My Fulbright research aims to understand whether food and nutrition policies are being designed to adequately support their implementation and, ultimately, to promote compliance. As a health policy expert, my goal is to improve the implementation and sustainability of these policies, which can help to reduce diet-related chronic illness and death.

Dr Denise D. Payán is an Associate Professor at the Joe C. Wen School of Population & Public Health at the University of California, Irvine (UC Irvine). She is a health policy researcher who examines factors that contribute to nutrition policy adoption and implementation, and evaluates interventions to address obesity and diet-related health disparities. As a Fulbright Scholar, Dr. Payán will collaborate with food governance experts at the University of Sydney to investigate how Australia’s nutrition policies are designed to support implementation.

Home Institution University of California, Irvine
Host Institution The University of Sydney
Award Name Fulbright Scholar Award
Discipline Food Governance and Policy
Award Year 2026