Maria Gombi-Vaca, PhD
Assistant Research Professor
Rudd Center for Food Policy and Health
Research Overview
Maria Gombi Vaca, Ph.D., is an Assistant Research Professor at the University of Connecticut Rudd Center for Food Policy and Health. She currently focuses her research on food insecurity and community-based nutrition interventions to narrow the gap in diet-related health disparities. In her most recent work, she has been collaborating with food banks towards promoting a nutritious, culturally connected, and healthy charitable food system, specifically applying an implementation science framework to improve the implementation of nutrition guidelines in this setting. In her previous studies, she evaluated the effects of ultra-processed food on dietary outcomes through the analysis of nationwide dietary survey data and investigated food environment and behavioral factors that influence food choices.
Education
Post-Doctoral Fellowship, University of Connecticut, Rudd Center for Food Policy and Health, 2023
Ph.D in Public Health, University of São Paulo, School of Medicine, Brazil, 2021
M.P.H. in Epidemiology, Rio de Janeiro State University, Institute of Social Medicine, Brazil, 2014
M.B.A. in Marketing, FUNDACE, University of São Paulo, Brazil, 2008
B.S. in Biochemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of São Paulo at Ribeirão Preto, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Brazil, 2004
