Senior University Lecturer, Centre for Diet and Activity Research (CEDAR), Institute of Public Health, University of Cambridge

Dr Monsivais joined CEDAR in September 2011 as a Senior University Lecturer. Prior to this, he spent seven years at the University of Washington’s Centre for Public Health Nutrition in the School of Public Health, first as a postdoctoral fellow in behavioural sciences and then as an acting assistant professor in the department of epidemiology.

His research program at CEDAR has two components. The first is focused on understanding social and economic determinants of food choice and the mechanisms that give rise to social and spatial patterning of diet quality and health. Of particular interest are the social and economic pathways that couple low socioeconomic status with poor diet. Food costs, the money available to purchase food and neighbourhood patterns of food availability are some of the factors being investigated. The second component aims to quantitatively estimate the cost and benefits of shifting the diets of populations toward evidence-based recommendations. This work also extends to measuring the effects of social and food policies on food intake and diet quality.