Merav Efrat

Merav Efrat serves as Associate Professor in the Department of Health Sciences at California State University, Northridge (CSUN), leveraging over 10 years of professional experience as a health educator and International Board-Certified Lactation Consultant. She teaches undergraduate and graduate Public Health courses including HSCI 434: Lactation Education and HSCI 534: Lactation Education for the Healthcare Professional.

Her academic credentials include:

• Ph.D. from University of Southern California (2010)
• M.P.H. from California State University, Northridge (1997)
• B.A. from University of California Santa Cruz (1992)

Dr. Efrat specializes in lactation education interventions for underserved populations, particularly low-income Hispanic communities, through service learning frameworks that train future lactation professionals. Her work bridges public health theory with community-based practice, emphasizing curriculum development for maternal-child health equity.

Her distinguished service has earned recognition through:

• 2014 CSUN Visionary Community Service Learning Award for creating student lactation education opportunities
• 2017 Visionary Impact Award from BreastfeedLA for pioneering lactation professional training

As Principal Investigator, she directs two USDA-funded initiatives: expanding CSUN's lactation education curriculum into a 2-course sequence and developing service learning placements for nutrition students at WIC clinics. These projects build on prior federal grants supporting lactation education research and curriculum development.

Dr. Efrat actively collaborates through her Faculty Affiliate role at CSUN's Institute for Community Health and Wellbeing, integrating community partnerships into public health education.