Lauren Dunaway, PhD, MPH, RD, LDN

Lauren E. Futrell Dunaway, PhD, MPH, RD, LDN is a Registered Dietitian and Public Health Researcher with public health teaching, research, and evaluation experience. She is an Assistant Professor in the SPHTM Undergraduate Public Health Studies Program, currently working to expand nutrition courses and degree offerings. Before this role, she was a Professor of Practice in the Tulane School of Professional Advancement’s Kinesiology program where she developed robust and interactive undergraduate and graduate online courses. Before becoming a faculty member she took a non-traditional role in academia working for more than a decade as a staff for both the Tulane Prevention Research Center and the Tulane Mary Amelia Women’s Center directing and managing various community-based research and evaluation projects related to food access in New Orleans, child nutrition, neighborhood stress, breastfeeding, racial disparities in birth outcomes, and early childhood health and education to name a few. Through her work as a staff member and now in a faculty role, Dr. Dunaway is most passionate about involving local community organizations in academic and classroom work and working with students to identify potential career trajectories. While Dr. Dunaway has experience with grant writing, data collection and analysis, manuscript development, and program development––her most fulfilled place is in the classroom.