Our Mission
The Living F.R.E.E. Lab is a research group focused on developing, implementing, and evaluating equitable interventions for those who live at the intersection of having disordered eating and chronic disease.
Meet Our Leaders
rwgoode@email.unc.edu
919-962-6429
Download CV
Rachel W. Goode, PhD, MPH, LCSW
ASSociate PROFESSOR
Dr. Goode is an Associate Professor at the School of Social Work, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Adjunct Assistant Professor in the UNC Center for Eating Disorder Excellence. She also a faculty member with the UNC Nutrition Research Institute. She received her PhD, MPH, and MSW from the University of Pittsburgh. Her research interests include developing, implementing, and evaluating interventions to address racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in chronic disease and eating disorders. Additionally, Dr. Goode is a licensed clinical social worker, and has practice experience with the treatment of eating disorders and obesity among clients in university counseling centers, and community-based mental health agencies. She has been fortunate to be the recipient of various awards, including the Oprah Civic Leadership Award, National Health, Lung, Blood Institute (NIH) Research Service Award, and the Outstanding Dissertation Award from the Society of Behavioral Medicine. She is currently the principal investigator of an NIH/NIDDK Career Development Award (K23) to design a culturally relevant digital health intervention to treat binge eating and obesity in Black women.
raminea@unc.edu
704-250-5093
Ramine Alexander, PhD, MPH
RESEARCH PROJECT MANAGER, LIVING F.R.E.E. LAB
Dr. Alexander received her Ph.D. Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise and MPH in Health Education, from Virginia Tech. As an intervention scientist, her research interest includes utilizing Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) to improve lifestyle risk factors (i.e., diet and physical activity) that have a direct relevance to obesity and chronic disease. Through CBPR approaches a primary goal of her work is to involve the voice of the community in the research process to promote intervention sustainability. Dr. Alexander has a passion for building health equity, conducting research on the social determinants of health, and using innovative approaches to communicate science.
Our Lab Team
Tyisha Harper-Cooks, MBA
PROJECT COORDINATOR
Tyisha Harper joined UNC Nutrition Research Institute in December 2021 as a Project Coordinator in the Goode Lab. She is originally for Milwaukee, WI and relocated to the Charlotte area with her new husband. While in Milwaukee, WI Tyisha worked as a Research Program Coordinator and Community Engagement Coordinator at the Medical College of Wisconsin. She is excited to learn and develop her research career here. Tyisha is motivated by spiritual affirmations and her favorite one is Psalms 46:5, “God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day.”
Julian Robles
RESEARCH ASSistant
Julian is a Kannapolis native who is a graduate of UNC Chapel Hill with a B.S. in Biology and a B.A. in Religious Studies. He is a Chancellor’s Science Scholar and worked at the NRI as an undergraduate. Julian is a research assistant in Dr. Goode’s lab where he is engaging in qualitative research around eating disorders and engaging in the community. He is interested in exploring a possible career in research, but would like to go to medical school to become a pediatric oncologist. Some of Julian’s interests include reading, riding motorcycles, hiking, and being a positive impact.
Ximena Arias
RESEARCH ASSistant
I graduated from Appalachian State University with a B.A in Psychology and Social Work in two years. I am invested in helping the community that raised me through research and community engagement. My interests include art, reading, music, and spending time with my puppy and family.
Student Research Team
Wehazit Mussie
RESEARCH ASSISTANT
Wehazit Mussie is a senior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill studying Medical Anthropology and History on a Pre-Dental track in hopes to become a pediatric dentist. She was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and moved to Gastonia, North Carolina in 2016. She serves as a Research Assistant in Dr. Goode’s lab where she is able to contribute to research that she is truly passionate about regarding issues that have long been underrepresented for people of color. Wehazit enjoys making pottery, practicing yoga, and reading in her spare time.
Our Lab
Created in October 2017, The Living F.R.E.E. (Research Focused on Reducing Excessive Eating) Lab is a research group focused on developing and evaluating interventions for those at the intersection of disordered eating and chronic disease. The vision behind the name “Living F.R.E.E.” came because Dr. Goode desires to cultivate interventions to help people reconnect with their bodies and rebuild their relationship with food, while also mitigating chronic disease risk. As a Black social work and public health scientist, Dr. Goode also appreciated the idea of cultivating a place where she could conduct science with attention to the needs of Black Americans, and other groups who have been disparately served. In addition to creating a safe and joyful research space, the Living F.R.E.E. Lab is dedicated to training and diversifying the next generation of social and behavioral scientists.
What does the future hold for the lab?
Our lab plans to continue developing our community-engaged research and securing additional grant funding to continue to advance the science. We also plan to conduct research studies in larger samples. Indeed, “We will continue to develop science that will help people have a healthy relationship with food and their bodies.”
Our Partners
The Living F.R.E.E. Lab is a research group focused on developing and evaluating interventions to treat and prevent disordered eating behaviors and obesity among women of color. Sign up below to receive short easy recipes and guidebook.
