Mariah Lafleur, MPH – Senior Associate

Mariah Lafleur joined the Samuels Center in 2008 and became a Senior Associate in 2012.  In this role, she leads research and evaluation projects aimed at improving the health of individuals in low-income communities.  Her expertise includes study and evaluation design, qualitative research collection through focus groups, interviews and surveys, and development of briefs and reports that are appropriate for a range of audiences.  Her work focuses on chronic disease prevention in Latino populations, improving physical education and physical activity for children and adults, and working with diverse and low-income populations. 

Previously, Mariah taught community and cultural nutrition courses in the Department of Nutritional Sciences and Toxicology at UC-Berkeley, worked at Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute to reduce obesity in low-income East Bay children, and with La Clinica de La Raza to improve the nutritional status of Latinos living with HIV/AIDS. She was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Haiti and the Dominican Republic for four years implementing projects to alleviate malnutrition and improve food security and sanitation in resource poor rural communities.  She holds an MPH from the UC Berkeley School of Public Health with an emphasis on Nutrition and is fluent in Spanish and Haitian Creole.

Mariah enjoys spending her evenings and weekends at the park with her toddler or cooking tasty meals for her husband and teenage stepson. She also loves to go for neighborhood runs and read everything from Dr. Seuss to Dickens.