Alison Tovar, PhD, MPH

Alison Tovar is an Associate Professor of Behavioral and Social Sciences in the Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences in the Brown University School of Public Health. Originally from Bogotá, Colombia, Dr. Tovar received her Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Northeastern University in 2001, a master’s in public health from Tufts University School of Medicine in 2005, and her Ph.D. from the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy in 2009. Dr. Tovar was a faculty in the Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences at The University of Rhode Island from 2012-2021 and joined the Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences at the Brown School of Public Health in 2022. She is also the interim director for the Center for Health Promotion and Health at the Brown School of Public Health and co-director for the Community Engagement and Outreach Core for Advance RI-CTR.  Dr. Tovar’s research focuses on understanding factors that shape eating behaviors early in life among historically marginalized populations, developing community-based interventions among these populations and evaluating policies that promote healthy eating