Spencer Robinson

Spencer (he/him) is a Master of Public Health student in the Health & Social Behavior program at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He was drawn to Professor Kenney’s research which leverages federal food assistance programs and food policy to improve the food security and nutrition environments of children. His interests center on addressing racial disparities in the interlinked issues of food insecurity and diet-related disease. Among other projects, he is currently investigating childhood exposures to digital food and beverage advertising through the Child Advertising and Product Placement Study (Kids APPS).

Spencer’s journey into public health began when he taught a summer course to middle school students on public health topics encompassing COVID, nutrition, mental health and structural racism. During the pandemic Spencer worked at the Food as Medicine Collaborative in San Francisco where he supported African American patients with hypertension control through a program called Food Pharmacy. He later helped launch the San Francisco Marin Food Bank’s first community food hub – providing free culturally relevant foods as well as recipes and nutrition education in English, Mandarin and Spanish. Informed by his prior experiences, Spencer seeks to employ a community-based participatory research approach via cultivating ongoing relationships with community partners and co-developing effective nutrition interventions with appropriate community-specific adaptations.

Spencer completed a B.S. in Biology and a minor in Earth Systems at Stanford University where he wrote his senior thesis on the function of genes involved in plant immune responses. Outside of academia, Spencer enjoys volunteering at youth development programs and community farms. He enjoys soccer, dancing, and cooking.

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