Dr. Tonja Renae Nansel

Dr. Tonja Nansel has been an investigator in the Social and Behavioral Sciences Branch since 2001. She is a behavioral scientist with a central interest in integration of the behavioral sciences in healthcare practice to improve health and decrease the burden of illness. Her research examines individual, social, and environmental factors that influence health behavior change, with a primary focus on eating behaviors and disease management.

Dr. Nansel has developed effective behavioral intervention approaches delivered within the healthcare setting to promote optimal diabetes management behaviors and healthful dietary intake among families of youth with type 1 diabetes. In recognition of the critical public health need to improve approaches to promote healthful eating behaviors, her research focuses on neurobehavioral influences on eating behaviors at critical developmental periods. Current initiatives address determinants of eating behaviors and weight change during pregnancy and postpartum, how these intersect with parent feeding behaviors during infancy and early childhood, and the development of neurobehavioral response to food in early childhood. As a senior investigator in NICHD's Intramural Research Program, her program of research has generated scientific contributions with direct application to important clinical and public health needs.

Dr. Nansel received a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Fort Hays State University and a doctoral degree in community/clinical psychology from Wichita State University. She completed a predoctoral internship with Kansas State Extension Office of Community Health and a postdoctoral fellowship with NICHD.

Dr. Nansel’s full bibliography is available at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/1VkvbVRsa_Ik_/bibliography/public/.

Selected Publications

Reward-related eating, self-regulation, and weight change in pregnancy and postpartum: the Pregnancy Eating Attributes Study (PEAS).
Nansel TR, Lipsky LM, Burger K, Faith M, Nicholson W, Stuebe A, Liu A, Siega-Riz AM.
Int J Obes (Lond). 2020 Dec;44(12):2444-2454. doi: 10.1038/s41366-020-00685-2. Epub 2020 Sep 21.

The accelerator, the brake, and the terrain: associations of reward-related eating, self-regulation, and the home food environment with diet quality during pregnancy and postpartum in the pregnancy eating attributes study (PEAS) cohort.
Nansel TR, Lipsky LM, Faith M, Liu A, Siega-Riz AM.
Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2020 Nov 23;17(1):149.

Improving dietary quality in youth with type 1 diabetes: randomized clinical trial of a family-based behavioral intervention.
Nansel TR, Laffel LM, Haynie DL, Mehta SN, Lipsky LM, Volkening LK, Butler DA, Higgins LA, Liu A.
Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2015 May 8;12:58.

Clinic-integrated behavioral intervention for families of youth with type 1 diabetes: randomized clinical trial. Pediatrics.
Nansel TR, Iannotti RJ, Liu A.
2012 Apr;129(4):e866-73. doi: 10.1542/peds.2011-2858. Epub 2012 Mar 5.

Diabetes personal trainer outcomes: short-term and 1-year outcomes of a diabetes personal trainer intervention among youth with type 1 diabetes.
Nansel TR, Iannotti RJ, Simons-Morton BG, Cox C, Plotnick LP, Clark LM, Zeitzoff L.
Diabetes Care. 2007 Oct;30(10):2471-7. doi: 10.2337/dc06-2621. Epub 2007 Jul 9.