Jennifer Harris

Dr. Jennifer L. Harris is Director of Marketing Initiatives at the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity and Associate Professor in Allied Health Sciences at University of Connecticut. She leads a multidisciplinary team of researchers who study food marketing to children, adolescents, and parents, and how it impacts their diets and health.

Dr. Harris received her B.A. from Northwestern University and M.B.A. in Marketing from The Wharton School. Before returning to graduate school, she was a marketing executive for eighteen years, including at American Express as a Vice President in consumer marketing and as principal in a marketing strategy consulting firm. Dr. Harris completed her PhD in Social Psychology at Yale University with Dr. John Bargh and Dr. Kelly Brownell.

Dr. Harris is a leading expert on food marketing to youth, and her research is widely used by the public health community and policymakers to improve the food marketing environment surrounding children and adolescents in the United States and worldwide. Specific areas of research include monitoring and evaluating the amount, types, and nutrition quality of food and drinks marketed to youth and families; the psychology of food marketing and its impact on health behaviors; and identifying effective policy solutions. Her current research focuses on targeted marketing and health disparities affecting black and Hispanic youth; new forms of marketing targeted to youth on social media and mobile devices; and effects of food marketing on what and how parents feed their babies and young children.