Professor of Nutrition and Co-Director of the Doctoral Program in the Department of Nutrition, and as serves as the associate director of the Clinical Nutrition Research Center (CNRC) Nutrition Epidemiology Core. Dr. Ward’s research focuses on the prevention of obesity and the promotion of healthy diets and physical activity through interventions implemented in schools, communities, and homes. Dr. Ward has been PI for NIH- and CDC-funded research projects that test interventions to promote healthy weight behavior in children and families. Currently, she is the PI for a 4-year intervention (1R01 HL091093) to prevent obesity by developing healthy behaviors in children and parents. An additional focus of her work is the development of measures to assess environmental factors associated with physical activity, diets, and obesity. Dr. Ward led the team that developed a policy and environmental intervention for child care called, NAP SACC, the Nutrition and Physical Activity Self-Assessment for Child Care, a highly regarded program within the public health community and used by many states for healthy weight development.