Nalini Ranjit, PhD
Associate Professor, Health Promotion & Behavioral Sciences
nalini.ranjit@uth.tmc.edu
Dr. Ranjit’s research interests span two broad areas: social and behavioral epidemiology, and design and evaluation of behavioral interventions. Her work in social and behavioral epidemiology includes several highly cited studies examining environmental, socioeconomic, racial /ethnic, psychosocial factors and behavioral factors associated with disparities in a variety of population health outcomes, including chronic disease biomarkers, health risk behaviors, obesity, and mortality. Her second broad area of research, the design and evaluation of behavioral interventions, is focused on detailed evaluation of effectiveness of interventions, by decomposing the effects of multi-component interventions, and identifying why some subpopulations and some behavioral outcomes appear especially susceptible to the effect of particular interventions. In both areas of research, her work is informed by an explicit focus on quantitative methodologies and an examination of mechanisms underlying social disparities in health.
Currently, she is PI of the SNAP-Ed Evaluation project, a project to implement effective evaluation practices across all SNAP-Ed implementing Agencies in Texas, and Co-PI of “A Prescription for Healthy Living”, a project to evaluate effectiveness of a currently ongoing Produce Prescription program conducted by the Houston Food Bank. Other projects include a state-wide school surveillance project of obesity and its behavioral correlates; an evaluation of a sexual education program used for high school students; and a healthy food retail initiative. Dr. Ranjit has also served as Director of the Data Core, an initiative designed to support and maintain a high level of excellence and productivity in research activity at the Center. In this capacity, she provides research guidance to doctoral and post-doctoral students in Austin. She also regularly teaches doctoral level courses on Research Design and Analysis, and Program Evaluation.
Current Projects
德克萨斯学校的体育锻炼和营养调查（TX SPAN）
The Texas SPAN survey was established to track the prevalence of overweight and obese school-aged children in Texas.
Texas SNAP-Ed Evaluation
Texas SNAP-Ed Evaluation, is a two-year project to evaluate, on a statewide basis, the effectiveness of SNAP-Ed nutrition education and obesity prevention programming activities delivered by Implementing Agencies throughout the state of Texas.
Texas Childhood Obesity Prevention Policy Evaluation (T-COPPE)
This project is a collaborative effort that will study the impact of two recent policies: the Safe Routes to School program and an important rule revision to the federal food allocation package administered by the Texas Women, Infants and Children program.
FRESH-AUSTIN
Food Retail: Evaluating Strategies for a Healthy Austin (FRESH-AUSTIN) aims to further evaluation of the City of Austin's Healthy Food Access Initiative, and increase understanding of the complexities within a community food system.
Recent Publications
长期护理中各种处方维生素D补充方案的功效对25-羟基维生素D血清水平的功效。
Robbins, R. N., Serra, M., Ranjit, N., Hoelscher, D. M., Sweitzer, S. J., & Briley, M. E. (2022). Public health nutrition, 25(1), 82–89.
Intention to Lose Weight and Use of Electronic Cigarettes Among Adolescents.
(Sanchez, R., Ranjit, N., Kelder, S. H., Gill, M., & Hoelscher, D. M. (2021). Preventive Medicine Reports, 101406.)
以联盟为主导的肥胖计划的设计和评估，旨在促进低收入，种族多元化社区的健康饮食和体育锻炼：旅行！奥斯汀/vamos！奥斯汀倡议
van den Berg, A., Nielsen, A., Akhavan, N., Llanes Pulido, C., Basu, S., et al. (2019). Archives of Public Health, 77(25).
Perceived Parental and Peer Social Support Is Associated With Healthier Diets in Adolescents.
Haidar, A., Ranjit, N., Saxton, D., & Hoelscher, D. M. (2019). Journal of nutrition education and behavior, 51(1), 23–31.
Effect of media use on adolescent body weight.
Cha, E. M., Hoelscher, D. M., Ranjit, N., Chen, B., Gabriel, K. P., et al. (2018). Preventing chronic disease, 15.
Recent News
Public health experts launch real-time COVID-19 data dashboard with prediction modeling for Texas
A new COVID-19 tracking tool that can tell Texans what is happening in real time in their own communities and anticipate how one person can infect dozens more was recently launched by The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth).
Review: Evaluation of the Go! Austin/Vamos! Austin Initiative
The Go! Austin/Vamos! Austin (GAVA) is a coalition of neighbors and community partners which organizes and mobilizes community efforts in ways that reduce barriers and increase institutional capacity in low-income communities. READ MORE.
