Margaret Raber, DrPH, MPH
Department of Health Disparities Research, Division of Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences
Present Title & Affiliation
Dual/Joint/Adjunct Appointment
Assistant Professor, Department of Health Disparities Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
Education & Training
Degree-Granting Education
| 2019 | University of Texas Health Science Center Houston School of Public Health, Houston, Texas, US, Community Health Practice, DrPH |
| 2015 | University of Texas Health Science Center Houston School of Public Health, Houston, Texas, US, Community Health Practice, MPH |
| 2010 | New York University Steinhardt School of Education, New York, New York, US, Nutrition/Food Studies, BS |
Postgraduate Training
| 2021-2021 | American Society of Preventive Oncology New Investigator Workshop, Virtual |
| 2020-2020 | Training Workshop for Early Career Investigators, National Cancer Institute, Houston, Texas |
| 2019-2019 | University of Houston Red Labs Technology Accelerator Program, The University of Houston, Houston, Texas |
| 2019-2019 | National Science Foundation iCorps Regional Program, National Science Foundation, Houston, Texas |
| 2019-2021 | Postdoctoral Fellowship, Cancer Prevention and Control, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas |
| 2018-2018 | John Milner Nutrition and Cancer Prevention Research Practicum, National Cancer Institute, Rockville, Maryland |
Experience & Service
Institutional Committee Activities
Review Committee Member, Review Panels and Selection Committees Odyssey Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2024 - Present
Honors & Awards
| Founder’s Day Award, New York University | |
| NIH R25E Spring Research Experience Award, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center | |
| The Albert Schweitzer Fellowship | |
| University of Texas Health Science Polly Sparks Turner Endowed Scholarship in Community Health, University of Texas Health Science Center | |
| Outstanding Incoming Student Scholarship, University of Texas Health Science Center | |
| NIH R25T Predoctoral Fellowship, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center | |
| Doctoral School of Public Health Scholarship | |
| Outstanding Pre-doctoral Trainee in Cancer Prevention, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center | |
| Travel Award | |
| Cancer Prevention Research Training Fellowship, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center | |
| Geographical Management of Cancer Health Disparities Program Region 3 Travel Funds Award | |
| American Institute of Cancer Research Scholarship |
Selected Publications
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- Love B, Coffman R, Ghosh C, Cofer J, Hurst AN, Oestman K, Aquino M, Kriss L, Shah M, Dermid G, Raber M, Hawk E, Walsh MT Jr, Rechis R. Implementation and Evaluation of a Multi-level, Place-Based Tobacco Prevention and Control Program at a Minority-Serving Institution in Texas. Prev Sci 25(6):898-909, 2024. PMID: 39060839.
- Loomba P, Raber MR, Aquino M, Rincon N, Rumfield L, Basen-Engquist KM, Rechis R. Enhancing food access in a comprehensive cancer center area of influence through local partner capacity building. Cancer Med 13(16):e70070, 2024. PMID: 39152705.
- Mama SK, Mitchell SJ, Tracy PV, Pena LY, Moreno CD, Valdes A, Liao Y, Lee CY, Alexander A, Raber M, McNeill LH, Basen-Engquist K. Expanding active living after cancer to underserved cancer survivors and their caregivers. J Natl Cancer Inst 116(8):1333-1342, 2024. PMID: 38688563.
- Raber M, Allen H, Huang S, Vazquez M, Warner E, Thompson D. Mediterranean Diet Information on TikTok and Implications for Digital Health Promotion Research: Social Media Content Analysis. JMIR Form Res 8(None):e51094, 2024. PMID: 38896841.
- Rodriguez, M, Fekry, B, Murphy, BR, Figueroa, M, Cheng, T, Raber, M, Wartenberg, L, Bell, D, Triche, L, Crawford, K, Ma, H, Allton, K, Ahmed, R, Tran, J, Ranieri, C, Konopleva, M, Barton, M, Nunez, CA, Eckel-Mahan, K, Chandra, J. Feasible diet and circadian interventions reduce in vivo progression of FLT3-ITD-positive acute myeloid leukemia. Cancer medicine 13(2), 2024. PMID: 38334474.
- Raber M, Brozovich J, Le T, Brown A, Saenz T, Caracostis A, Basen-Engquist K. Staff Perspectives and Organizational Climate Factors Related to Implementation of Food is Medicine Programming in a Federally Qualified Health Center. J Health Care Poor Underserved 35(3):763-776, 2024. PMID: 39129600.
- Raber M, Brozovich J, Le T, Brown A, Saenz T, Caracostis A, Basen-Engquist K. The Bite of HOPE Small Food Business Development Program. Transl Behav Med 13(11):845-850, 2023. PMID: 37210084.
- Raber M, Liao Y, Mitchell S, Montoya G, Vazquez M, Gatus LA, Basen-Engquist KM. Participation in and Satisfaction with a Community-Based Physical Activity Program Among Hispanic Cancer Survivors. J Immigr Minor Health 25(4):849-853, 2023. PMID: 37079241.
- Raber M, Vazquez M, Khan S, Myneni S, Thompson D. Modern Home Cooking Practices, the Role of New Media, and Implications for Culinary Medicine. American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine None(None):None, 2023. PMID: None.
- Lee, CY, Robertson, MC, Servino, K, Le, T, Raber, M, Oestman, KB, Basen-Engquist, KM. Impact of COVID-19 on a worksite weight loss program for employees with overweight and obesity. Obesity Science and Practice 9(4):395-403, 2023. PMID: 36718199.
- Raber M, Villarreal I, Vazquez M, Thompson D. Designing a Digital Culinary Education Intervention for Parents With Low Income. J Nutr Educ Behav 55(9):667-676, 2023. PMID: 37516954.
- Raber M, Rechis R, LaRue DM, Ho-Pham TT, Oestman K, Walsh Jr MT, Kizub D, Ma H, Galvan E, Zhao H, Gonzalez J, Lei X, Hu J, Basen-Engquist K. Enhancing the utilization of healthy living interventions among cancer survivors in historically underserved populations and communities. Cancer Causes Control 34(8):635-645, 2023. PMID: 37160832.
- Raber, M, Robertson, MC, Le, T, Gatus, LA, Rechis, R, Oestman, KB, Basen-Engquist, KM. Patterns of home cooking practices among participants in a behavioral weight loss program. Appetite 184, 2023. PMID: 36841438.
- Lee, CY, Robertson, MC, Johnston, H, Le, T, Raber, M, Rechis, R, Oestman, KB, Neff, A, Macneish, A, Basen-Engquist, KM. Feasibility and Effectiveness of a Worksite-Weight-Loss Program for Cancer Prevention among School-District Employees with Overweight and Obesity. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 20(1), 2023. PMID: 36612860.
- Warner, EL, Basen-Engquist, KM, Badger, TA, Crane, TE, Raber, M. The Online Cancer Nutrition Misinformation. Cancer 128(13):2540-2548, 2022. PMID: 35383913.
- Raber, M, Costigan, M, Chandra, J, Basen-Engquist, KM. Cooking After Cancer. Journal of Cancer Education 37(3):539-545, 2022. PMID: 32754833.
- Raber, M, Ranjit, N, Strong, LL, Basen-Engquist, KM. Home Cooking Quality Assessment Tool Validation Using Community Science and Crowdsourcing Approaches. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior 54(5):465-474, 2022. PMID: 35000831.
- Robertson, MC, Lee, CY, Wu, IH, Liao, Y, Raber, M, Parker, NH, Le, T, Gatus, LA, Basen-Engquist, KM. Changes in physical activity associated with the COVID-19 pandemic in individuals with overweight and obesity. Journal of Behavioral Medicine 45(2):186-196, 2022. PMID: 34698998.
- Basen-Engquist, KM, Raber, M, Strong, LL, Schembre, S, Li, L, Arun, BK, Lu, KH, You, YN, Vilar Sanchez, E, Lynch, PM, Fares, S, Peterson, SK. Optimization of an mHealth lifestyle intervention for families with hereditary cancer syndromes. Contemporary Clinical Trials 113, 2022. PMID: 34971795.
- Wartenberg, L, Raber, M, Chandra, J. Unique features of a web-based nutrition website for childhood cancer populations. Journal of medical Internet research 23(9), 2021. PMID: 34515643.
- Robertson, MC, Raber, M, Liao, Y, Wu, IH, Parker, NH, Gatus, LA, Le, T, Durand, CP, Basen-Engquist, KM. Patterns of self-monitoring technology use and weight loss in people with overweight or obesity. Translational behavioral medicine 11(8):1537-1547, 2021. PMID: 33837792.
- Basen-Engquist, KM, Raber, M, Carmack, CL, Arun, BK, Brewster, A, Fingeret, MC, Schembre, S, Harrison, CA, Perkins, HY, Li, Y, Song, J, Chen, M, Murray III, JL. Feasibility and efficacy of a weight gain prevention intervention for breast cancer patients receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Supportive Care in Cancer 28(12):5821-5832, 2020. PMID: 32249355.
- Raber, M, Baranowski, T, Crawford, K, Sharma, SV, Schick, V, Markham, CM, Jia, W, Sun, M, Steinman, E, Chandra, J. The Healthy Cooking Index. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics 120(7):1119-1132, 2020. PMID: 32280056.
- Murphy, BR, Raber, M, Crawford, K, Grasse, L, Wartenberg, L, Wu, J, Dibaj, S, Chandra, J. High Rates of Obesity at Presentation Persist into Survivorship across Childhood Cancer Types. Childhood Obesity 16(4):250-257, 2020. PMID: 32176517.
- Raber, M, Crawford, K, Baranowski, T, Sharma, SV, Schick, V, Markham, CM, Roth, M, Wakefield, CE, Chandra, J. Meal planning values impacted by the cancer experience in families with school-aged survivors—a qualitative exploration and recommendations for intervention development. Supportive Care in Cancer 28(3):1305-1313, 2020. PMID: 31243584.
- Raber, M, Crawford, K, Baranowski, T, Sharma, SV, Schick, V, Markham, CM, Roth, M, Chandra, J. Exploring food preparation practices in families with and without school-aged childhood cancer survivors. Public Health Nutrition 23(3):410-415, 2020. PMID: 31538553.
- Raber, M, Basen-Engquist, KM, Moran, NE, Chandra, J. The healthy cooking index does not predict the carotenoid content of home-cooked meals. Nutrients 12(2), 2020. PMID: 32092844.
- Raber, M, Wu, J, Donnella, H, Knouse, PD, Pise, MN, Munsell, M, Liu, D, Chandra, J. Cellular oxidative stress in pediatric leukemia and lymphoma patients undergoing treatment is associated with protein consumption. Nutrients 12(1), 2020. PMID: 31892127.
- Aiyer, JN, Raber, M, Bello, R, Brewster, A, Caballero, E, Chennisi, C, Durand, CP, Galindez, M, Oestman, KB, Saifuddin, M, Tektiridis, JH, Young, R, Sharma, SV. A pilot food prescription program promotes produce intake and decreases food insecurity. Translational behavioral medicine 9(5):922-930, 2019. PMID: 31570927.
- McWhorter, JW, Raber, M, Sharma, SV, Moore, LS, Hoelscher, DM. The Nourish Program. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics 119(2):199-203, 2019. PMID: 29452976.
- Raber, M. Kitchen to Clinic. Food Studies 9(2):29-36, 2019. PMID: None.
- Raber, M, Huynh, TN, Crawford, K, Kim, S, Chandra, J. Development and Feasibility of a Community-Based, Culturally Flexible Colorectal Cancer Prevention Program. Journal of Community Health 43(5):882-885, 2018. PMID: 29532214.
- Raber M, Schick V, Hansoti E, Link A, Roth I, Welch A. The socio-demographic characteristics and health needs of incarcerated women applying to a transitional housing re-entry program. Front Womens Health 3(1):None, 2018. PMID: 39263582.
- Raber, M, Patterson, M, Jia, W, Sun, M, Baranowski, T. Utility of eButton images for identifying food preparation behaviors and meal-related tasks in adolescents. Nutrition Journal 17(1), 2018. PMID: 29477143.
- Alcazar, L, Raber, M, Lopez, K, Markham, CM, Sharma, SV. Examining the impact of a school-based fruit and vegetable co-op in the Hispanic community through documentary photography. Appetite 116:115-122, 2017. PMID: 28455262.
- Raber, M, Crawford, K, Chandra, J. Healthy cooking classes at a children's cancer hospital and patient/survivor summer camps. Public Health Nutrition 20(9):1650-1656, 2017. PMID: 28463101.
- Sharma, SV, Chow, J, Pomeroy, M, Raber, M, Salako, D, Markham, CM. Lessons Learned From the Implementation of Brighter Bites. Journal of School Health 87(4):286-295, 2017. PMID: 28260244.
- Li, R, Donnella, H, Knouse, PD, Raber, M, Crawford, K, Swartz, MC, Wu, J, Liu, D, Chandra, J. A randomized nutrition counseling intervention in pediatric leukemia patients receiving steroids results in reduced caloric intake. Pediatric Blood and Cancer 64(2):374-380, 2017. PMID: 27615542.
- Raber, M, Chandra, J, Upadhyaya, M, Schick, V, Strong, LL, Durand, CP, Sharma, SV. An evidence-based conceptual framework of healthy cooking. Preventive Medicine Reports 4:23-28, 2016. PMID: 27413657.
- Sharma, SV, Markham, CM, Chow, J, Ranjit, N, Pomeroy, M, Raber, M. Evaluating a school-based fruit and vegetable co-op in low-income children. Preventive Medicine 91:8-17, 2016. PMID: 27471022.
- Raber M, Lopez KK, Pomeroy M, Mody A, Markham C, Sharma SV. Brighter Sights: Using photovoice for a process evaluation of a food co-op style nutrition intervention. Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice None(None):None, 2016. PMID: None.
- Li, R, Raber, M, Mejia, L, Domenech, M, Brewster, A, Swartz, MC, Strong, LL, Chandra, J. Development and Feasibility of a Culturally Sensitive Cooking and Physical Activity Program Designed for Obese Hispanic Families. Infant, Child, and Adolescent Nutrition 7(2):86-93, 2015. PMID: None.
- Li R, Raber M, Chandra J. Developing a healthy web-based cookbook for pediatric cancer patients and survivors: rationale and methods. JMIR Res Protoc 4(1):e37, 2015. PMID: 25840596.
Other Articles
- John JC, Ho J, Raber M, Basen-Engquist K, Jacobson L, Strong LL Dyad and group-based interventions in physical activity, diet, and weight loss: a systematic review of the evidence. J Behav Med 47(3):355-373, 2023. PMID: 38017250.
- Raber, M, Jackson, A, Basen-Engquist, KM, Bradley, CJ, Chambers, S, Gany, FM, Hughes, C, Lindau, ST, Perez-Escamilla, R, Seligman, H Food Insecurity among People with Cancer. Journal of the National Cancer Institute 114(12):1577-1583, 2022. PMID: 36130287.
- Raber, M, Liao, Y, Rara, A, Schembre, S, Krause, KJ, Strong, LL, Daniel-MacDougall, CR, Basen-Engquist, KM A systematic review of the use of dietary self-monitoring in behavioral weight loss interventions. Public Health Nutrition 24(17):5885-5913, 2021. PMID: 34412727.
- Verghese, A, Raber, M, Sharma, SV Interventions targeting diet quality of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants. Preventive Medicine 119:77-86, 2019. PMID: 30597225.
- Raber, M, Swartz, MC, Santa Maria, D, O'Connor, TM, Baranowski, T, Li, R, Chandra, J Parental involvement in exercise and diet interventions for childhood cancer survivors. Pediatric research 80(3):338-346, 2016. PMID: 27064243.
Editorials
- Raber, M, Wolfson, J. The Challenging Task of Measuring Home Cooking Behavior. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior 53(3):267-269, 2021. PMID: 33454197.
Selected Presentations & Talks
Regional Presentations
- 2023. Risk Reduction Opportunities and Interventions for Cancer Prevention during Childhood & Adolescence: A Narrative Review. Poster. Center for Energy Balance in Cancer Prevention and Control Day of Science, US.
- 2023. Enhancing Food Access in a Comprehensive Cancer Center Area of Influence through Local Capacity Building. Poster. University of Texas Austin – MD Anderson Collaborative Research Summit, US.
- 2023. Interdisciplinary Workshop: Navigating digital terrain to optimize interventions for physical activity and nutrition. Invited. Digital Physical Activity and Diet (dPAD) Symposium, US.
- 2022. Healthy Cooking Classes for Cancer Survivorship. Invited. ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) Training Session: Community Cancer Survivorship, US.
- 2022. A collaborative approach to leveraging oncology data to define food insecurity needs. Invited. Healthier Texas Summit. Austin, Tx, US.
- 2022. Online cooking information seeking habits and preferences among Hispanic & non-Hispanic adults. Conference. The Digital Physical Activity and Diet (dPAD) 2022 Fall Symposia, US.
- 2022. Bite of HOPE: An examination of the HOPE Clinic Culinary Nutrition Program. Invited. Energy Balance Research Seminar, US.
- 2021. Feasibility of an observational food-tasting study among active-treatment pediatric cancer patients. Conference. Translating Energy Balance from Bench to Communities: Application of Parallel Animal-Human Studies in Cancer, US.
- 2021. Cancer Related Nutrition and Meal Planning Content Online: Characteristics, misinformation and how to integrate ehealth literacy. Invited. Texas Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Annual Conference, US.
- 2020. Nutrition for Cancer Prevention. Invited. ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) Training Session: Community Cancer Survivorship, US.
- 2020. Cooking After Cancer: Examining the design and impact of a community-based cooking program for cancer survivors. Invited. Energy Balance Research Seminar, US.
- 2017. AConceptual Framework of Healthy Cooking: content and evaluation tools to support evidence-based, participatory cooking program development. Invited. Energy Balance Research Seminar, US.
- 2015. From the Kitchen to the Classroom: Healthy Eating for Kids with Chronic Conditions. Invited. Annual Pediatric Education Conference, US.
- 2015. Community Based Participatory Cooking Classes for Health Promotion. Invited. Hunger Free Texans Regional Conference, US.
National Presentations
- 2024. The LBJ Hospital Food Farmacy: A mixed methods evaluation of a food prescription program for safety net cancer patients. Poster. 17th AACR Conference on The Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved, US.
- 2024. Examining the perspectives of healthcare teams on the implementation of a hospital-based food prescription program for safety net cancer patients. Poster. American Society of Preventive Oncology Annual Meeting, US.
- 2024. Filling the gaps in online health (mis)information research: feasibility of web-monitoring software methodology. Poster. Society of Behavioral Medicine Annual Conference, US.
- 2024. Enhancing the utilization of healthy living interventions among cancer survivors in a historically underserved community. Invited. NIH NCI Transdisciplinary Research in Energetics and Cancer (TREC) Seminar, US.
- 2023. A multi-stakeholder evaluation of theory-informed strategies for implementing community-led evidence-based interventions in an underserved area of Houston, Texas. Poster. 16th Annual Conference on the Science of Dissemination and Implementation in Health, US.
- 2022. Design of a digital intervention for low-income parents based on the Healthy Cooking Index: a qualitative investigation. Poster. American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) 2022 Annual Research Conference, US.
- 2022. Developing a digital cooking intervention for low-income parents based on the Healthy Cooking Index: Formative research results. Invited. Cleveland, OH, US.
- 2022. Proposal to develop and test a text-based cooking intervention for Hispanic cancer survivors. Invited. NIH NCI Transdisciplinary Research in Energetics and Cancer (TREC) Training Workshop. Westbrook, CT, US.
- 2021. A kitchen in the clinic: Examining the implementation of a culinary medicine program in a federally qualified health center. Poster. 14th Annual Conference on the Science of Dissemination and Implementation in Health, US.
- 2021. CookLab: A cross-platform tool that uses artificial intelligence to improve adherence to cancer prevention nutrition recommendations. Poster. Poster. American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) 2021 Research Conference, US.
- 2021. The Healthy Cooking Index: Defining cooking quality for assessment and intervention tools in cancer prevention and control. Invited. Greenlee Lab, Cancer Prevention Program. Seattle, WA, US.
- 2021. Cancer-related nutrition and meal planning content on Pinterest. Poster. American Society of Preventive Oncology Annual Meeting, US.
- 2021. Initial reactions to a low-touch digital weight loss pilot intervention across 4 diverse cohorts. Poster. American Society of Preventive Oncology Annual Meeting, US.
- 2021. Cancer-related nutrition and meal planning content on Pinterest. Poster. National Institutes of Health Precision Nutrition: Research Gaps and Opportunities Workshop, US.
- 2020. Healthy cooking practices are not associated with the carotenoid content of home-prepared meals: Implications for food preparation interventions among childhood cancer survivors and their families. Poster. American Society of Preventive Oncology Annual Meeting, US.
- 2019. Development and performance of a healthy cooking behavior index across multiple data collection methods. Poster. American Institute of Cancer Research (AICR) Conference, US.
- 2019. Cooking behavior: Lessons from the public, home kitchen and the clinic. Invited. Society of Behavioral Medicine Annual Meeting. Washington, DC, US.
International Presentations
- 2021. Home cooking quality is associated with weight loss among participants in a digital lifestyle intervention. Invited. International Society of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity Annual Meeting, US.
Grant & Contract Support
| Title: | Addressing Systemic Barriers Impacting Health in CHC Communities |
| Funding Source: | NIH |
| Role: | Co-I |
| Title: | Examining culinary medicine programming in Acres Homes using the Healthy Cooking Index |
| Funding Source: | National Cancer Institute U54 |
| Role: | PI |
| Title: | Re-establishing intergenerational cooking education and improving diet quality through an integrated parenting and healthy cooking program for low-income families with young children |
| Funding Source: | United States Department of Agriculture NIFA |
| Role: | PI |
| Title: | Super Chef: Family Fun in the Kitchen |
| Funding Source: | National Heart Lung and Blood Institute |
| Role: | Co-I |
| Title: | Project LAUNCH: the development of a skill-based, digital nutrition program to launch low-income high-schoolers into healthy adulthood |
| Funding Source: | Baylor College of Medicine/Texas Children’s Hospital |
| Role: | PI |
Patient Reviews
CV information above last modified February 07, 2025