Lorraine Cordeiro
Director, Center for Research on Families
Professor, Department of Nutrition, SPHHS
Family Research Scholar, 2010-11
Involvement:
Bio:
Dr. Cordeiro studies the associations between food security, high-risk health behaviors, and nutritional outcomes in multiple social and cultural contexts. Her research applies principles of community-based participatory research (CBPR), leveraging the insights of communities and helping to build their research capital. Dr. Cordeiro is the recipient of several distinguished awards and fellowships, including the Tufts University Presidential Award for Citizenship and Public Service, the Albert Schweitzer Fellowship, UMass Manning Prize for Excellence in Teaching, UMass Amherst Distinguished Teaching Award, SPHHS College Outstanding Teacher Award, Center for Research on Families Family Research Scholar, Civic Engagement and Service Learning Faculty Fellow, and was a Community Research Innovative Scholar at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School’s Center for Clinical and Translational Science.
Research:
Dr. Cordeiro studies the associations between food security, high risk health behaviors, and nutritional outcomes among adolescents and women in multiple social and cultural contexts. Her community-engaged research, teaching, and service promotes social justice and equity, particularly as it relates to the health and well-being of families. She applies the principles of community-based participatory research (CBPR), both to respect and leverage the wisdom of underserved communities and as a pathway to build their research capital. Her work serves to create a meaningful dialogue on health and economic disparities in underserved populations in the U.S., internationally, and in communities undergoing transition.
While many years have passed since the major refugee resettlement period in the 1980s, a large proportion of Cambodian individuals and families that survived the Khmer Rouge genocide still suffer from poverty and trauma. One of the consequences of this long-term socioeconomic deprivation is food insecurity, which has been linked with maternal depression and lower odds of meeting recommended dietary allowances among women of reproductive age. Cordeiro and her research team used a combination of qualitative and quantitative research techniques to test such associations and examine the consumption of traditional medicinal teas during pregnancy and the postpartum period. In addition to its more general contributions to the field of public health nutrition, this research will be particularly useful in designing culturally-appropriate health education programs for women in these and other Cambodian refugee communities.