Congratulations Dr. Sastre!

Dr. Lauren Sastre, assistant professor, Department of Nutrition Science, was recently awarded a Diversity and Inclusion Research and Scholarship (DIRS) Program from the ECU Office of Equity and Diversity for her project “Culinary Medicine and Diabetes Management – Where are the tortillas?”

Dr. Sastre is the principal investigator for the Fresh Start Program, funded by the Duke Endowment. The Fresh Start Program is a diabetes management program with a focus on nutrition, culinary medicine and lifestyle support. For this new award, Dr. Sastre will explore the traditional/cultural dietary practices, preferences, and also diabetes management knowledge, interests, and needs for uninsured, Latinx/Hispanic patients through a series of focus groups. She and her team will use the feedback to develop culturally tailored and targeted recipes, and materials for her Fresh Start program. They will develop a complimentary version of the program’s group classes (which include culinary medicine, nutrition education and physical activity) specifically for the Latinx/Hispanic patient participant base.

The piloting of this new adapted version of the Fresh Start program for patient participants will be evaluated for program effectiveness during Spring 2023.

Congratulations Dr. Sastre!