Temitope Erinosho, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Applied Health Science at Indiana University Bloomington. This summer, she and a team of colleagues and community partners are using a pilot grant from the Indiana CTSI to establish a community vegetable garden outside a library in Bloomfield, Indiana.
The group installed the garden in March, and will harvest and share its produce with community members and garden volunteers throughout the summer and into the fall.
Erinosho said that they will also conduct nutrition education activities that will involve hands-on learning for children in the garden.
“The mission of the community-academic partnership is to develop an agenda for promoting healthy eating and physical activity behaviors in young children,” she said.
In many ways, this also describes Erinosho’s mission. She studies obesity prevention in underserved children and families through interventions that promote nutrition and physical education.
As a graduate student in nutrition at New York University, she worked as a project coordinator for a research study evaluating the nutrition landscape at child care centers in New York City. This, as well as her experience as a teaching assistant for a course in maternal and child nutrition, compelled her to pursue this path.
“I enjoy the work that I do,” she said. “Knowing that I am able to contribute to the wellbeing of our youngest children in a positive manner gives me fulfilment.”
After earning her PhD, Erinosho spent ten years an assistant professor of nutrition at the Gillings School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. During that time, she was a Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Fellow. She joined the faculty at IU Bloomington in 2020.
“What makes IU Bloomington supportive are the many helpful resources that are provided to researchers through the School of Public Health to enable us to successfully conduct our research—for example, pilot funding, and supports for grant writing, post-award administration, and biostatical support,” she said.
Erinosho’s colleague Priscilla Barnes, PhD, also an Associate Professor in the Department of Applied Health Science, said that Erinosho’s “pioneering scholarship” demonstrates the transformative impact of community-engaged research.
“Her commitment to translating research into actionable practices enhances community well-being and resilience,” Barnes said.
Erinosho is currently involved in multiple projects toward this aim. One is an ongoing project that focuses on the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), which is the federally regulated feeding program for child care centers.
“The goal of the study is to assess disparities and determinants of inequities in access to CACFP,” said Erinosho, who is co-leading the project with a former UNC Chapel Hill colleague.
Additionally, this summer, Erinosho will serve as a mentor in the Indiana Medical Student Program for Research and Scholarship (IMPRS) program. The student she is working with will assist with the Bloomfield garden project, she said.
She enjoys providing mentorship and opportunities to trainees interested in community-based participatory research.
“Food and eating are a part of and critical to our daily living. A career in nutrition offers an opportunity to promote healthy eating behaviors to the broader population in order to support health and wellbeing,” she said.
Outside of work, Erinosho enjoys knitting and exploring Bloomington’s parks with her family.
