19 on federally funded school feeding programs in Orleans parish. Thisresearch has been supported WK Kellogg Foundation and the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under award number TL4GM118968.  In addition, she is conducting an evaluation of a newly passed children’s menu healthy default beverage policy in New Orleans, Louisiana. This policy aims to create healthier restaurant environments and reduce sugar sweetened beverage consumption among children. Baseline data collection for the healthy default beverage policy evaluation is supported by NIMHD of the National Institutes of Health under grant number U54MD007595. She also recently completed a research project examining the ability of a restaurant-based program to improve access to and availability of healthy foods and influence customer food choices.

In her role as Assistant Professor at Xavier University of Louisiana, a top performing historically Black university, she teaches research methodology and nutrition courses focused on developing critical thinking and research skills among the next generation of public health practitioners and researchers.

Education: PhD, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine

MPH, Emory University Rollins School of Public Health

BA, Southwestern University

 

ORCID ID: 0000-0001-8575-9101

 

My NCBI: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/18c0ANlNCOmAt/bibliography/public/

 

Food security; nutrition; food access

LCRC Faculty

Missy Wooley
Population Sciences
Louisiana Tech University
Asim Abdel-Mageed DVM PhD
Therapeutics & Diagnostics
Tulane University School of Medicine
Ramsy Abdelghani, MD
Therapeutics & Diagnostics
Tulane University School of Medicine
Jiri Adamec, PhD
Therapeutics & Diagnostics
LSU Health - New Orleans
Sara Al-Dahir, PharmD, PhD, MPH
Population Sciences
Xavier University
Suresh K. Alahari PhD
Therapeutics & Diagnostics
LSU Health - New Orleans
Ashad Alam, MD, PhD
Tumor Biology
Ochsner Health
Muralidharan Anbalagan, PhD
Therapeutics & Diagnostics
Tulane University School of Medicine
Wayne L. Backes PhD
Tumor Biology
LSU Health - New Orleans