Addressing the needs of Washington’s Latinx communities

Building community resilience to prevent ACEs & foster equity

Helping governments strengthen health systems & defeat malaria, TB, HIV

Reducing preventable deaths in Togo by removing barriers to care

Why are you passionate about public health? As a Mexican-American, I’ve seen firsthand the health concerns of an immigrant community. Studying public health will give me the skills I need to help those most vulnerable.

What influenced you to pursue a degree in nutritional sciences? I have always been interested in nutrition. My undergraduate degree was also focused on nutrition, so I wanted to continue in the same area to deepen my knowledge and to gain more public health insight. Back in Mexico, the focus is almost entirely in individually-focused diets, so I wanted to diverge a bit from that.

What excites you about nutrition? I love food. I think we probably all do. It provides comfort and pleasure and can serve to bring community together. It is an integral part of our culture and is something that we engage with — must engage with — every single day. But beyond being necessary to survive, food has the potential to dramatically change our health, for the better or worse.

Lauren Sawyer is a public health nutritionist and Registered Dietitian with interests in chronic disease prevention and management (particularly type 2 diabetes), food sovereignty, and community health interventions. Here is her graduate student profile from 2020.

Leading the DRC through six disease outbreaks

Finding the intersection between public health and policy

Discovering a passion for worker safety & entrepreneurship

A leader in Seattle’s community health center movement

Improving maternal and child health through perinatal care

Pushing for fearless approaches to improve health in Peru

Addressing mental health and suicide in China