PhD Candidate
University of California, Davis
Cristina Moraga Franco is a fourth-year PhD candidate at the University of California Davis, where she is pursuing her doctorate in Nutritional Biology with a designated emphasis in Global Nutrition, under the guidance of Dr. Reina Engle-Stone. Her research interests revolve around social and commercial determinants of health, with a particular focus on micronutrient nutrition and fortification, as well as nutrition policy aimed at promoting health equity. In 2022, Cristina served as a Nutrition Policy intern for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, contributing to the project titled 'Failure to Fortify: How companies are neglecting to take a simple step that could save Latino/a/e lives.' Currently, she is engaged in a project supported by The Gifford Center for Population Studies, utilizing the USDA Purchase to Plate Crosswalk tools to investigate associations with fortified food purchases in the United States. With a research background encompassing both qualitative and quantitative methodologies, Cristina hopes to make significant contributions to the field of nutrition and advance the understanding of health disparities and effective policy interventions.