Pauley Tedoff (she/her) recently graduated with a Ph.D. in Epidemiology. Her studies took her to sub-Saharan Africa to look at the link between women's agency, nutrition and food security.
Hometown: Atlanta, GA
Degree: Ph.D. in Epidemiology (2022)
Thesis: Women鈥檚 agency, nutrition, and food insecurity: A four-country field study on women and children in sub-Saharan Africa
Previous degree: Bachelor of Arts in cross-cultural anthropology and a Master of Science in International Environmental Health
Current status: Living in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region of Canada鈥檚 Western Arctic to work on Qanuippitaa? (How Are We?) National Inuit Health Survey
Inspiration
Outside of academia, I worked for ministries of health, intergovernmental agencies, and not-for-profit organizations throughout North America, Latin America, and sub-Saharan Africa. In my work and research, I have predominantly focused on the planning and implementation of social inclusion and health promotion programs, in service of indigenous and agrarian communities.
My doctoral research is a natural progression of my master鈥檚 thesis research, where I collaborated with 平特五不中鈥檚 Margaret A. Gilliam Institute for Global Food Security (IGFS) in the Faculty of Agriculture and Environment Science and CARE Canada. IGFS prioritizes translational and participatory research and partners extensively with end-user organizations, such as CARE, which work in resource-limited settings. My partnership with IGFS and CARE enabled me to collaborate on projects at the nexus of public health, environmental sustainability, and community development.
Impact
Through my thesis research, I found that the relationship between three measures that are highly related theoretically鈥撯�搉utrition status, dietary diversity, and food insecurity鈥撯�搘ere not always associated in the ways one might expect. Further, the relationship between women鈥檚 agency and these measures varied substantially between countries鈥攅specially in settings where undernutrition and overnutrition coexist.
Humanitarian assistance organizations like CARE regularly look to the literature to inform program design and measure project impact. The work of organizations like CARE is often assessed based on the meeting of separate targets related to women鈥檚 empowerment and women鈥檚 and children鈥檚 health outcomes. My research focused on psychosocial factors that are related to both of these programmatic areas.
The results of my thesis research informed CARE鈥檚 gender mainstreaming strategy in the region, as well as food security and nutrition activities being implemented in the study countries.
Eye to the Future
I finished my Ph.D. thesis while working for the Inuit government in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region (Western Arctic, Northwest Territories). Having recently completed data collection for Qanuippitaa? National Inuit Health Survey. I am now planning the data analysis and results dissemination phases of the project. In the future, I hope to continue conducting community-based, participatory research at the intersection of public health, environmental sustainability, and cultural sovereignty颅鈥攊n both Canada and abroad.