Sarah Misyak

Sarah Misyak, PhD, MPH is a Research Professor in the Department of Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise at Virginia Tech. She holds dual roles as Assistant Director and Program Manager for Research and Evaluation of the Virginia Cooperative Extension Family Nutrition Program, overseeing USDA-funded initiatives including SNAP-Ed and EFNEP. Her work focuses on food access, nutrition security, and program evaluation, particularly in low-income populations and school food environments.

Education: PhD and BS in Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise (Virginia Tech, 2014 and 2006), MS in Public Health (George Washington University, 2019).

Research emphasizes food retail environments, nutrition incentives, and mental health linkages with food insecurity. Recent projects include evaluating Virginia Fresh Match programs and SNAP-Ed implementation strategies. She collaborates with state agencies to improve school nutrition policies and tracks food insecurity impacts on maternal mental health.

Key contributions include tool development for healthy retail assessments and frameworks linking food security to mental health. Her work prioritizes asset-based reporting to reduce stigma in nutrition education outcomes.