Susan

Michelle

Gross

,

PhD

Dr. Susan M. Gross is a specialist in maternal and child nutrition.  Dr. Gross received her B.S in Nutrition Sciences and Clinical Dietetics from University of California, Berkeley, California and her Master’s in Public Health from San Diego State University.  She earned her Doctorate of Philosophy degree in Maternal and Child Health from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and Hygiene.  She completed an NIH Post-doctoral fellowship in disability research at the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, Maryland. She has been a registered dietitian since 1987 and has been licensed in Maryland since June 2008.Most of Dr. Susan M. Gross’s career has been dedicated to research related to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC). Dr. Gross has been a part of the Evaluation of the Maryland WIC Breastfeeding Peer Counselor Program project and currently is evaluating the impact of hospital maternity care policies on breastfeeding practices among Maryland WIC participants. Dr. Gross was also instrumental in the creation of the Maryland “Right to Breastfeed” law in 2003. This law protects a woman’s right to breastfeed in public places. As Co-investigator of the Hopkins Participant Research Innovations Laboratory for Enhancing Customer Services for WIC Participants, a contract with the United States Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service (USDA/FNS), she is investigating innovative strategies to improve child retention and participation in the WIC program. Her research focus also includes evaluating ways to improve in-school nutrition programs. Dr. Gross was part of a research effort to assess the impact of the implementation of the Community Eligibility Provision, providing free meals to students in the Baltimore City Public Schools and is pursuing a pilot study to prevent food insecurity among adolescents and young adults in Baltimore. She teaches with Dr. David Paige two courses Nutrition and Growth in Maternal and Child Health and Nutrition Programs, Policy and Politics in the United States: The Impact on Maternal, Child and Family Health
Her research interests include: Maternal and Child Nutrition (specifically breastfeeding promotion and introduction of solid foods in the WIC program as well as childhood obesity and school-based initiatives to promote fruit and vegetable consumption).  Dr. Gross was also instrumental in the creation of the Maryland “Right to Breastfeed” law in 2003.  This law protects a woman’s right to breastfeed in public places.