This week’s Faculty Spotlight shines on pediatrician Melissa Kay, PhD, MS, MPH, RD. Kay talks to us about how she first became interested in pediatric nutrition while pursuing dual master's degrees in Public Health and Food Policy & Applied Nutrition at Tufts University; her insights into the current challenges and opportunities in the area of early life obesity prevention, specifically developing new ways to use technology; and the knowledge she gained from her most significant mentor, Dr. Alice Ammerman. She also talks about her many diverse passions and hobbies outside of Duke, including family and running.
How long have you been at Duke? How did you decide to come here?
I just celebrated my 5-year anniversary at Duke. I came here in 2017 for a joint post doc with the Duke Digital Health Science Center and the Duke Center for Childhood Obesity Research. My post doc focused on using digital technologies to support behavior change, specifically behaviors related to early life obesity prevention.
What are your current responsibilities in the Department of Pediatrics? What does your typical day look like?
My responsibilities include mentoring/teaching undergraduate and graduate students, conducting research and publishing results, and providing public, departmental, and university service. I usually start each day early, before everyone is up, to get some writing done. The rest of my day often includes a lot of meetings: project meetings, educational meetings and webinars, and check-ins with staff. I am part of a variety of projects in various stages, so some days are full of brainstorming ideas for project development and implementation, while others I might get lost in STATA, diving into the data to uncover our project’s story.
How and when did you initially become interested in medicine? What made you decide to pursue a career in general pediatrics and adolescent health?
My commitment to a career in early life obesity prevention began while pursing dual master’s degrees in Public Health and Food Policy & Applied Nutrition at Tufts University. Given my specific interests in nutrition, I concurrently acquired credentials from Simmons College to become a Registered Dietitian. My first exposure to early life nutrition and treating the mother and child as a dyad was during an internship through Tufts at the Pediatric Nutrition Unit of Mulago National Hospital in Uganda. While treating the child was paramount, teaching mothers how to feed their children a balanced diet was the primary mode to rehabilitation and discharge. Later, as a dietitian at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, I counseled children and families seeking treatment for overnutrition and similarly recognized the importance of engaging mothers to elicit effective treatment. After a 3-year fellowship with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention supporting community-based programs aimed at increasing access to healthy foods, I realized a career in research focused on obesity prevention was what I wanted to pursue. I continued my education at the University of North Carolina’s Gillings School of Global Public Health where I received a PhD in Nutrition Interventions and Policy with a minor in Epidemiology.
Can you tell us about the research you are currently involved in?
My focus currently is my KL2 award focused on using digital technologies to support responsive infant feeding strategies among mothers enrolled in WIC. In addition, I am a co-I on a variety of pretty cool projects. During project development, I led the digital team for the Greenlight Plus Study, a randomized trial at six academic pediatric primary care clinics to assess the efficacy of a low-literacy/numeracy-oriented obesity prevention intervention among children aged 0-2 years. I am also a co-I for a PCORI-funded trial at Temple; I serve as a digital health/nutrition expert for Change of Heart, a hybrid type I effectiveness-implementation trial to reduce disparities in perinatal cardiovascular disease risk factors among Black women. Under the direction of Dr. Gary Bennett (PI), I am co-I on Nourish, an RCT using digital health to improve diet quality among adults at risk for cardiovascular disease. We also just completed Charge, a multi-phase optimization trial (MOST) to test the effectiveness of text messaging components for weight loss; and Balance, a pragmatic, patient-randomized controlled effectiveness weight gain prevention trial for community health center patients with overweight and obesity. Lastly, I am working with some analysts at WestStat to assess diet quality in a national sample of toddlers who participated in the WIC Infant and Toddlers Feeding Practices Study – 2.
Who was your most significant mentor and what knowledge did you gain through collaboration?
I have been fortunate to have many wonderful mentors throughout my academic career. However, my most significant mentor is Dr. Alice Ammerman. Dr. Ammerman is a Professor of Nutrition in the Gillings School of Global Public Health at UNC and Director of the UNC Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention. Alice was one of my mentors during my CDC fellowship. Working with her and her team sparked my interest in research. She is the reason I embarked on a PhD program. Alice is also an RD like myself, and she taught me ways to use that skillset while creating public health focused interventions. Alice has a quiet and determined style to her, she is incredibly accomplished but so easy to approach and engage with. After a conversation with Alice, you are sure to leave feeling inspired. It’s a skill I hope to impart on my future mentees.
What do you enjoy most about your work?
The community members I work with. I learn something new each time I interact with them. I love that I get to interact with such a variety of people through the various projects I am a part of and have the opportunity to learn and grow from them.
You received your PhD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and your MS and MPH from Tufts University School of Medicine. Do you have any advice for trainees?
Nutrition can play a role in the prevention and treatment of a variety of conditions. I encourage all trainees to take a nutrition class (or 2!). There’s so much to learn and you’re sure to find something applicable to your area of expertise.
What passions or hobbies do you have outside of Duke?
I spend most of my time going on adventures with my husband and two girls (6 and 3). You will usually find us jamming out to music, either at home, in the car, or live in concert. We all have different tastes, but my 6-year-old usually wins, making us listen to Jojo Siwa and Katy Perry; but thankfully her musical taste is not totally lost – she also loves Michael Jackson, Journey, and Queen. I’ve been a runner my whole life, so I also take time each day to go for a run. Gone are the days of marathon training, but who knows, maybe someday I’ll get back to Boston!