Olivia Halabicky is a Assistant Research Scientist at the School of Nursing with a joint appointment in the Nutritional Sciences Department in the UM School of Public Health Dr. Halabicky’s research interests include explaining and reducing disparities in health and developmental outcomes associated with childhood toxicant (e.g., lead) and social stressor exposure. In particular, she is interested in the effects of these exposures on chronic stress physiology dysfunction, a known precursor to cardiometabolic disorders such as obesity. Dr. Halabicky hopes to elucidate potential mechanisms by which lead exposure and social stressors interact to increase the risk for childhood obesity, and use these mechanisms to develop targeted intervention strategies to reduce disparities surrounding childhood cardiometabolic outcomes. She earned her PhD from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, focusing on environmental health and completed her postdoc in the Department of Nutritional Sciences at the School of Public Health.
Laura Saslow is interested in creating and optimizing highly scalable technologically-enhanced diet and lifestyle interventions to improve health and well-being. Over the last several years she has been a principal investigator on several clinical trials, directed at type 2 diabetes, prediabetes, and their management, with an emphasis on physical and psychological well-being. To address barriers for self-management, her interventions teach psychological tools, including skills to increase the experience of positive affect and mindful eating. Her long-term goal is to become a leader in creating effective, multicomponent interventions for the treatment and prevention of chronic diseases.