Tabashir Nobari, PhD, MPH, is an affiliate at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research and an associate professor in the Department of Public Health at California State University, Fullerton.

Nobari’s longstanding interest is preventing socioeconomic and racial/ethnic health inequities among young children and college students by addressing health equity barriers through social programs and policies. Her research focuses on the social determinants of health, particularly food insecurity, housing insecurity, homelessness, and adverse childhood experiences. Nobari uses both quantitative and qualitative research methods to understand the impact of policies and programs on college students’ basic needs and early childhood obesity. She focuses on preventing inequities in obesity and food insecurity among young children and college students by addressing health equity barriers (housing insecurity and poverty) through food assistance programs (CalFresh, WIC) and policies. 

Nobari is a co-investigator on a USDA-funded study to examine the policies, systems, and environments related to access to food at Minority-Serving Institutions. She is co-PI on an NSF-funded study to develop smart technologies for previously unhoused residents of Permanent Supportive Housing in Orange County. She is also a member of the board of directors for Nourish California, an advocacy group working to ensure that all Californians with low income can access the food they need and want.

Nobari earned her doctorate in community health sciences at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health and her master’s in public health in international epidemiology at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She completed her postdoc with PHFE-WIC, the largest local agency in the nation for the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children.  

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