Darcy Freedman, PhD, MPH, has been named Director of the Mary Ann Swetland Center for Environmental Health at Case Western Reserve University. She also has been recognized with the Mary Ann Swetland Endowed Chair in Environmental Health Sciences.
Under Dr. Freedman’s direction, the Swetland Center will lead community-engaged research focused on the complex interplay between environment and health. The team investigates environmental determinants of health inequities and translates findings into policies and practices that promote community and population health.
Dr. Freedman is an Associate Professor in the Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences (PQHS) within the CWRU School of Medicine. PQHS is now the administrative home of the Swetland Center. She also is a member of the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Since joining CWRU in 2013, Dr. Freedman has successfully grown a highly regarded research program focused on the intersection of health equity and community nutrition, securing funding from the National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research, among others. She also contributes as a team scientist to university-wide initiatives such as the Cleveland Clinical and Translational Science Collaborative and the CWRU Center for Reducing Health Disparities and Prevention Research Center for Healthy Neighborhoods.
Dr. Freedman is nationally recognized for her scientific contributions to community nutrition. Her technology, FM Tracks, is now the gold standard method used nationally to evaluate healthy food incentive programming. She regularly advises and testifies to inform federal, state, and local nutrition policy. Dr. Freedman was awarded the Sarah Samuels Memorial Award for Outstanding Contributions to Advocacy, Policy, and Evaluation for Public Health Nutrition by the American Public Health Association. She currently serves as Co-Chair of the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Food Policy Coalition.