The People Behind Project Alive!

Barbara Sternfeld, PhD, a Senior Research Scientist at Kaiser Permanente’s Division of Research, is the Principal Investigator for Project Alive!. Her background is in Epidemiology and Exercise Physiology, and she has conducted numerous studies that document the health effects of physical activity. Some of her main areas of interest are the effects of exercise on pregnancy outcome, the effects of physical activity on menstrual cycle characteristics and reproductive hormones, the effects of physical activity on weight and body composition, and physical activity and cancer risk. She has been involved for many years with two major, multi-site cohort studies: the CARDIA (Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults) study and the SWAN (Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation) study, an investigation of the natural history of the menopausal transition.

Gladys Block, PhD, is a professor of epidemiology in the School of Public Health, University of California at Berkeley and is the senior-scientist for Block Dietary Data Systems. She is internationally known for her work in nutritional epidemiology and health promotion through dietary interventions. Her data-based approach to the development of a food frequency questionnaire created a revolution in the field of nutritional assessment in epidemiological studies, and her tools are widely used in the scientific and public health community.

Clifford H. Block, PhD, CEO of Block Dietary Data Systems, is a research psychologist whose work has involved the use of information technologies for achieving behavior change in such fields as maternal and child health nutritional practices, oral rehydration, and AIDS and drug abuse prevention.

Torin Block, BA, Chief Operating Officer, is the Manager of NutritionQuest. He has 11 years of experience in the development and analysis of dietary questionnaires. He is responsible for the design and development of the NutritionQuest Data-on-Demand system, including the development of electronic questionnaires, analysis algorithms and data management systems.

Heather A. Clancy, BA is a Research Associate at Kaiser Permanente’s Division of Research and is the Project Coordinator for Project Alive! She has been involved in a variety of research studies over the past four years. Her main interest is in nutritional epidemiology, more specifically with regards to cancer.

Melissa L. Nelson, MPH, has research experience in both academic and hospital settings. Her past experience has included working on studies that looked at how well county services were received by children to how various exercise intensities helped with the management of hypertension in senior citizens. She most recently works as the Health Promotion Coordinator for a county wide HMO and was responsible for developing wellness programs for members.

Jean Norris, DrPH, has a background in Public Health Nutrition and she is currently working as a scientist with the Block Dietary Data Systems. Prior to that, she worked for about 15 years as a nutritionist in community clinic settings with disadvantaged populations. She has designed food frequency questionnaires and researched hunger measurement and hardship, and has contributed her expertise to the study design of Project Alive! and the development of the dietary change interventions.

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