Di Fang, a University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) food and resource economics associate professor, has been named a 2025 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Health Policy Fellow. This highly competitive fellowship places mid-career health and healthcare professionals in a legislative or executive branch office within the federal government to contribute to national health policy in Washington D.C.
“As a food economist working at the intersection of nutrition, health and disease, this fellowship offers an incredible opportunity to engage directly with the policy process and contribute to evidence-based decision-making,” Fang said.
The fellowship selection shows Fang’s dedication to her focus on how food can be used to improve people’s health via public policy. Her mission in her research has been to translate theory into practical impacts, especially related to programs that influence food purchasing and health outcomes.
She brings her experience in data-driven research to federal health policy discussions, and the real-world policy experience will shape her future research and teaching practices at UF.
Her research spans an array of topics in the food consumer science space, including consumers’ perceptions of nutrition labels.
The fellowship will last from September 2025 until August 2026. She will join seven other fellows in an intensive three-and-a-half month intensive health policy orientation and a nine-month placement assignment with a senior advisor to a federally elected or appointed position.
“Health policy is back in the forefront as our country evaluates the appropriate role that the federal and state governments play in our public health and health care system, and decisions made in the next few years will have profound implications for the health of the nation for decades to come,” said Gregg Margolis, director of the RWJF Health Policy Fellows program at the National Academy of Medicine, in an institutional press release.
Former fellows have worked in the offices of the U.S. Surgeon General influencing diabetes nutrition policy, U.S. Senator offices of both parties and U.S. Senate committees on finance and appropriations, among others.
“UF/IFAS has a strong tradition of applying research to address practical challenges in Florida. After the fellowship, I hope to continue contributing to this mission by bringing back policy insights and a deeper understanding of how research can inform decisions in nutrition and public health for Floridians,” she said.
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ABOUT UF/IFAS
The mission of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) is to develop knowledge relevant to agricultural, human and natural resources and to make that knowledge available to sustain and enhance the quality of human life. With more than a dozen research facilities, 67 county Extension offices, and award-winning students and faculty in the UF College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, UF/IFAS brings science-based solutions to the state’s agricultural and natural resources industries, and all Florida residents.
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