Roger Figueroa, Ph.D., M.P.H., M.Sc.
@rogerfigphd.bsky.social
Assistant professor of Social and Behavioral Science in Nutrition at Cornell University.
After 5+ years of hard work, I am excited to share our new open-access publication in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine Focus synthesizing recent evidence on barriers and facilitators to participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Woman, Infants, and Children (WIC).
Barriers and Enablers to WIC Participation: Review of Evidence From Studies Published Between 2019 and 2024
The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)
supports low-income mothers and children aged <5 years in the U.S. with nutrition
and healthcare resources; however, n...
www.ajpmfocus.org
December 2, 2025 at 12:35 PM
After 5+ years of hard work, I am excited to share our new open-access publication in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine Focus synthesizing recent evidence on barriers and facilitators to participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Woman, Infants, and Children (WIC).
Reposted by Roger Figueroa, Ph.D., M.P.H., M.Sc.
Brooke Rollins has made a case for sweeping changes to food aid programs by claiming USDA has uncovered "massive fraud." But she and USDA haven't provided the underlying data or any evidence.
The agriculture secretary says SNAP changes are coming. Here's what we know
Brooke Rollins has made a case for sweeping changes to food aid programs by claiming USDA has uncovered "massive fraud." But she and USDA haven't provided the underlying data or any evidence.
n.pr
December 1, 2025 at 10:13 PM
Brooke Rollins has made a case for sweeping changes to food aid programs by claiming USDA has uncovered "massive fraud." But she and USDA haven't provided the underlying data or any evidence.
Reposted by Roger Figueroa, Ph.D., M.P.H., M.Sc.
The Boston Globe identified the companies in Massachusetts that employ the most SNAP recipients. A key stat: "In Massachusetts, 74% of working-age recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program are employed, half of them full-time."
Full article: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/28/m...
Full article: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/28/m...
November 29, 2025 at 3:55 PM
The Boston Globe identified the companies in Massachusetts that employ the most SNAP recipients. A key stat: "In Massachusetts, 74% of working-age recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program are employed, half of them full-time."
Full article: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/28/m...
Full article: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/28/m...
I was featured in this recent podcast episode of @npr.org Short Wave on how hunger and food insecurity affect individuals and whole societies.
www.npr.org/2025/11/24/n...
www.npr.org/2025/11/24/n...
Here’s how hunger and food insecurity affect individuals – and whole societies : Short Wave
One in every eight households in the U.S. isn’t always sure where the next meal will come from. Limited food access can spell hunger – and that can affect the body and mind. So can cheaper, less nutri...
www.npr.org
November 28, 2025 at 10:07 PM
I was featured in this recent podcast episode of @npr.org Short Wave on how hunger and food insecurity affect individuals and whole societies.
www.npr.org/2025/11/24/n...
www.npr.org/2025/11/24/n...
Reposted by Roger Figueroa, Ph.D., M.P.H., M.Sc.
Weekend food for thought: The USDA’s unrelenting opposition to SNAP
The USDA is engaged in a concerted effort to reduce enrollment in SNAP, even though people who qualify are entitled to benefits. Assigning food stamps (SNAP) to the USDA was a mistake from the get go, but once SNAP was part of the…
The USDA is engaged in a concerted effort to reduce enrollment in SNAP, even though people who qualify are entitled to benefits. Assigning food stamps (SNAP) to the USDA was a mistake from the get go, but once SNAP was part of the…
Weekend food for thought: The USDA’s unrelenting opposition to SNAP
The USDA is engaged in a concerted effort to reduce enrollment in SNAP, even though people who qualify are entitled to benefits. Assigning food stamps (SNAP) to the USDA was a mistake from the get go, but once SNAP was part of the Farm Bill it seemed to make sense. SNAP takes up most of the USDA's budget, the blue in this figure.
www.foodpolitics.com
November 21, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Weekend food for thought: The USDA’s unrelenting opposition to SNAP
The USDA is engaged in a concerted effort to reduce enrollment in SNAP, even though people who qualify are entitled to benefits. Assigning food stamps (SNAP) to the USDA was a mistake from the get go, but once SNAP was part of the…
The USDA is engaged in a concerted effort to reduce enrollment in SNAP, even though people who qualify are entitled to benefits. Assigning food stamps (SNAP) to the USDA was a mistake from the get go, but once SNAP was part of the…
Reposted by Roger Figueroa, Ph.D., M.P.H., M.Sc.
Even as SNAP benefits are restored, food banks and pantries around the nation continue to feel the strain with no reprieve in sight. n.pr/4oOIUEl
Food banks, already strained, brace for prolonged demand
Even as SNAP benefits are restored, food banks and pantries around the nation continue to feel the strain with no reprieve in sight.
n.pr
November 20, 2025 at 6:31 PM
Even as SNAP benefits are restored, food banks and pantries around the nation continue to feel the strain with no reprieve in sight. n.pr/4oOIUEl
Reposted by Roger Figueroa, Ph.D., M.P.H., M.Sc.
Poverty is a policy choice. Concentrated wealth is a policy choice. Inequality is a policy choice. None of it is natural or inevitable. Remember: We have the power to build a system that serves the many, not the powerful few.
November 19, 2025 at 9:01 PM
Poverty is a policy choice. Concentrated wealth is a policy choice. Inequality is a policy choice. None of it is natural or inevitable. Remember: We have the power to build a system that serves the many, not the powerful few.
Reposted by Roger Figueroa, Ph.D., M.P.H., M.Sc.
This open-access article by @abregoleisy.bsky.social and Lucia León is an incredibly useful overview of how immigration policies shape families' lives. Great reference for scholars, students, policymakers, journalists – everyone, really.
www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...
www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...
Impacts of Immigration Policies on Families
US immigration policies have profound impacts on immigrant families. In a robust field of study across disciplines, scholars have documented how the multi-layered, complex immigration regime opens and...
www.annualreviews.org
November 17, 2025 at 7:02 PM
This open-access article by @abregoleisy.bsky.social and Lucia León is an incredibly useful overview of how immigration policies shape families' lives. Great reference for scholars, students, policymakers, journalists – everyone, really.
www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...
www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...
Reposted by Roger Figueroa, Ph.D., M.P.H., M.Sc.
Want to make your science heard beyond academia? Join us Nov 19 for the SBM webinar: “Science in Plain Language: Writing, Speaking, and Engaging Beyond Academia.”
✅ Learn how to simplify your findings
✅ Pitch op-eds that matter
✅ Engage the public & policy audiences
🔗 www.sbm.org/training...
✅ Learn how to simplify your findings
✅ Pitch op-eds that matter
✅ Engage the public & policy audiences
🔗 www.sbm.org/training...
November 13, 2025 at 9:17 PM
Want to make your science heard beyond academia? Join us Nov 19 for the SBM webinar: “Science in Plain Language: Writing, Speaking, and Engaging Beyond Academia.”
✅ Learn how to simplify your findings
✅ Pitch op-eds that matter
✅ Engage the public & policy audiences
🔗 www.sbm.org/training...
✅ Learn how to simplify your findings
✅ Pitch op-eds that matter
✅ Engage the public & policy audiences
🔗 www.sbm.org/training...
Reposted by Roger Figueroa, Ph.D., M.P.H., M.Sc.
The Applied Exercise Science at the Univ Michigan has launched two searches for tenure-line (open-rank) and clinical (asst/assoc prof) faculty colleagues with expertise in the Social and Behavioral Sciences of Physical Activity.
November 12, 2025 at 3:04 PM
The Applied Exercise Science at the Univ Michigan has launched two searches for tenure-line (open-rank) and clinical (asst/assoc prof) faculty colleagues with expertise in the Social and Behavioral Sciences of Physical Activity.
I was featured in this recent story by Richard Haller from @ncprnews.bsky.social on the challenges that Head Start and eligible families in Warren County (NY) are experiencing amid the federal government shutdown.
www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/story/5...
www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/story/5...
Head Start in Warren County could close its doors amid shutdown funding delays
The federal childcare program is stuck in limbo as the government shutdown continues.
www.northcountrypublicradio.org
November 12, 2025 at 2:58 AM
I was featured in this recent story by Richard Haller from @ncprnews.bsky.social on the challenges that Head Start and eligible families in Warren County (NY) are experiencing amid the federal government shutdown.
www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/story/5...
www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/story/5...
Reposted by Roger Figueroa, Ph.D., M.P.H., M.Sc.
Op-ed: SNAP reduces hunger, lifts children out of poverty, improves health outcomes, and supports local economies. It is one of the most effective anti-poverty tools this country has ever created.
Op-ed: SNAP Is a Lifeline. I Know Firsthand.
SNAP reduces hunger, lifts children out of poverty, improves health outcomes, and supports local economies.
buff.ly
November 12, 2025 at 12:00 AM
Op-ed: SNAP reduces hunger, lifts children out of poverty, improves health outcomes, and supports local economies. It is one of the most effective anti-poverty tools this country has ever created.
Reposted by Roger Figueroa, Ph.D., M.P.H., M.Sc.
Reporters from the NPR Network are covering the uncertainty and lapse in benefits in states across the country.
When SNAP benefits will arrive is still in flux. Here's what communities are doing to fill the gap
Reporters from the NPR Network are covering the uncertainty and lapse in benefits in states across the country.
n.pr
November 7, 2025 at 12:25 AM
Reporters from the NPR Network are covering the uncertainty and lapse in benefits in states across the country.
Similar to the Responsible Conduct of Research trainings, where are the Responsible Conduct of GenAI use ones? Is there such a thing yet?
November 6, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Similar to the Responsible Conduct of Research trainings, where are the Responsible Conduct of GenAI use ones? Is there such a thing yet?
Reposted by Roger Figueroa, Ph.D., M.P.H., M.Sc.
BOSTON (AP) — Judges order the federal government to use contingency funds for SNAP food aid payments during the shutdown.
October 31, 2025 at 6:07 PM
BOSTON (AP) — Judges order the federal government to use contingency funds for SNAP food aid payments during the shutdown.
Reposted by Roger Figueroa, Ph.D., M.P.H., M.Sc.
Some 42 million people in the U.S. who rely on SNAP benefits could soon join the already long lines at the nation's food banks and pantries that are also serving struggling federal workers. n.pr/436mKVB
Photos: Food banks scramble to get ready as SNAP funding deadline looms
Some 42 million people in the U.S. who rely on SNAP benefits could soon join the already long lines at the nation's food banks and pantries that are also serving struggling federal workers.
n.pr
October 31, 2025 at 5:51 PM
Some 42 million people in the U.S. who rely on SNAP benefits could soon join the already long lines at the nation's food banks and pantries that are also serving struggling federal workers. n.pr/436mKVB
Reposted by Roger Figueroa, Ph.D., M.P.H., M.Sc.
Canvas, the course management platform used by my university (and many others), has been down all day due to the AWS outage. It has prompted some good discussions about how much critical infrastructure is now outsourced to a few companies.
Amazon Web Services outage shows internet users ‘at mercy’ of too few providers, experts say
Amazon Web Services outage shows internet users ‘at mercy’ of too few providers, experts say
Crash that hit apps and websites around world demonstrates ‘urgent need for diversification in cloud computing’
*
Business live – latest updates
Experts have warned of the perils of relying on a small number of companies for operating the global internet after a glitch at Amazon’s cloud computing service brought down apps and websites around the world.
The affected platforms included Snapchat, Roblox, Signal and Duolingo as well as a host of Amazon-owned operations including its main retail site and the Ring doorbell company. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
October 20, 2025 at 6:41 PM
Canvas, the course management platform used by my university (and many others), has been down all day due to the AWS outage. It has prompted some good discussions about how much critical infrastructure is now outsourced to a few companies.
Reposted by Roger Figueroa, Ph.D., M.P.H., M.Sc.
$1.2 trillion divided by 342 million pop. = $3,509 per person in the United States.
The 400 richest Americans are now worth a record $6.6 trillion, after getting $1.2 trillion richer over the past year alone.
Meanwhile, the rest of the country is getting squeezed by tariffs and high prices for groceries, utilities, and health care.
The system is broken.
Meanwhile, the rest of the country is getting squeezed by tariffs and high prices for groceries, utilities, and health care.
The system is broken.
October 19, 2025 at 3:44 PM
$1.2 trillion divided by 342 million pop. = $3,509 per person in the United States.
Reposted by Roger Figueroa, Ph.D., M.P.H., M.Sc.
For #WorldFoodDay today, Metcalf Institute is gearing up for our Fall Lecture next Thursday — Equity on the Table: A Conversation about Public Health, Food Access, and Climate Change! We checked in with panelist @rogerfigphd.bsky.social of @cornelluniversity.bsky.social
www.uri.edu/news/2025/10...
www.uri.edu/news/2025/10...
October 16, 2025 at 3:07 PM
For #WorldFoodDay today, Metcalf Institute is gearing up for our Fall Lecture next Thursday — Equity on the Table: A Conversation about Public Health, Food Access, and Climate Change! We checked in with panelist @rogerfigphd.bsky.social of @cornelluniversity.bsky.social
www.uri.edu/news/2025/10...
www.uri.edu/news/2025/10...
Reposted by Roger Figueroa, Ph.D., M.P.H., M.Sc.
Happening today @1pm ET. Join the discussion if you're able! I'll be starting things off with grounding thoughts on Medicaid & structural racism. The conversation to follow will center on strategies community-based orgs can take to keep folks on Medicaid.
meetattheintersection.org/a-crucial-mo...
meetattheintersection.org/a-crucial-mo...
A Crucial Moment for Medicaid: How to Help – The Intersection Where Anti-Racism and Healthcare Meet
meetattheintersection.org
October 16, 2025 at 4:52 PM
Happening today @1pm ET. Join the discussion if you're able! I'll be starting things off with grounding thoughts on Medicaid & structural racism. The conversation to follow will center on strategies community-based orgs can take to keep folks on Medicaid.
meetattheintersection.org/a-crucial-mo...
meetattheintersection.org/a-crucial-mo...
Reposted by Roger Figueroa, Ph.D., M.P.H., M.Sc.
They're framing it as a way to share data and messages about threats, emergency preparedness and public health policy at a time when the federal government isn't doing its job in public health. n.pr/48PdMQj
Democratic governors form a public health alliance in a rebuke of Trump
They're framing it as a way to share data and messages about threats, emergency preparedness and public health policy at a time when the federal government isn't doing its job in public health.
n.pr
October 15, 2025 at 6:58 PM
They're framing it as a way to share data and messages about threats, emergency preparedness and public health policy at a time when the federal government isn't doing its job in public health. n.pr/48PdMQj
“There’s no single playbook for resilience. It’s built through a combination of reflection, reprioritization, and readiness.”
How to Lead When the Conditions for Success Suddenly Disappear
hbr.org/2025/10/how-...
How to Lead When the Conditions for Success Suddenly Disappear
hbr.org/2025/10/how-...
How to Lead When the Conditions for Success Suddenly Disappear
In today’s volatile environment, the conditions for success rarely stay static. Sponsors move on. Budgets shrink. Regulations change. The leaders who endure aren’t those who cling to the original desi...
hbr.org
October 14, 2025 at 4:15 PM
“There’s no single playbook for resilience. It’s built through a combination of reflection, reprioritization, and readiness.”
How to Lead When the Conditions for Success Suddenly Disappear
hbr.org/2025/10/how-...
How to Lead When the Conditions for Success Suddenly Disappear
hbr.org/2025/10/how-...
Reposted by Roger Figueroa, Ph.D., M.P.H., M.Sc.
The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, also known as WIC, will run out of federal money within two weeks unless the government shutdown ends, experts say. The food aid program helps more than 6 million low-income mothers and young children.
Government shutdown threatens food aid program relied on by millions of families
Experts say a food aid program that helps 6 million low-income mothers and young children will run out of federal money unless the government shutdown ends within two weeks.
bit.ly
October 6, 2025 at 5:00 PM
The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, also known as WIC, will run out of federal money within two weeks unless the government shutdown ends, experts say. The food aid program helps more than 6 million low-income mothers and young children.
Reposted by Roger Figueroa, Ph.D., M.P.H., M.Sc.
Are you a scientist, journalist, or civil society researcher studying New York State's distraction-free school policy, the one that bans internet-enabled devices in schools from bell to bell?
If so, I want to hear from you, as I refine a project to archive & classify published school policies.
If so, I want to hear from you, as I refine a project to archive & classify published school policies.
October 4, 2025 at 9:48 PM
Are you a scientist, journalist, or civil society researcher studying New York State's distraction-free school policy, the one that bans internet-enabled devices in schools from bell to bell?
If so, I want to hear from you, as I refine a project to archive & classify published school policies.
If so, I want to hear from you, as I refine a project to archive & classify published school policies.
Reposted by Roger Figueroa, Ph.D., M.P.H., M.Sc.
Pick one or two lanes and keep at it. You are one person and cannot do everything or take 10 actions a day.
October 2, 2025 at 9:56 PM
Pick one or two lanes and keep at it. You are one person and cannot do everything or take 10 actions a day.