Jessica Soldavini

Jessica Soldavini, PhD, MPH, RD, LDN, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Nutrition at the University of North Carolina’s Gillings School of Global Public Health. She serves as a Research Specialist with the Carolina Hunger Initiative and No Kid Hungry NC, focusing on food insecurity, federal nutrition programs, and nutrition education. Her work examines how school and summer meal programs adapt during crises like the COVID-19 pandemic and investigates food insecurity among college students.

• PhD in Nutrition, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill
• MPH in Community Health Sciences, University of California Los Angeles
• BS in Nutritional Sciences, University of California Berkeley

Dr. Soldavini’s research emphasizes programmatic and policy impact, often collaborating with organizations to ensure actionable outcomes. Her interests include culinary education for college students, behavioral science applications in nutrition, and policy analysis for equitable food access. She teaches courses such as NUTR-405 (Food and Nutrition Policy) and NUTR-805 (Nutrition Policy Research).

• Awards: 2021 Outstanding Dietitian of the Year, 2020 Mary P. Huddleson Award, 2020 Inaugural Engaged Scholarship Prize

Her work bridges academic research with community practice, including internships for students in nutrition programs and partnerships with organizations like No Kid Hungry NC to expand summer meal access. She has published extensively on food security dynamics and program adaptation strategies in public health.