When Morgan Stanley was a sophomore at Tougaloo College in Jackson, Mississippi, he self-published a children’s book, Little Buds in Scrubs. The book follows two young brothers whose grandmother suffers from coronary artery disease. The brothers want to help their grandmother, so they learn as much as they can about the causes and treatments of her illness and adjust their eating habits to join her in adopting a diet designed to improve her health.

Stanley’s own experiences inspired him to write and publish the book. “Growing up in Mississippi, I saw firsthand how poor access to healthy food negatively impacted my family’s health,” he explains. “Writing the book felt like a way to inspire others, especially the next generation, to learn the facts and make changes.”

Now a junior majoring in biology and aiming for a career in medicine, Stanley continues to educate others about the connection between diet and health through his work as part of the Delta GREENS Food Is Medicine project. A collaborative effort by Tufts, Tougaloo College, the Ruben V. Anderson Center for Justice, the Center for Science in the Public Interest, and the Delta Health Center, the project aims to enhance and support more equitable food and health systems in three Mississippi counties where nearly one third of the population lives at or below the poverty level, and rates of obesity and diabetes are nearly double those of the national average.

Teamwork That Fosters Growth

For the team of more than 30 researchers, experts, and students contributing to the Delta GREENS project, the hope is to increase access to beneficial food and improve outcomes by tackling food access and differentiated health burdens, among other objectives.

Doing so requires interdisciplinary collaboration—including from researchers at all different stages of their careers.

“It’s team science,” says Christina Economos, co-principal investigator of the Delta GREENS project. “We have people at every stage of their academic and professional journeys working on this project—from undergraduates like Morgan to postdoctoral fellows, early-career faculty, and seasoned investigators.” Economos is a professor, New Balance Chair in Childhood Nutrition at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, and the dean of the school.

The collaboration among generations of researchers creates a rich environment for career development and mutual learning, Economos adds. “There’s typically a hierarchy in academia,” she says, “but in this project we try to flatten that as much as possible. Everyone here has something important to say, and we’re working together toward a common goal.” 

Economos’s mentorship enables this synergy. “My role is partly to ensure that everyone involved in the project has an opportunity to grow, learn, and contribute to an outcome that’s going to be remarkable,” she says. “I want to make sure everyone feels they have that ownership, that they can bring their original thinking to the group.” 

That approach resonates with Ph.D. candidate Marcia Rahman, a registered dietitian whose wide-ranging professional background informs her research on participant experience in Delta GREENS. Her contribution to the project centers on understanding how participants experience and respond to the intervention—including any behavioral shifts associated with receiving the weekly produce boxes, which offer access to fresh fruits and vegetables in areas where such options are often limited. While delivering real-time qualitative data to Economos and other team members, she is also honing her skills as a researcher.

“Chris [Economos] pushes me to think innovatively about the mechanisms that underpin such behavioral changes and about the research methods I’m using,” Rahman says. “Working with her has helped me grow as a scholar and explore new approaches to the research questions that matter most to me.”

Rahman, in turn, collaborates with Sharon Jimerson, providing support that helps ensure the project’s initiatives resonate with participants. A master’s student and graduate research assistant at the Friedman School, Jimerson grew up in Mississippi—in a food desert, she says. (Jimerson also served as a Delta GREENS Fellow while attending Tougaloo as an undergraduate.) 

For Delta GREENS, Jimerson develops communication materials and created a cookbook used by participants while supervising undergraduates working on the project. “Sharon’s connection to the region brings a perspective that’s deeply relevant to how we build trust and engage with participants,” Rahman explains. “She brings invaluable insight into the cultural relevance of research questions and outreach efforts.”

From Jimerson’s point of view, Rahman’s guidance empowers Jimerson to draw upon her own experiences and insights and put them to use in the project. “Marcia has introduced me to qualitative research methods such as conducting effective interviews,” she says. “She’s been a great mentor to me as I strive to become more familiar with some of the project’s research aspects.”

Both Rahman and Jimerson collaborate with postdoctoral scholar and registered dietitian Yarisbel Melo Herrera, whose expertise in federal nutrition assistance programs such as WIC intersects with the mission of Delta GREENS. Melo Herrera is leading the team’s efforts to assess food environments and their impacts on participants’ ability to sustain healthier behaviors. “Sharon and Marcia’s understanding of the community has been invaluable in helping me get up to speed,” Melo Herrera says. 

Meanwhile, Melo Herrera notes, Economos challenges her to think beyond her comfort zone, broadening her perspective on systemic and policy-level solutions. And this spring, Melo Herrera is teaming up with Stanley and other Tougaloo undergraduates to help with food environment assessments and increase capacity for conducting nutrition assessments in the Delta.

Building a Foundation for the Future

For Tougaloo student Stanley, the team’s collective experience and institutional knowledge are both useful and inspiring. As an undergraduate fellow on the project, he focuses on policy advocacy and community engagement. His work benefits directly from Jimerson’s organizing and Melo Herrera’s systemic approach, he says, while Rahman’s insights into behavior change enhance his efforts to engage communities in conversations about health and nutrition. And working with Economos has provided him with a model for leadership and helped him connect the dots among policy, community needs, and public health research.

“I look up to everybody on the team,” says Stanley. “I get to see how their expertise fits together. It’s helping me figure out how I want to shape a future career in medicine.”

The benefits go both ways. For master’s student Jimerson, working with Stanley provides perspective. “It’s an opportunity to remember my own beginnings,” she says. “Seeing Morgan grow shows me how I’ve grown myself and allows me to learn from him.” For Ph.D. candidate Rahman and postdoctoral scholar Melo Herrera, too, Stanley provides fresh insights and practical support that enrich their work.

And for Economos, Stanley’s presence on the project ensures that its effects will continue, as the knowledge and skills developed within the team long outlast this specific initiative. As she puts it, “We’re not just conducting research. We’re building a framework for future leaders to carry this work forward, ensuring lasting impact in Mississippi and beyond.”