Maura Kepper, PhD

Maura Kepper, PhD

Pilot Study Lead

Maura Kepper conducts research to reduce the burden of social, economic, and environmental conditions that shape the health of individuals and communities. Her research demonstrates the importance of, and interplay between, the social and physical environments on parenting practices, health behaviors (physical activity and diet), and obesity-related outcomes in youth. Her goal is to design, disseminate, and sustain interventions that overcome community-level barriers to reduce health disparities in childhood obesity, type 2 diabetes and other chronic diseases.

A member of the Prevention Research Center, Kepper completed postdoctoral training at Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, La., where she was funded by a postdoctoral fellowship from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. She is a member the Delta Omega Honorary Society in Public Health.

Kepper’s research has appeared in numerous journals including Obesity, American Journal of Preventive Medicine and International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. Her work has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, American Heart Association and the Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation.