Departmental Affiliations
Center & Institute Affiliations
Yeeli Mui, PhD '17, MPH, examines structural interventions to address food system issues and advance health equity through the lens of urban policy and planning.
Research Interests
food systems planning, structural determinants of health, food security, systems science, local government, healthy disparities, food policy, co-production, obesity prevention
Experiences & Accomplishments
My work focuses on finding solutions to inequities in food security and access to healthy diets by studying how urban policies and planning affect these issues. I lead mixed-methods research projects that use food systems as a way to create coordinated solutions that address health, social, environmental, and policy challenges.
I am developing three main areas of research under the theme of food systems planning:
- Understanding Complex Challenges: Using my skills in systems science and participatory modeling, I design workshops that help communities explore the causes of food insecurity and other related issues. For example, I’ve worked on food insecurity in cities, barriers to federal food assistance in Indigenous communities, and factors affecting access to healthy drinks.
- Urban Planning and Policy Solutions: I investigate how urban planning tools and policies can turn big-picture systems thinking into practical solutions. I co-lead the StOREE Study, which examines how structural racism—through practices like redlining, urban renewal, and highway development—has shaped food environments and obesity disparities in six U.S. cities.
- Building Social Networks for Change: I study how social connections can influence food systems and community health. For example, I’m exploring how urban farming can improve health and create change in historically marginalized neighborhoods in Buffalo, NY, and Minneapolis, MN.
Honors & Awards
2022 Research Fellowship, Health Disparities Research Institute, National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities.
2021 Faculty Innovation Fund Award
2019 Bloomberg Endowed Professorship of American Health in Obesity and the Food System
2012-2017 Brown Community Health Scholars Program
Select Publications
Selected publications from the last five years:
Mui Y, Winkler MR, Hunt SL, Gittelsohn J, Tracy M. Simulated retail food environments: A literature review of systems science approaches to advance equity in access to healthy diets. Obes Rev. 2025 Jan 9:e13887. doi: 10.1111/obr.13887.
Mui Y, Adam A, Santo R, Bassarab K, Wolfson JA, Palmer A. Characterizing Food Policy Councils’ Network Partnerships and COVID-19 Responses. Nutrients. 2024; 16(7):915.
Mui Y, Headrick G, Raja S, Palmer A, Ehsani JP, Pollack Porter K. Acquisition, mobility, and food insecurity: Integrated food systems opportunities across urbanicity levels highlighted by COVID-19. Public Health Nutrition. 2021;1-5.
Mui Y, Khojasteh M, Judelsohn A, Sirwatka A, Kelly S, Gooch P, Raja S. Planning for regional food equity. Journal of the American Planning Association. 2021;87(3):354-369.
Mui Y, Hodgson K, Khojasteh M, Raja S. Rejoining the planning and public health fields: Leveraging comprehensive plans to strengthen food systems in an urban versus rural jurisdiction. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development. 2018; 8(B):73-93.