The Children's Sentinel Nutrition Assessment Program (C-SNAP) is a multi-site, evidence based research endeavor to monitor the health and wellbeing of young children in relation to public policy.
Philadelphia is one of seven sites.
The sites are:
Boston Medical Center
Deborah Frank, MD and Alan Meyers, MD, MPH, Principal Investigators
John Cook, PhD, Research Scientist
Hennepin County Medical Center, Minneapolis, MN
Diana Cutts, MD, Principal Investigator
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR
Patrick Casey, MD, Principal Investigator
University of Maryland Medical Center, Baltimore, MD
Maureen Black, PhD, Principal Investigator
St Christopher's Hospital for Children, Philadelphia, PA
Mariana Chilton, PhD, MPH Principal Investigator |
Currently inactive sites
Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA
Carol Berkowitz, MD, Principal Investigator
Mary's Center for Maternal and Child Care, Washington, DC
Nieves Zaldivar, MD, Principal Investigator
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Some Philadelphia GROW Clinic and C-SNAP Team Members
C-SNAP Philadelphia is directed through Drexel University School of Public Health & St. Christopher's Hospital For Children.
For specific contact information, click on the person's name or simply visit this page.
Mariana Chilton, PhD, MPH
Principal Investigator, C-SNAP Philadelphia
Principal Investigator, The Philadelphia GROW Project
Mariana Chilton received her AB from Harvard University, her PhD in Folklore and Folklife from the University of Pennsylvania and her MPH in epidemiology from the University of Oklahoma. One of her research areas of interest includes assessing the health impacts of hunger and food insecurity in the Philadelphia area. This community-based research focuses on women and children, nutritional status and human rights. Dr. Chilton is now the Principal Investigator of the Philadelphia GROW Project. This project provides multidisciplinary services for children with failure to thrive at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children, and consists of a research endeavor that tracks the wellbeing of infants and toddlers in relation to their caregivers' participation in federal assistance programs. She currently teaches Health
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Health program, and Health and Human Rights in the Doctoral Program (DrPH).
Edward Gracely, PhD
GROW Clinic Biostatistician
Edward Gracely earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees from Temple University. His MA and PhD are in Quantitative Psychology. As well as teaching biostatistics to public health and medical school students at Drexel, Dr. Gracely will be contributing his skills as an expert biostatistician to the GROW project. His analyses will allow for the continual process of evaluation and quality control of the GROW clinic. Dr. Gracely's research interests include statistics education and ethical philosophy. |
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Jennifer Breaux, MPH, CHES
Research Coordinator
Jennifer Breaux received her MPH in 2004 from the Drexel University School of Public Health and her BS in Exercise Science from Rutgers University. During her MPH studies, Ms. Breaux began her work with Dr. Chilton which continues to this day, where she began researching and working on issues related to food insecurity, hunger and obesity. She is currently research coordinator for C-SNAP, the research arm of the Philadelphia GROW Project. In addition to her work with GROW, Ms. Breaux is also pursuing her doctorate degree in Public Health. A firm believer in the mind/body connection, Jen practices yoga and pilates to deal with the stressors associated with school, work and life.
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Emily DePaul, MPH
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Project Coordinator
Emily received her BS in Biology from Villanova University and graduatated in 2007 from Drexel University School of Public Health with an MPH. She did both her practicum project and Master's Thesis at the GROW Clinic. She is very excited to continue her work with GROW as the Project Coordinator and loves working with the clinic patients. Emily coordinates many of the Clinic research efforts and she recently started the Clinic Parent Support Group. Emily enjoys spending time with her friends and family, running and going down the shore!
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Katherine Adam
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Outreach Coordinator
Katherine Adam is the Outreach Coordinator for the Philadelphia GROW Project, conducting interviews in the Emergency Department at St. Christopher's Hospital, and working directly with families identified as experiencing hunger or basic needs problems. Most recently, she is co-author (with Prof. Charles Derber of Boston College) of The New Feminized Majority, which will be published by Paradigm in April 2008. She is an honors graduate of Boston College. |
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| Rosa DaCosta
Project Coordinator, Real Cost of Healthy Diet
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Rosa DaCosta received her BS in Biology from the University of Massachusetts. Currently, she is pursuing her MPH with a concentration in Community Health and Prevention at Drexel University School of Public Health. Rosa is the Project Coordinator of the Real Cost of the Healthy Diet, a project that looks at the availability and affordability of healthy food in low income neighborhoods in Philadelphia. She specifically looks at the feasibility of the Thrifty Food Plan, which is the low cost meal plan and the basis of food stamp allotments. She enjoys meeting other food experts and working with youth in Philadelphia through this research. Rosa also contributes to the C-SNAP research through interviewing in the ER at St. Christopher's Hospital. In her free time, Rosa enjoys spending time with her friends and family, especially her neices, Kyah, Shayla and Sydney. |
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Ian Peters
Web Designer
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Ian Peters received his Bachelor degrees in Philosophy and Molecular Biology from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2005. He works with Dr. Chilton to write the GROW highlights and newsletters. He keeps the site up to date by using his computer skills. He is proficient in JavaScript, Adobe Flash, and C++. As well as working for GROW, Mr. Peters is a tutor for the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) for Drexel. Mr. Peters enjoys eating Thai food whenever possible and brews dark beers as a past-time. |
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Ravi Kalwani
Research Assistant
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Ravi Kalwani graduated from Boston College in 2005 and has been working for the C-SNAP research team for the past year. He has enjoyed his time learning about issues of public assistance in the context of food insecurity. He wants to use what he's learned in the Emergency Department at St. Chris as well as in the GROW Clinic to become a doctor that considers all elements, physical, social, and mental, in treating patients. He enjoys ginger ale and Wes Anderson films |
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2008 Drexel University School of Public Health Practicum Students
Amber Sterling-Advocacy Practicum Student
Christina Council-C-SNAP Practicum Student
Wendy Kim Le-Clinic Practicum Student
Word travels...and so does the GROW Project!
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Dr. Chilton and Rosa DaCosta smile after a long day of learning and presenting at the Black Caucus in Washington DC. Dr. Chilton was asked to speak on an expert panel with Chaka Fattah and Judge Mathis called, Transform Our Children: From Poverty to Prosperity. Dr. Chilton's testimony on findings on child poverty from the GROW Project research contributed to the larger discussion of designing a plan to advocate for very young children through policy. |
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Dr. Hans Kersten speaks about the developmental risks of undernutrition during his testimony at
Governer Rendell's January 2007 Blueprint to End Hunger in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. |
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