Yolanda Michelle Adwoa is a researcher at Cornell University’s Odoms-Young Nutrition Liberation, Food Sovereignty, and Justice Lab and a PhD candidate in Psychology specializing in Health Psychology at Capella University. Her research focuses on Food Psychology, Social & Personality Psychology, and health disparities among families with diverse health needs. Using quantitative and qualitative methods, she examines the psychological, social, and environmental factors shaping food behaviors, mental health, and overall well-being.

Yolanda is committed to advancing holistic health psychology, with a particular emphasis on maternal health, children, and adolescents. Her work seeks to improve psychological, emotional, and nutritional well-being while contributing to the prevention, treatment, and potential reversal of chronic childhood illnesses. She aims to bridge research and practice by translating scientific findings into community-based health education initiatives, equipping families with the tools and knowledge to achieve sustainable wellness.

Her dissertation, Examining Obesity, Weight Perceptions & Psychological Well-Being in Black Mothers: The Role of Social-Ecological Factors, explores how food attitudes, behaviors, and environmental influences shape weight perceptions and mental health among Black mothers. More broadly, her research examines how socio-cultural, psychological, and environmental factors impact well-being, including how personality traits and attitudes influence mental health, body image, eating behaviors, and other psychological and health outcomes. She also explores the intersection of behavior analysis and behavioral psychology, social and personality psychology, and health behaviors with a focus on children with comorbidities,  neurodivergent children, disabilities, and parent-child dynamics. 

In her role at the Odoms-Young Lab, Yolanda serves as the project lead for two research studies under the direction of Dr. Odoms-Young: the Nutrition & Disability Scoping Review and a study examining Parental Perceptions of Mealtime Behaviors in African American Children who have been diagnosed with Autism.