Dr. Siega-Riz’s research focuses on the first 1000 days of life by understanding the influence of maternal weight status and dietary patterns/behaviors in the etiology of adverse pregnancy outcomes, including but not limited to, gestational diabetes, pregnancy induced hypertension, pre-eclampsia, preterm birth and inadequate or excessive gestational weight gain.  She is also exploring early determinants of childhood obesity in her currently funded Pregnancy Eating Attributes (PEAS) study funded by NICHD with colleagues at the University of North Carolina (http://www.peasweb.org).  Other research interests includes examining the dietary trends of Hispanics and the association between dietary patterns and health outcomes using the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL https://www2.cscc.unc.edu/hchs/), as well as determinants and consequences of food insecurity and the implications of food policy on health outcomes.

Dr. Siega-Riz recently served on the 2015 Dietary Guidelines Federal Advisory Committee and is a member of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Advisory Council.  She has served on five Institute of Medicine Committees including the revision of the WIC food packages, re-examining the gestational weight gain guidelines and its dissemination, standards for systematic reviews, and food allergies. In her career, Dr. Siega-Riz has received numerous distinguished awards such as the March of Dimes Agnes Higgins Award for Maternal and Fetal Nutrition (2007), the University of North Carolina Center for Women’s Health Research Award for Excellence (2004) and the American Public Health Association, Food and Nutrition Mary Egan Award (2000).  She has held key positions at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Gillings School of Public Health before coming to UVA among which include Associate Dean for Academic Affairs (2010-2015), program leader of the Reproductive, Perinatal and Pediatric Program in the Department of Epidemiology (2006-15), Associate Chair of Epidemiology (2008-2010), and Director of Nutrition Epidemiology Core, Nutrition Obesity Research Center (2003-2010). She has successfully supervised many students at all levels.

Dr. Siega-Riz holds a BSPH from the University of North Carolina School of Public Health, a MS in Food, Nutrition & Food Service Management from UNC Greensboro, and a PhD in Nutrition with a minor in Epidemiology from the University of North Carolina School of Public Health. She held the credentials of a registered dietitian from 1983-2014.

At UVA, she is helping to establish a pregnancy database with colleagues in obstetrics and nursing that will serve as bio-repository for future studies related to the first 1000 days mission. She will be teaching a new course examining the health disadvantage of the US compared to other high-income countries in Spring 2017.