Associate Research Scientist in the Dept. of Health Behavior and Health Education, Evaluation Director of the Center for Managing Chronic Disease
During her tenure as Evaluation Director of the Center, Dr. Lachance has provided evaluation and technical assistance for many multi-site projects, including the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Allies Against Asthma national program, and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation Food & Community initiative. She is has served as member of the advisory council for the Community Health Initiative (Kaiser Permanente), and on the select panel and as a Content Area Expert for creating the Common Community Measures for Obesity Prevention (CDC). Dr. Lachance’s training is in nutritional epidemiology and health behavior/ health education. Her research interest is in the prevention and management of chronic disease. She is particularly interested in health behaviors and their relationship to socioeconomic disparities and racial disparities in health risks. In her current work with the W.K. Kellogg Food & Community program, she is leading the cross-site evaluation for the Food & Fitness community collaboratives in cities across the nation, who are changing policies and infrastructures aimed at creating sustainable food systems and increasing opportunities for healthy, affordable, local food. Dr. Lachance has experience in community-based public health and in using both quantitative and qualitative methods.