Emily Ventura, MPH, PhD, is a post-doctoral research associate in the USC Department of Preventive Medicine. Emily is currently funded under the USC Human Health Initiative to develop proposals which foster collaborations between the Childhood Obesity Research Center (CORC) and other schools at USC.

Emily recently completed her PhD with Dr. Michael Goran, and studied the relationship between dietary intake and the metabolic syndrome in overweight Latino youth. She also completed her MPH at USC and has a BA from Cornell University in Biology and Society, with a minor in Latin American Studies.

Over the last 5 years, Emily has been involved in the nutrition intervention component of TREC Project 1. Along with Dr. Jaimie Davis, Emily co-wrote the curriculum that was used for the 16 week intervention and published a paper on the metabolic outcomes associated with dietary change. Emily also serves as study coordinator for a maintenance phase of Project 1, led by PI Dr. Jaimie Davis, which examines changes in diet, physical activity, and metabolic health over 8 months following the intervention. As a TREC trainee, Emily has been involved with both the Training Group as well as the Nutrition Working Group.