MyVoice researchers served up a banquet of information about the importance of good nutrition and healthy food accessibility among young people 14 to 24. They did so at the recent AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting in Minneapolis.
Ainsley Meyerson (pictured on the left), a rising junior pursuing a degree in Biopsychology, Cognition & Neuroscience at the University of Michigan, and her mentor Nina Hill, MD, (pictured on the right) a research fellow in the National Clinician Scholars Program at the Institute for Health Policy and Innovation at U-M, presented a poster about the results at the conference.
The poster was titled, “United States Youth Perspectives on Healthy Eating, Food Insecurity Screening, & Produce Prescriptions.” Authors include Hill, Meyerson, fellow U-M neuroscience student Ali Atoui, and MyVoice Director Tammy Chang, MD, MPH, MS, associate professor in the Department of Family Medicine at U-M.
“Working on this MyVoice project was my first experience with qualitative data, and I wasn’t quite sure what to expect,” said Meyerson, who was involved in U-M’s Research Opportunity Program (UROP) and utilized MyVoice data to conduct her study.
“However, I found myself quickly engaged in the process of analyzing responses from real-world voices,” she added.
Meyerson said she feels fortunate for the ability to help young people share their opinions.
“MyVoice made this a very efficient and meaningful process,” she added. “I am extremely grateful to the UROP program at the University of Michigan for allowing me to contribute to such important work, and the opportunity to present my findings at a national conference!”
Hill, who is also a clinical instructor in the Department of Internal Medicine & Pediatrics at University of Michigan Health System, conducts research exploring the impact of social determinants of health on adolescent and young adult health. She is specifically interested in the role of food insecurity, and the policies that influence it, in maintaining cardiovascular health across the lifespan.
“It has been so fun and rewarding for me as a mentor to ask and answer a timely research question in partnership with Ainsley and Ali,” Hill said.
“It’s been an extra bonus getting to support them in submitting an abstract to a national meeting, preparing a poster, securing grant funding for travel, and communicating our important research findings,” Hill added. “Both Ainsley and Ali went above and beyond!”
