Chidimma Okoli, MPH, PhD candidate

2026 RECIPIENT

ACHF Student Travel Award

Chidimma Okoli is a third-year PhD candidate in epidemiology at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where she also earned her MPH with a concentration in epidemiology in 2023. She currently serves as a graduate research assistant and data analyst with the 49ers Experiences Around Food research team, contributing to projects that examine food access and diet-related behaviors among college students. Her dissertation research focuses on food insecurity, diet quality, and the broader systems that shape psychosocial health behaviors during transitional periods of life, particularly among college students and young adults. She is especially interested in how environments, policies, and social contexts influence everyday decisions about food and how these patterns accumulate to shape long-term health outcomes.

Chidimma is honored to attend the 2026 ACHA Annual Meeting as a recipient of the ACHF Student Travel Funding Award. This support will enable her to fully engage in the conference, learn best practices for translating research into campus-based interventions, and build meaningful connections within the ACHA and ACHF community. She looks forward to applying these insights to strengthen food insecurity–focused wellness initiatives on her campus and beyond.