# Understanding the role of gender inequality and food insecurity on maternal and child health

> **NIH NIH K01** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · 2020 · $140,289

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
Career Goals: This is a resubmission of an application for a K01 Career Development Award in Population
Research for Nadia Diamond-Smith, PhD, MSc, an Assistant Professor at the University of California, San
Francisco. Her preliminary research focuses on maternal and child health in South Asia, specifically the role of
gender inequality and food insecurity. In the short term, she aims to build on this work, investigating the effect
of gender inequality and food insecurity on maternal and child health outcomes in newly married women in
Nepal. In the long term, she aspires to conduct research that results in interventions that will improve gender
inequality and food access, and ultimately improve maternal and child health outcomes for women across their
life course, with a focus on the pre-conception period. The knowledge and experience she will gain from this
K01 award will prepare her to compete for NICHD R01 funding to test the household level behavior change
and food insecurity intervention to address household dynamics around women's empowerment and access to
food and nutrition in Nepal developed in this proposal in a randomized intervention trial.
Environment: The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) provides generous support for junior faculty.
UCSF researchers have a long history of pursuing innovative ideas in reproductive health, studying food
insecurity, and working in low and middle-income countries.
Key Elements of Research Career Development Plan: Dr. Diamond-Smith has a strong background in
public health (epidemiology and biostatistics) and demographic methods, with substantial experience analyzing
large datasets and conducting qualitative data. This career development award will enable her to address
several remaining gaps in her training specific to her career goals, and to gain applied experience planning and
executing a primary data collection study on gender inequality and food insecurity, using both qualitative and
quantitative methods. She seeks training in (1) maternal and child nutrition and food insecurity; (2) women's
empowerment theory and measurement; and (3) implementation sciences, including designing behavioral
interventions and evaluating interventions. To achieve these goals, Dr. Diamond-Smith has assembled a
unique interdisciplinary training and mentoring team. It includes her Primary Mentor, Sheri Weiser, MD, MPH,
in the School of Medicine at UCSF with a secondary appointment in Global Health Sciences at UCSF, who has
extensive experience conducting research and developing interventions on food insecurity and health
outcomes, and co-mentor Mallory Johnson, PhD, a Clinical Health Psychologist in UCSF's School of Medicine
and an expert behavior change interventions and intervention design and evaluation. Her team includes three
additional, complementary advisors: Cynthia Harper, PhD, in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and
Reproductive Sciences at UCSF, with an expertise in...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9965972
- **Project number:** 5K01HD086281-05
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO
- **Principal Investigator:** NADIA GRIFFI DIAMOND-SMITH
- **Activity code:** K01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $140,289
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2016-07-18 → 2021-09-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9965972

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9965972, Understanding the role of gender inequality and food insecurity on maternal and child health (5K01HD086281-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9965972. Licensed CC0.

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