Dr. Lauren R. Sastre

Dr. Lauren R. Sastre is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Nutrition Science. Lauren will be teaching HNRS 3100, the EOSA/EC Scholars Research Internship and was a former EOSA Scholar (2020-2021). She is a licensed Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN, LDN) and holds a bachelor of science degree in Chemistry from Western Carolina University and a masters and doctorate of philosophy in Nutrition Science from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Dr. Sastre founded the Farm to Clinic (F2C) initiative in 2019 that seeks to partner undeserved and under-resourced patients with healthful food and nutrition and lifestyle medicine/culinary medicine programming to address chronic disease related disparities with a focus on diabetes management. Her primary community partnerships include the North Carolina Association of Free and Charitable Clinics, The Society of St. Andrews, the Center for Environmental and the Sustainable Farming (CEFS) small farm unit managed by NCAT/NCAG/Cooperative Extension. She directs several initiatives through F2C, mentor’s students across a range of disciplines and is always looking for a new energetic student to join her team to make an impact!

Since arriving to ECU she has received several grants (intramural and extramural) and been recognized for mentorship of students and as well as for her research. She maintains active roles in the American Public Health Association and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and regularly presents and publishes her community-engaged and translational research centering around health disparities food security, social determinants of health, and chronic disease management through a variety of platforms.