Jessica Soldavini

Dr. Soldavini’s work focuses on food insecurity, federal nutrition programs, and nutrition and cooking education. She has been involved in both research projects and public health practice related to these areas. Dr. Soldavini oversees the nutrition education program, research and evaluation efforts, and volunteers and interns for the Carolina Hunger Initiative and No Kid Hungry NC. She also teaches a nutrition policy course at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. Dr. Soldavini received her PhD in nutrition from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, MPH in Community Health Sciences from the University of California, Los Angeles, and BS in nutritional sciences – dietetics from the University of California, Berkeley. She is also a Registered Dietitian and completed a Certificate in Culinary Arts. She has received numerous recognitions for her work including the 2021 NC Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Outstanding Dietitian of the Year, 2020 Mary P. Huddleson Award for exceptional paper published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 2019 James Beard Foundation National Scholar Award, and 2019 Rise Against Hunger World Hunger Leadership Award.