Nourishing Our Community is an interprofessional research and innovation hub advancing the integration of food into healthcare. Through programs including the Teaching Kitchen, Therapeutic Food Pantry, Nourishing at Home, Rooftop Farm initiatives, and value aligned procurement efforts, Nourishing Our Community generates and translates evidence to improve health outcomes, strengthen food systems, and advance health equity. ![](https://assets.bmc.org/transform/b7e1ab2c-b56b-417e-ad49-cb432e3f0ee5/DSALAFIA_A82X2497?io=transform:fill,width:350,gravity:center&format=webp) ## Contact Us Research is supported through interdisciplinary collaborations across Boston Medical Center, Boston University, community organizations, and regional and national partners.​​ Interested in research partnerships or collaboration opportunities? Contact Olivia Thomas at [olivia.thomas@bmc.org]() ​ ## Focus Areas Our work spans the full translational continuum, including basic science, clinical research, implementation science, community participatory research, and population health research. We focus on the following key areas: ### Foundational Research We design and evaluate clinical care models, educational materials, curricula, and assessment tools that support evidence-based integration of food and nutrition into healthcare delivery. ### Nutritional Science and Clinical Research We assess the impact of food-based interventions, including medically tailored meals and food prescriptions, on health outcomes, chronic disease management, healthcare utilization, and patient wellbeing. ### Implementation Science and Healthcare Integration We study how Food is Medicine programs can be effectively implemented, scaled, and sustained within healthcare systems and community settings, including reimbursement models, care workflows, and interdisciplinary delivery approaches. ### Behavior Change and Education We investigate how food and nutrition education influences health behaviors, food skills, self efficacy, and quality of life for patients, healthcare professionals, students, and community members. ### Training and Workforce Development We develop and evaluate interprofessional education and training programs that strengthen nutrition communication, culinary competency, patient centered care, and healthcare provider wellbeing. ### Health Equity and Community Partnership We build and evaluate programs in partnership with communities to improve access to nourishing, culturally meaningful foods while supporting community informed and community driven research approaches. ### Food Systems, Sustainability, and Procurement We examine how food systems, local procurement, and sustainability practices influence health, environmental outcomes, and local economies, while developing actionable strategies to advance equitable and resilient food systems. ## Food is Medicine preARC The Food is Medicine preARC is a joint initiative between Boston Medical Center (BMC) and Boston University (BU) that brings together interdisciplinary researchers, clinicians, and implementation experts to advance the science and practice of food-based healthcare interventions. [Learn more about the FIM preARC](https://www.bumc.bu.edu/evanscenteribr/2024/08/15/food-is-medicine-pre-arc/) ### What is an Arc? ARCs, or Affinity Research Collaboratives, are interdisciplinary research groups supported by the Evans Center for Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research that bring together investigators from multiple fields to address complex biomedical challenges through collaborative, convergence-based research.​ Groups begin as a Pre-ARC, an exploratory phase where researchers refine a shared research theme through meetings and workshops with mentorship and seed funding support. After this phase, teams may apply for formal ARC designation and funding to advance interdisciplinary research and innovation. ### FIM preARC Food-based interventions, collectively known as Food is Medicine (FIM), are gaining national recognition as important strategies for preventing, managing, and reversing chronic disease. While the connection between nutrition and health is well established, integrating food and nutrition services into healthcare delivery remains an emerging field. FIM interventions have shown promise in addressing conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, obesity, fatty liver disease, and certain cancers across all stages of life.​​ Because food is not only medicinal, but also personal, cultural, and social, effective FIM interventions must address individual preferences, social determinants of health, and systemic inequities. This work requires an interdisciplinary, community-informed, and evidence-based research approach.​ ### Interprofessional and Convergence Science Food is Medicine research spans the full translational continuum, from foundational studies examining diet related mechanisms (T0), to clinical and implementation research evaluating feasibility, efficacy, and integration into healthcare systems (T1 to T3), to population and policy research focused on scalability, health equity, reimbursement, and systems change (T4 and T5). Advancing Food is Medicine requires continuous collaboration among researchers, healthcare providers, patients, community organizations, and policymakers to develop evidence based, culturally responsive, and equitable solutions.​ ## Active Research Collaborations ### Economic Impact **Overview:** ​ **PI:** Megan Sandel ​(Megan.Sandel@bmc.org) **Study contact:** Noelia Lugo (Noelia.Lugo@bmc.org) ### Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy **Overview: ​** **PI:** Alana Brenna ​ **Study contact:** Alana Brenna ### WRAP **Overview:** ​The Teaching Kitchen partners with BMC’s Wellness and Recovery After Psychosis (WRAP) Clinic to develop, deliver, and evaluate group-based lifestyle interventions for young adults with first-episode psychosis and their family members and caregivers. Funded by the Sidney R. Baer, Jr. Foundation, the interactive programs combine hands-on culinary skills, nutrition education, and physical activity led by a registered dietitian, with evaluation of feasibility, acceptability, nutrition knowledge, cooking self-efficacy, and mental health outcomes. **PI:** Julia Browne, Hannah Brown **Study contact:** Hannah.Brown2@bmc.org ### Substance Use Disorder **Overview:** ​A six-week cooking for recovery culinary and nutrition series was developed and implemented in partnership with Back on My Feet. Data was used for quality improvement of the curriculum and may be used for future publication. **PI:** N/A **Study contact:** N/A ### American Cancer **Overview:** **PI:** Olivia Thomas ​(Olivia.thomas@bmc.org) **Study contact:** Olivia Thomas ​(Olivia.thomas@bmc.org) ### Implementation of Food-Based Services **Overview:** ​The HRSN Food Delivery Program provides culturally relevant, nutritious food to patients experiencing food insecurity. Building on its initial focus on families with newborns and infants, the program now also serves patients with cancer and malnutrition, reaching more than 250 households this year through partnerships with local grocers and farms. **PI:** Olivia Thomas ​​(Olivia.thomas@bmc.org) **Study contact:** Olivia Thomas ​(Olivia.thomas@bmc.org) ## Publications ### 2025 - 2026 [Defining Culinary Medicine: A Call for Consensus on Competencies to Improve Nutrition]() [Lifestyle Medicine and Culinary Medicine: A Narrative Review of Important Synergies]() [Will a Programmatic Framework Integrating Food Is Medicine Achieve Value on Investment?]() [Food as medicine through the lenses of Food Access, Justice, and Sovereignty]() [Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies: Culinary and Lifestyle Medicine for PCOS and Preconception Health](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11924073/) [Growing Healthy Hearts: a pilot randomized controlled trial of a digitally delivered gardening, cooking, and Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet intervention for adults with cardiovascular risk factors]() [Evolving food as medicine programs to advance health equity: insights from two decades of practice]() [Participant Preferences to Inform the Development of Theory-Driven, Digitally Delivered Cooking Interventions Using the Behavior Change Wheel]() [Abstract P1145: Feasibility of a Culturally-tailored Diet and Physical Activity Intervention for Zimbabwean Immigrants in the US]() ### 2024 Thomas, O. W., Liang, L., Getzoff, E., Silver, S., Peters, J., & Fuentes, L. (2024, September). Enhancing cultural humility in food is medicine services: A mixed-methods investigation of patient food and dietary preferences. In Healthcare (Vol. 12, No. 3, p. 100749).​ Albin, J. L., Thomas, O. W., Marvasti, F. F., & Reilly, J. M. (2024). Perspective: There and Back Again: A 40-Year Perspective on Physician Nutrition Education. Advances in Nutrition, 100230.​ Eisenberg, D. M., Cole, A., Maile, E. J., Salt, M., Armstrong, E., Leib, E. B., ... .Thomas, O.W & Edgar, L. (2024). Proposed nutrition competencies for medical students and physician trainees: a consensus statement. JAMA network open, 7(9), e2435425-e2435425.​ Thomas, O., Mirsky, J., Gonzalez, N., Wadkins, B., & Albin, J. (2024). A Recipe For Successful Food Is Medicine Programs: Food Plus People. Health Affairs Forefront.​ Thomas, O., Badaracco, C., & Alexander, L. C. (2024). Food: A Vital Ingredient In Transforming Obesity Care. Health Affairs Forefront.​ Badaracco, C., Farshad, M., Albin, J., Thomas, O. (2024). Prescription for Change: Health Care Professionals and Advocacy for Farm Bill Reform. Annals of Internal Medicine, 177.12 (2024): 1725-1727.​ Thomas, O. W., Reilly, J. M., Wood, N. I., & Albin, J. (2024). Culinary Medicine: Needs and Strategies for Incorporating Nutrition into Medical Education in the United States. Journal of Medical Education and Curricular Development, 11, 23821205241249379.​ Fredericks, L., Thomas, O., Imamura, A., MacLaren, J., McClure, A., Khalil, J., & Massa, J. (2024). Will a Programmatic Framework Integrating Food Is Medicine Achieve Value on Investment? Journal of General Internal Medicine, 1-7.​ Thomas, O. W., Reilly, J. M., Wood, N. I., & Albin, J. (2024). Culinary Medicine: Needs and Strategies for Incorporating Nutrition into Medical Education in the United States. Journal of Medical Education and Curricular Development, 11, 23821205241249379.​ Croxford, S., Stirling, E., MacLaren, J., McWhorter, J. W., Frederick, L., & Thomas, O. W. (2024). Culinary medicine or culinary nutrition? Defining terms for use in education and practice. Nutrients, 16(5), 603.​ Croxford, S., MacLaren, J., Stirling, E., & Thomas, O. W. (2024). Interprofessional Culinary Medicine Education As Dietitian-led Translational Food-first Nutrition Training. Canadian Journal of Dietetic Practice and Research, 85(3), 366-366.​ ### 2019 - 2023 Thomas, O., Badaracco, C., & Akabas, S. (2023). Why Current 'Food Is Medicine' Solutions Are Falling Short. Health affairs forefront.​ Thomas, O.W, McManus, C., Badaracco, C., MacLaren, J., Mason, A., McWhorter, J. W. (2023) Registered Dietitian Nutritionist Taking the Lead in Teaching Kitchen. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.​ Donovan, K., Thomas, O. W., Sweeney, T., Ryan, T. J., Kytomaa, S., Zhao, M., ... & Lenders, C. (2023). Eat to Treat: The Methods and Assessments of a Culinary Medicine Seminar for Future Physicians and Practicing Clinicians. Nutrients, 15.​ Ciszak, L., Drexler, A., Kay, I., Jortberg, B., Callen, E., Lanigan, A., ... & Weinstein, O. (2022). Medically tailored meal kits as a means of decreasing healthcare utilization in primary care patients with heart failure.​ Weinstein, O., Donovan, K., McCarthy, A. C., Hiralall, L., Allen, L., Koh, W., & Apovian, C. M. (2021). Nourishing underserved populations despite scarcer resources: adaptations of an urban safety net hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic. American Journal of Public Health, 111(4), 663-666.​ Musicus, A. A., Vercammen, K. A., Fulay, A. P., Moran, A. J., Burg, T., Allen, L., ... & Rimm, E. B. (2019). Implementation of a rooftop farm integrated with a teaching kitchen and preventive food pantry in a hospital setting. American Journal of Public Health, 109(8), 1119-1121.