The collaborative aims to serve as the leading research entity for Food is Medicine in South Carolina by conducting rigorous studies on FiM programs, training the next generation of investigators, and fostering partnerships that improve health equity and nutrition-related outcomes. Through regional collaboration and scientific leadership, the collaborative seeks to accelerate advancement of knowledge about the role of food in prevention and management of chronic disease and translation of evidence into practice and inform healthcare systems and Food is Medicine initiatives nationwide and globally.
Faculty
- Elizabeth Adams
- Christine Blake
- Edward Frongillo
- Danielle Krobath
- Angela Liese
- Caroline Rudisill
- Brie Turner-McGrievy
- Sara Wilcox
- Michael Wirth
Recent/Current Projects Categorized by the Food is Medicine Pyramid
- Linkages between nutritional outcomes and food and nutrition security (Frongillo)
- Intersection of Material-Need Insecurities and HIV and Cardiovascular Health (Frongillo)
- Understanding Community Obesity Initiatives and Informing Tailored Community Interventions to Reduce Childhood Obesity (Frongillo)
- DiCAYA: South Carolina Youth (Liese)
- Impact of Disparities in Food Security on Glycemic Control and Health Care Utilization Among Youth and Young Adults with Diabetes (Liese)
- Disparities in cardiovascular health in young adults with type 1 diabetes (Liese)
- Using Data to Drive Implementation – Stakeholder Perspectives on Screening and Addressing Social Determinants of Health at Prisma Health (Rudisill)Improving Health Outcomes through Collaborations to Address Food Access and Food Insecurity in a Large Healthcare System (Rudisill)
- Utilizing Prisma Health’s PLACES (Providing Linkages And Connections to External Social Support Services) Hub to Improve Health in Communities (Rudisill)
- Expanding the reach of the Nutritious Eating with Soul (NEW Soul) program: A Type 2 hybrid effectiveness-implementation trial (Turner-McGrievy)
- Integrating a Healthy Lifestyle Curriculum into Midlands Healthy Start Program for Low-Income Pregnant and Postpartum Women in South Carolina (Wilcox)
- Optimizing and Projecting Lifestyle Behavioral Interventions to Sustain Long-term Health Behaviors and Outcomes in Focus Populations (Yang & Chen – CoI Wilcox)
- Promoting Nutrition Security by Examining the Relationships between Food Insecurity and Nutrition and Health Indicators in Federal Data (Frongillo)
- What is the relationship of cross-program utilization of Medicaid, SNAP, and WIC with diet quality and weight status of low-income children? (Frongillo)
- Improving WIC Services: Identifying Children at Risk for Obesity in the First 24 Months of Life (Frongillo)
- The Spillover Effect of Medicaid Expansion on Children's Nutrition Security (Frongillo)
- Revealing Multilevel Determinants of Zip Code Level Racial and Ethnic Coverage Rates in WIC (Krobath)
- Increasing Use of SNAP Fruit and Vegetable Incentive Programs for Families with Food Insecurity (Adams)
- Pilot Study of the Nutrition-Enhanced Wellness for Diabetes Self-Management Program (NEW-DSMP) among Low-Income Adults with Type II Diabetes (Frongillo)
- What difference does it make? Learning from the stakeholders of the Weekend Food Program about their experiences of program participation (Frongillo)
- Food is Medicine: Randomized Trial of Medically Tailored Food Support for Diabetes Health (Frongillo)
- The Cardiac Recovery through Dietary Support (CaRDS) Study: Pragmatic randomized trial of medically tailored food support after hospitalization for heart failure exacerbation (Frongillo)
- ProMeSA: An urban gardening and peer nutritional counseling cluster-randomized controlled trial to improve HIV care outcomes among people with food insecurity in the Caribbean (Frongillo)
- Using CGM technology to assess acute impact of food insufficiency and food insecurity on glycemic control in persons with youth-onset type 1 and type 2 diabetes (Liese)
- Ensuring the cultural relevance of Dietary Guidelines diet patterns among African Americans: Increasing dietary quality and reducing type 2 diabetes risk (Turner-McGrievy)
- Optimizing Lifestyles through Increased Vegetable-Rich Eating (OLIVE) (Turner-McGrievy)
- Joint Effects of Diet Timing and Quality on Sleep, Weight Gain, and Hypertension among Women in the Health in Pregnancy and Postpartum Study (Wirth)
- Evaluation of the mediating and moderating effects of changes in sleep on the association between dietary inflammatory potential and cardiometabolic endpoints in the Buffalo Cardiometabolic Occupational Police Stress Cohort, with potential modification by shiftwork status (Wirth)
- Assessment of Between-day and Within-day Diet Quality and Nutrient Distribution among Nurses from the SHift-working Investigation of Fasting and Timing (SHIFT) of Diet Study (Wirth)
Bernhart JA, Turner-McGrievy GM, Bell A, Wilcox S, Rudisill AC, Duncan T, Peterson C, Etheredge J. Restaurant-based NEW Soul intervention with meal provision improves weight loss among African American adults versus meal provision alone. J Nutr. 2026 Sep 11:101826. doi: 10.1016/j.tjnut.2026.101826.
Bernhart JA, Bell A, Wilcox S, Rudisill AC, Etheredge J, Alexander G, Day D, Turner-McGrievy GM. Nutritious Eating with Soul Dissemination and Implementation Study: Design and methods of a type II hybrid effectiveness trial implemented in vegan restaurants. Contemporary Clinical Trials. 2026 Jun;165:108313. doi: 10.1016/j.cct.2026.108313.
Bernhart JA, Turner-McGrievy GM, Dubois KE, Sentman C, Rudisill C, Okpara N, Wilcox S, Clemons B. Community Health Worker Implementation and Cost-Analysis of a Plant-based Nutrition Program. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior. 2024 Apr;56(4):256–264. doi: 10.1016/j.jneb.2023.12.009.
Chayama KL, Lemus Hufstedler E, Whittle HJ, Nápoles TM, Seligman H, Madsen K, Frongillo EA, Weiser SD, Palar K. How food support improves mental health among people living with HIV: A qualitative study. PLoS One 18(3):e0282857, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0282857
Palar K, Napoles TM, Hufstedler LL, Seligman H, Hecht FM, Madsen K, Ryle M, Pitchford S, Frongillo EA, Weiser SD. Comprehensive and medically appropriate food support is associated with Improved HIV and diabetes health. Journal of Urban Health 94:87-99, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-016-0129-7.
Palar K, Sheira LA, Frongillo EA, O’Donnell AA, Nápoles TM, Ryle M, Pitchford S, Madsen K, Phillips B, Riley ED, Weiser SD. Food is Medicine for HIV: Improved health and hospitalizations in the Changing Health through Food Support (CHEFS-HIV) pragmatic randomized trial. Journal for Infectious Diseases jiae195, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jiae195
Turner-McGrievy GM, Wirth MD, Okpara N, Jones M, Kim Y, Wilcox S, Friedman DB, Sarzynski MA, Liese AD. Similar changes in diet quality indices, but not nutrients, among African American participants randomized to follow one of the three dietary patterns of the US Dietary Guidelines: A secondary analysis. Nutrition Research. 2024 Nov;131:27–38. doi: 10.1016/j.nutres.2024.09.005.
Turner-McGrievy GM, Wilcox S, Frongillo EA, Murphy EA, Hutto B, Wilson M, Davey M, Bernhart J, Okpara N, Bailey S, Hu E. Effect of a Plant-Based vs Omnivorous Soul Food Diet on Weight and Lipid Levels Among African American Adults: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Network Open. Jan 12, 2023;6(1):e2250626.
- Zack King, Director, Food is Medicine SC
- Carrie Draper, Senior Research Associate, FiMTAC
- Taylor Landford, Director of Nutrition Services, Meals on Wheels Greenville
- Omme-Salma Rahemtullah, Executive Director, FoodShare SC
- Nicole Echols, Chief Executive Officer, SC Cancer Alliance
- Vinita Leedom, Strategy and Evaluation Consultant, SC Cancer Alliance