Dr. Schwartz is Director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity.  The mission of the Rudd Center is to promote solutions to childhood obesity, poor diet, and weight bias through research and policy. Dr. Schwartz earned her PhD in Psychology from Yale University in 1996. Prior to joining the Rudd Center, she served as Co-Director of the Yale Center for Eating and Weight Disorders from 1996 to 2006. She has collaborated with the Connecticut State Department of Education to evaluate nutrition and physical activity policies in schools and preschools. She has also served on the Board of Directors of the Connecticut Food Bank. Dr. Schwartz has received research grants from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the United States Department of Agriculture and the National Institutes of Health. She has studied school wellness policies, the preschool nutrition environment, the effect of food marketing on children, the relationship between food insecurity and diet quality, and how federal food programs can improve the accessibility and affordability of healthy foods in low-income neighborhoods.

In 2014, Dr. Schwartz received the Sarah Samuels Award from the Food and Nutrition Section of the American Public Health Association and in 2016, she was honored by the Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame. Dr. Schwartz’s research and the Rudd Center are highlighted in the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Public Health Law News – July 2017, Profile in Public Health Law: Marlene Schwartz, PhD.

Contact Information

Email	marlene.schwartz@uconn.edu
Phone	860 380 1211
Mailing Address	1 Constitution Plaza, Suite 600, Hartford CT 06103
Campus	Storrs
Courses	HDFS 3095: Food and the American Family