Brooke Nezami

Dr. Brooke Nezami is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Nutrition at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, affiliated with the Gillings School of Global Public Health. Her research focuses on leveraging technology—such as smartphone apps and AI—to improve dietary behaviors, physical activity, and weight control interventions for young adults, adults, and families. She leads a National Cancer Institute-funded grant using reinforcement learning for tailored message delivery in mobile health interventions and co-leads a Gillings Innovation Laboratory award exploring generative AI for enhancing engagement in weight loss programs.

Education:

• PhD in Health Behavior, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2016
• MA in Clinical Health Psychology, Appalachian State University, 2008
• BA in Psychology and Biology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2006

Research Interests: Dr. Nezami’s work emphasizes just-in-time adaptive interventions (JITAIs), behavioral weight control, and technology-mediated health behavior change. She designs interventions to increase adherence to healthy lifestyles, particularly through scalable, AI-driven solutions.

Grants & Awards:

• Principal Investigator: NCI-funded grant on reinforcement learning for dietary/activity message tailoring
• Co-Principal Investigator: Gillings Innovation Laboratory award on generative AI for weight loss programs
• Recipient of Gillings Innovation Laboratory award

Labs/Teams: Collaborates with the Gillings Innovation Labs to advance AI applications in public health interventions.