Your support of the Children’s Fund kick-started Dr. Patel’s early research on promoting access to nutritious food and clean drinking water.
As a recipient of a Stanford Maternal & Child Health Research Institute (MCHRI) Faculty Scholar Award, Dr. Patel relied on philanthropy to study the cost-effectiveness of making fresh drinking water easily available in elementary schools. Her findings have been presented to policymakers to support California legislation that seeks to improve drinking water access in schools.
Dr. Patel’s work quickly gained momentum, leading to additional funding from the National Institutes of Health to expand these efforts to childcare centers serving low-income families in the Bay Area. A second project will look into promoting school meal participation by immigrant families in the San Joaquin Valley as a way to address food insecurity.
After experiencing the power of MCHRI funding firsthand, Dr. Patel served as an inaugural co-chair of the MCHRI Structural Racism, Social Injustice and Health Disparities in Maternal and Child Health Pilot Grants, and is the newly named director of community-engaged research at MCHRI, guiding the next wave of Stanford researchers making a di.erence.
Your generosity has an incredible impact on research that is helping all children lead healthier lives. Thank you!
This article originally appeared in the Fall 2022 Children’s Fund Update.