Established in 2006, the ICAN-THRIVE research lab focuses on the Infant component of ICAN (Infant Child Adolescent Nutrition). Our work supports families in providing optimal nutrition to their infants, regardless of whether they choose to breastfeed or provide infant formula (or some combination). As of spring 2023, nearly 40 students have been contributing members of… Learn More

Below is a brief list of published research that has been conducted by Katie Kavanagh, her colleagues, and her students. †Student #Student paper awarded the second annual Miriam Labbok New Investigator Award (2018) from the Journal of Human Lactation.

ICAN-THRIVE People Katie Kavanagh, PhD, RDN, LDN, CLC Dr. Katie Kavanagh is an Associate Professor in Public Health Nutrition and director of the THRIVE component of the ICAN Lab at the University of Tennessee. Her research explores the behavioral aspects of infant feeding during the first year of life and the development of interventions to… Learn More

Under the direction of Sarah Colby, the Research on Eating and Activity for Community Health (REACH) laboratory conducts research on factors that impact why we eat what we eat and creative ways we can communicate about health to effectively change behavior.  This research often involves community-based interventions that address nutrition behavior with children, adolescents, and… Learn More

HCRC Assessment Tools Tools You Can Use to Assess the Healthfulness of your Campus The following links may be copied and used to distribute and collect data. Upon request, all data for an individual university/college will be returned (deidentified) to the school. Each university/college may use their deidentified data in any way they would like.… Learn More

Colby Lab Dr. Colby is a behavioral researcher with a focus on health communication through novel nutrition education strategies. She received her doctoral degree in Nutrition from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. After finishing her PhD, she worked as a Nutrition Research Scientist for the USDA/ARS. She also worked as an Assistant Professor… Learn More

We are Hiring! Professor – Food and Nutrition Security Cluster Hire Lead, Fall 2024 Associate Professor – Nutrition-related Health Inequities, Fall 2024 Assistant Professor – Diet and Chronic Disease, Fall 2024 Clinical Instructor-Nutrition, Spring 2024 Part Time Clinical Instructor-Nutrition

Healthy Eating and Activity Laboratory (HEAL) Under the direction of Hollie Raynor, the Healthy Eating and Activity Laboratory (HEAL) conducts research on factors that impact on eating regulation and energy balance that can be used to improve lifestyle interventions that assist with achieving a healthy weight in children and adults, and how evidence-based lifestyle interventions… Learn More