HWRN Leadership and Staff

Linda Bandini, PhD, RD, is the Principal Investigator and a Co-Director of the HWRN. She is a Professor of Pediatrics at the UMass Chan Medical School and the Director of Nutrition of the UMass Chan Medical School-Shriver Center LEND Program. Dr. Bandini is also an Adjunct Clinical Professor in the Department of Health Sciences at Boston University. She has been involved in research on childhood obesity since 1984, conducting research on body composition and energy expenditure in typically developing children and children with developmental disabilities. Dr. Bandini’s recent research has focused on weight management, dietary intake and physical activity in youth with intellectual disabilities and autism spectrum disorder. About Dr. Bandini

Carol Curtin, PhD, LICSW, is a Co-Director of the HWRN. She is a Professor in the Departments of Family Medicine & Community Health and Psychiatry at the UMass Chan Medical School and is on faculty of the Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at the UMass Chan Medical School. Dr. Curtin is the Associate Director of the E.K. Shriver Center and the Director of its University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD) and Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (LEND) programs. She has 35+ years of experience providing clinical services to individuals with autism spectrum disorder/developmental disabilities and their family members, with expertise in family systems and the psychosocial dimensions of disability and health. About Dr. Curtin

Aviva Must, PhD, is a Co-Director of the HWRN. She is Morton A. Madoff Professor of Public Health & Community Health at Tufts University School of Medicine, and co-lead of the Tufts Institute of Global Obesity Research. Dr. Must is a nutritional epidemiologist and internationally recognized obesity researcher whose work has focused on risk factors and consequences of obesity across the lifespan. Her current research uses community-based participatory methods to study modifiable risk factors for obesity in youth in community settings, with a focus on vulnerable populations, including racial/ethnic minorities, immigrants, and special needs populations. Dr. Must brings expertise in nutritional epidemiology, obesity, study design, qualitative and quantitative methods, survey design, and secondary data analysis of complex surveys. About Dr. Must

Misha Eliasziw, PhD, is a member of the HWRN Steering Committee and HWRN Data Center. She is a senior biostatistician and Associate Professor in the Department of Public Health & Community Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine. Dr. Eliasziw has more than 30 years of experience in the application of mathematical and probabilistic methods to clinical and public health questions and expertise in the design, management, and analysis of cross-sectional, cohort studies, and clinical trials. She has over 200 peer reviewed articles across diverse medical and population health topics, including child health, disability, and nutrition. About Dr. Eliasziw

Jennifer Brooks is a Research Project Director at the UMass Chan Medical School, E.K. Shriver Center.

Donna Caira is an Administrative Assistant at the UMass Chan Medical School, E.K. Shriver Center.