Jennifer Otten PhD, RD

Jennifer J. Otten, Ph.D., R.D., is an associate professor and food systems director in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences and core faculty in the Nutritional Sciences Program at the University of Washington School of Public Health. Her research focus is at the intersection of food systems, population health, and nutrition. She is engaged in research on the impacts of policies and the policy process on diet-related health behaviors and health outcomes; food systems, including how COVID-19 impacted state and community-level food systems, food access, and food security; and, on understanding and improving the ways in which research gets to the public policy table. Between 1998-2006, Otten served in various capacities for the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in Washington, DC, including as a study director and as the organization's first communications director. During this time, Otten served as study director and co-editor for the report titled Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs): The Essential Guide to Nutrient Requirements. Dr. Otten received her B.S. in nutritional sciences from Texas A&M University, her M.S. in nutrition communications from Tufts University, and her Ph.D. in animal, nutrition, and food sciences from the University of Vermont.

jotten@uw.edu