Predoctoral Trainees

Annie Youngblood, MPH

Annie is a PhD student in the Division of Epidemiology and Community Health at the University of Minnesota. Annie holds a Master’s degree in Public Health from the University of Minnesota. Her research interests include the health impacts of housing policy, housing stability, and neighborhood effects.

Kaitlyn Adams, MEd

Kaitlyn Adams is a PhD student in the School of Kinesiology at the University of Minnesota. Kaitlyn holds a Master’s of Education in Kinesiology from the University of Minnesota. Her research interests are physical activity and health promotion within a diverse population. She is especially interested in people who are pregnant, and the role physical activity can play in enhancing social support, mental health, and building a stronger community. She is hoping to expand her work by addressing the connection between physical activity and eating behaviors within a family system. When she is not working, she likes to read, spend time with her family, and run around the lakes in Minneapolis.

Eduardo Osegueda

Eduardo Osegueda is a PhD student specializing in Clinical Outcomes in the Division of Health Policy & Management at the University of Minnesota. His research interests include implementation science and the integration of social needs care within healthcare delivery. Eduardo is particularly interested in the implementation of programs addressing food insecurity in primary care settings. Outside of food and nutrition work, Eduardo has experience applying implementation science methods to study topics ranging from cancer survivorship to inpatient sepsis care delivery. When he is not conducting research, Eduardo enjoys hiking and finding new food spots in the Twin Cities.

Postdoctoral Trainees

Shelbretta (Brett) Ball, PhD

Brett (She/Her) is a former student-athlete for the University of South Carolina Women’s Basketball program. Her injury sparked her initial research interest in different aspects of athlete’s mental health.  She earned her MA in Integrated Marketing Communications from the University of Mississippi and was the women’s basketball graduate assistant and liaison to Ole Miss Sports production. She earned her PhD in Mass Communications from the University of South Carolina in 2023. Her early academic training focused on health communication in underserved communities. Inspired by personal experiences in sports and media, she recognized the growing complexity of mental health and sports. Her interest evolved into how sports media shapes our worldviews and self-perception and its relationship with adverse mental health outcomes, specifically through the lens of Black female athletes. Her research centers around the intersection of new media technologies, identity, race, gender, body image, and sports/physical activity. She values theoretical concepts equally to practical application in the digital healthcare space. Brett’s research agenda seeks to further investigate these intersecting topics for academic and industry impact.

Brett is also a content creator who seeks to merge her research interest with digital storytelling. She does this through “Ballin’ with Brett®” (BwB), an athlete storytelling brand that is informed by research, empowered by athletes, and inspired by stories. BwB is a pathway to leverage her research and the power of sports and physical activity to enhance underserved communities domestically and globally.

Kayla Johnson, PhD, MS

Kayla received her MS and PhD in Health Psychology from the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, with minors in Neuroscience and Cognition and Perception. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Concordia College. Her research utilizes ecological momentary assessment and physiological measures to study sleep, stress, and physical activity and create interventions for at-risk populations to reduce health disparities.

Mikayla Barry, PhD, MPH

Mikayla received her PhD in Nutritional Sciences and Epidemiology from the University of Michigan School of Public Health in 2022. She also holds a Master of Public Health degree in Epidemiology from the University of Michigan. She uses epidemiologic methods to better understand the role of nutrition in public health, especially among diverse and understudied populations. Her research focuses primarily on food insecurity and eating disorders prevention among young people, including the role of food insecurity in the development of disordered eating. In addition to her research work, she is in the process of becoming certified as a registered dietitian, so that she can directly serve and stay connected with individuals and communities affected by nutrition concerns.

Anna K. Hochgraf, PhD, MS

Anna received her PhD and MS in Human Development and Family Studies from Pennsylvania State University. Her research centers on the development of youth body image concerns and co-occurring psychological and behavioral health outcomes, with attention to the family and broader sociocultural contexts in which youth develop. The broader goal of her research is to advance strengths-based prevention efforts for body image concerns and co-occurring health problems, including among youth who have been historically underrepresented in the literature.