Alison Tovar

I am Associate Professor in the Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences and part of the Center for Health Promotion and Health Equity in the Brown University School of Public Health. I received my Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Northeastern University in 2001, a Master’s in Public Health from Tufts University School of Medicine in 2005, and my Ph.D. from the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy in 2009. I was a faculty in the Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences at The University of Rhode Island from 2012-2021 and joined Brown University in 2022. I am affiliated with the Center for Health Equity Research.

I am a Latina, heterosexual, female researcher. I grew up in Bogotá, Colombia in an educated, bicultural, bilingual household with a US mother and a Colombian father. My roots provided me with many privileges including US citizenship, English language, and exposure to the US schooling system. My parents worked their way up the socio-economic ladder and provided me with several opportunities including comfortable housing, food, and healthcare. While my research is with low-income Latino communities and may share the language and certain cultural practices, I have never experienced poverty, hunger, or food insecurity or what it is like to be an illegal immigrant in this country.

Visit Dr. Tovar’s Google Scholar site to see her publications.