Expert Bios

TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEMBERS

John T. Cook
Boston Medical Center
Phone: 617.414.5129
Email: jtcook2@earthlink.net
(John served as co-chair of the Technical Advisory Group for Hunger in America 2006 )

John Cook is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Boston University School of Medicine. He received an MA Ed. in Educational Psychology from Arizona State University in 1976 and a Ph.D. in Planning for Developing Economies from the Department of City and Regional Planning at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill in 1990. Dr. Cook was on the faculty of Tufts University’s School of Nutrition Science and Policy from 1991-1998 where his research focused on the causes and consequences of poverty, food insecurity and hunger. While at Tufts Dr. Cook was Principal Investigator from 1995-1997 for the US Government’s Food Security Measurement Study that developed and validated the measures of food security, food insecurity and hunger currently implemented by the Census Bureau and USDA for the US population. For the past six years Dr. Cook’s work has focused on determining relationships between food insecurity and children’s nutritional status (both under-nutrition and over-nutrition) and health. His current research activities also include assessment of affordability of healthy foods in inner-city neighborhoods around Boston.

Dr. Beth Osborne Dapante
Senior Research Scholar
Yale University, Institution for Social and Political Studies
Phone: 203.432.6141
Email: beth.daponte@yale.edu
(Beth served as co-chair of the Technical Advisory Group for Hunger in America 2006 )

Beth Osborne Daponte is a Senior Research Scholar with ISPS and also holds appointments in the School of Management (Program on Non-Profit Organizations) and the Yale Center for International and Area Studies. Trained as a demographer/sociologist, she conducts research in three areas: Bayesian demography, welfare policy, and human rights. She has applied her work in Bayesian demography to the populations of South Africa, Lesotho, and Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. Her work on welfare policy focuses primarily on food assistance policies. She served as the vice-chair of the Technical Advisory Board for Second Harvest’s national study “Hunger in America 2001.” In the human rights arena, her research examines the impact of economic sanctions and war on populations, concentrating on Iraq. Dr. Daponte has received grants from the National Science Foundation, Joint Centers for Poverty Research, MacArthur Foundation, the Institute for Research on Poverty, the Jewish Healthcare Foundation, the Forbes Fund, Greenpeace International, and the U.S. State Department. Her articles have appeared or are forthcoming in Journal of the American Statistical Association, American Journal of Public Health, Journal of Human Resources, Journal of Poverty, Journal of Peace Research, PSR Quarterly, Jurimetrics, Regional Studies, and the Journal of Nutrition Education. Currently, she has support from the Institute for Research on Poverty to examine the relationship between domestic obesity trends and food policy, from the National Science Foundation to examine U.S. census undercount, and from the Joint Centers for Poverty Research to examine the relationship between food security and food assistance policies.

Kirk Johnson
Heritage Foundation
Senior Policy Analyst, Center for Data Analysis
Phone: 202.608.6148
Email: kirk.johnson@heritage.org

Kirk Johnson focuses on estimating the outcome of policies that affect low-income Americans. To that end, he focuses on welfare program participation issues, employment/labor policy, marriage, family, and education. His statistical models help answer the "what if" questions in welfare policy analysis.

His analysis and commentary has been featured in numerous media sources, including the Los Angeles Times, Investor's Business Daily, Forbes, Chicago Tribune, Washington Post, Miami Herald, Detroit Free Press, and the Fox News Channel, among others. Previously, he held positions at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, the U.S. Census Bureau, and George Mason University. Dr. Johnson holds a B.A. in economics from California State University, Sacramento, an M.S. in applied economics from the University of North Texas in Denton, and a Ph.D. in public policy from George Mason University.

LEAD RESEARCHERS

James C. Ohls
Senior Fellow and Area Leader for Food and Nutrition Policy
Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.
Phone: 609.799.3535
Email: JOhls@mathematica-mpr.com

James C. Ohls, Senior Fellow and Area Leader for Food and Nutrition Policy, at Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. has taken part in critical research in the area of nutrition policy for the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), the Economic Research Service (ERS), and other agencies since 1991. Ohls has an extensive background in economics and received his PhD in economics at the University of Pennsylvania and his bachelor’s degree in the same field at Harvard College. In 2001, Ohls was the principal investigator in the largest study of Americans seeking emergency food relief through the food banks and food rescue organizations of America's Second Harvest, The Nation’s Food Bank Network. In 2005, Ohls serves as one of the project’s leaders in a follow-up study to examine the food assistance agencies provide. America's Second Harvest’s Hunger Study 2006 compares the nature and prevalence of food insecurity over time and looks at the characteristics of people and households who use the emergency food relief services of America's Second Harvest, The Nation’s Food Bank Network.

For over three decades, Mathematica has conducted studies on nutrition, welfare, health care, employment, and education. Mathematica has particularly been a leader in evaluating and designing social policies in the area of nutrition policy. In that tradition, Ohls is currently the principal investigator in a feasibility study to create and test methodologies to evaluate the use of competitive foods such as a la carte food items and vending machines in schools. In addition, he is also project director of a senior food stamp participation demonstration evaluation testing various ways to increase the participation of seniors in the Food Stamp Program.

Rhoda R. Cohen
Senior Survey Researcher
Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.
Phone: 609.799.3535
Email: Rcohen@mathematica-mpr.com

Rhoda R. Cohen, Senior Survey Researcher, at Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. has taken part in critical research in the area of nutrition policy for the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), the Economic Research Service (ERS), and other agencies since 1979. Cohen has an extensive background in nutrition and received her master’s degree in food and nutrition and bachelor’s degree in human ecology at Cornell University. In 2001, Cohen served as project director in the largest study of Americans seeking emergency food relief through the network of food banks and food rescue organizations of America’s Second Harvest, The Nation’s Food Bank Network. As project director, Cohen was responsible for creating data collection instruments, sample frames, training materials, and training coordinators at various food banks. In 2005, Cohen serves as project leader in a follow-up study to examine the food assistance agencies provide. Hunger Study 2006 compares the nature and prevalence of food insecurity over time and looks at the characteristics of people and households who use the emergency food relief services of America's Second Harvest, The Nation’s Food Bank Network.