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Contact Information

  • Center for Human Nutrition, Room W2041A
    Department of International Health
    Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
    615 North Wolfe Street
    Baltimore, MD
    21205-2179

  • Work: 410.502.6971

  • Fax: 410.955.0196

Office Hours

Monday – Friday | 8am – 5pm EST

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Who are we?

The Healthy Stores projects aim to improve health and prevent obesity and disease in low-income communities through culturally appropriate store-based interventions that increase the supply of healthy foods and promote their purchase.

Joel Gittelsohn, PhD
Joel Gittelsohn, PhDDirector of Community Interventions
Dr. Gittelsohn is a Professor in the Center for Human Nutrition at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health and serves as Principal Investigator on a number of NIH-funded food environment interventions in Baltimore and Native American communities.

View his JHSPH page here.

Stacey Williamson, BS, RD
Stacey Williamson, BS, RDDigital Interventions Coordinator
Andrea Flores, MSPH
Andrea Flores, MSPHResearch Project Coordinator
Shelley Walton, BS, RD, MSPH
Shelley Walton, BS, RD, MSPHDrPH Candidate, Research Associate
Lexi Lightner, MSPH
Lexi Lightner, MSPHGraduate Research Assistant
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In April we posted about our first in a series of Group Model Building Workshops as part of the initial stage of developing a simulation model that represents cancer risk and allows for testing of future potential programs and policies by community and organizational stakeholders. Today, we had our second workshop, this time with Baltimore City community members! We plan to host 1-2 more workshops, and we hope more community members will join us to share their lived experiences and insights navigating the Baltimore built environment. We will share more information when it becomes available. For now, we’d like to thank everyone who participated today and contributed their insights and knowledge towards this novel project, as well as our funder. Stay tuned for updates on our continued progress and future publications regarding the model!
Check out our latest paper, entitled “Formative research for an innovative digital application to strengthen healthy food access and resilience in food pantries: the Support Application for Food PAntrieS (SAFPAS) study” now published in Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition! The paper details our formative research process to inform the design of the mobile Support Application for Food PAntrieS (SAFPAS) app, which digitally integrates and enhances food pantry management, client food choice, and emergency preparedness. Read it here or head to our website for the link: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19320248.2025.2482149?src=
Members of our team facilitated a Group Model Building Workshop with cancer researchers and experts today as part of the initial stage of developing a simulation model that represents cancer risk and allows for testing of future potential programs and policies by community and organizational stakeholders! We are so thankful to everyone who participated and contributed their insights and knowledge towards this novel project, as well as our funder. Excited to share on our continued progress and future publications regarding the model!
New paper out now entitled, “In-store Features and Healthy Food Availability Among Small Corner and Convenience Stores Serving Urban and Rural Maryland Communities” in @springernature! Check out our website www.healthyfoodsystem.net under the “BUD Project” page for the full link 📲
Check out our latest paper on “Community Member Shopping Experiences in Dollar Store Food Environments in Baltimore, Maryland” now available online in Current Developments in Nutrition! This paper explores Baltimore community member perspectives on barriers and facilitators to shopping for food in their local dollar stores, including recommendations for improving the food options and quality, and store service and organization. As dollar stores continue to remain a hot topic, it is our ultimate goal to ensure that future programs and policies aimed at changing the dollar store landscape are informed by community voices and can support healthy food purchasing in these spaces. Read the full paper here: https://cdn.nutrition.org/article/S2475-2991(25)00045-9/fulltext
Congratulations to Audrey Thomas, MSPH, CHES® on her latest paper, “Exploring barriers and facilitators to direct-to-retail sales channels: Farmers’ perspectives on wholesaling produce to small food retailers in Charles County, Maryland”. Audrey was an incredible asset to our Baltimore Urban food Distribution (BUD) team during her MSPH program, and she has since begun a PhD program in Public Policy and Management at The Ohio State University! Full paper now available via Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development.
Congratulations to members of our team for their latest publication, “Barriers and enablers for equitable healthy food access in Baltimore carryout restaurants: A qualitative study in healthy food priority areas”. This paper sought to identify factors to promoting equitable healthy food access through interviews with small independently-owned carryout restaurant owners serving historically marginalized Black neighborhoods in Baltimore, Maryland in 2023. Read more here: https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/16/17/3028
Congratulations to our BUD team on their latest publication, entitled “Factors and Perceptions Associated with Post-Pandemic Food Sourcing and Dietary Patterns among Urban Corner Store Customers in Baltimore, Maryland”. The paper examines individual- and household-level factors in a sample of Baltimore community members who regularly shop at corner stores and how these factors are associated with indicators of dietary quality further contextualized by shared lived experiences. The full paper can be accessed here: https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/16/14/2196