Dr. Cristina Gago is a health disparities researcher committed to supporting healthful nutrition and closing nutrition disparities among low-income families with young children through equity-centered policy and system interventions. As an Assistant Professor of Community Health Sciences and a Fellow with the Evans Center for Implementation and Improvement Sciences, she applies implementation science principles and behavior change theory to the evaluation of community health, food assistance, and social service interventions, such as those offered by the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and Head Start (a federally funded early childhood education program for families with low income). Through her partnership-grounded, translational research practice, Cristina aims to identify actionable opportunities to increase health and social service accessibility and uptake, by improving the quality of intervention implementation. Before joining the Boston University School of Public Health, Cristina trained as a postdoctoral fellow at NYU Langone’s Institute for Excellence in Health Equity, where her research centered around the evaluation of health behavior change programming in the context of a large, Brooklyn-based federally qualified health center. Previously, Cristina earned her PhD at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, where her doctoral work examined key facilitators and barriers caregivers enrolled in Head Start and WIC face in eating healthfully and accessing health promotion resources for young children.
What made you decide to be a social scientist/ why does social science matter to you? – In the summer between my sophomore and junior years of undergrad, I interned for an epidemiology lab at Fred Hutch Center Research Center where I immediately fell in love in public health. I valued the freedom, creativity, curiosity, and collaboration that came with asking and answering questions which contributed to something larger than myself –whether that be public health science, practice, policy, or all of them together!
Can you tell us about a recent research project that you’re excited about? – I am working on a project now which explores facilitators and barriers to implementation of Boston Medical Center’s StreetCred Economic Bundle: a suite of 7 public economic resources many newborns are eligible for but not enrolled in. The goal is to uncover ways to better support families in connecting with these resources that are underutilized but evidenced to support maternal and infant health.
What is the best piece of professional advice you ever received? – Work with people you like, appreciate, trust, and admire. Finding joy in your work is less about the project you’re working on than the people you’re working with.
What is your favorite course you’ve taught at BU? – I love SPH MC 725: “Women, Children and Adolescents: A Public Health Approach.” Every week we explore an emergent issue in maternal and child health – paying special attention to how current and historical public health practice, policy, and research shape inequities we see today. Students also have the chance explore a topic of their choice through multiple assignments over the course of the semester – creating a really neat portfolio of work they’re excited about.
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