Key Findings
- Food insecurity has increased since the end of the pandemic and increases health risks
- Flexible policies in food assistance programs reduce food insecurity
- Community food environments affect food availability and accessibility and can be intervened on at structural and individual levels
- Cross-sector partnerships between scientists, food system and public health organizations, and communities can address food insecurity
Dr. Figueroa received his Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Studies at the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign and is currently an assistant professor in the Division of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell University. His research examines how individuals access food assistance programs and how science can improve programs and services aimed at reducing food and nutrition inequities.
Long interested in health, nutrition, and education, Dr. Figueroa first translated his passion into research in graduate school. Through a church-based community intervention to promote healthy habits in Hispanic populations, he discovered this ability to be an agent positive of change in community settings through his research career.
Dr. Figueroa now pursues this goal through research funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Science Foundation (NSF), and US Department of Agriculture (USDA). His research includes evaluation and optimization of “top-down” strategies, such as food assistance policies, and “ground-up” community-based programs and services. Beyond these focuses, Dr. Figueroa also studies how food assistance safety net programs impact diet-related chronic health conditions such as type-2 diabetes.
Throughout his work, Dr. Figueroa emphasizes collaboration with scientists, communities, and food system and public health professionals. His overarching goal is to translate science into policy and community changes for public health benefit. Toward this goal, he directly partners with local farms, schools, and community organizations to address food and nutrition insecurity. Moreover, being from Puerto Rico, he is increasingly building professional collaborations to address food insecurity there.
In his policy-based research, Dr. Figueroa evaluates food assistance programs like SNAP and studies how they can improve accessibility. One challenge he identified is that since the COVID-19 pandemic ended, food insecurity rates have counterintuitively increased. Examining factors that may contribute to this change, he found that food assistance programs were more accessible during the pandemic because policies were implemented that allowed more flexible benefits use and simplified reporting of use. This research suggests that, even outside states of emergency, more flexible and streamlined food assistance program policies may improve accessibility.
In his community-centered research, Dr. Figueroa has been developing and evaluating new programs to increase food availability and accessibility. He assessed implementation of a local food procurement program that brings local farm foods to those experiencing with food insecurity. This program has dual benefits in its bringing of nutritious foods to those in need and supporting communities by subsidizing from local farms led by socially disadvantaged groups.
Additionally, Dr. Figueroa studies environmental factors that affect food availability and accessibility. Using New York City as one example, he found that neighborhoods with low food access require individuals be more effortful and creative with their food planning. To address this challenge, Dr. Figueroa is interested in pursuing both structural changes to mitigate food environment inequities and individualized interventions to assist overcoming food environment challenges.
Going forward, Dr. Figueroa is focused on co-designing multi-level interventions with community partners to address food and nutrition insecurity. He intends to collaborate with actors at policy, community, and individual levels to improve the four pillars of food security (accessibility, availability, utilization, and stability). Furthermore, he is interested in collaborating with healthcare professionals to identify and address social determinants of health related to nutrition security through Food Is Medicine interventions.
Overall, Dr. Figueroa has an impactful research program focused on policy changes and cross-sector collaborations to improve food availability and food accessibility to those most in need. He notes a wealth of evidence that societal investment in public safety nets has a strong pay off in health outcomes and works to translate this science into action. His translational emphasis for public benefit exemplifies the importance of behavioral research and is well deserving of recognition. FABBS is delighted to name him an Early Career Impact Award winner.
Potential for Future Impact
- Policy changes to improve access to and quality of food assistance programs
- Community programs to strengthen food environments and boost local economies
- Individualized interventions to assist overcoming food insecurity
