Deborah Tate, PhD
Interim Director, Professor of Nutrition
dtate@unc.edu
919-966-7546
Deborah Tate is the interim director and a professor in the Department of Nutrition. She holds a joint appointment in the Department of Health Behavior and a faculty appointment at the Nutrition Research Institute. Dr. Tate is a behavioral scientist, receiving her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology. Her research focuses on two main areas: (a) strategies for improving both short and long-term body weight regulation to reduce disease risks and (b) the development and translation of programs as alternatives to clinic-based care using digital and wearable technologies. She has been continuously funded in obesity, diabetes prevention and digital health intervention research by the National Institutes of Health since 2000 and is known internationally for her work in web and mobile interventions. Dr. Tate has numerous papers published in major nutrition and medical journals such as the Journal of the American Medical Association, the New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA-Internal Medicine, Obesity, the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Health Psychology, and others. Dr. Tate is faculty director of the UNC Weight Research Program, and for the Communications for Health Applications and Interventions (CHAI) Core a shared resource serving faculty in both the Nutrition Obesity Research Center and the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. She teaches a graduate-level course entitled “mHealth for Behavior Change”.
Dr. Tate conducted several of the first randomized trials using the Internet and new technologies to deliver behavioral treatments for obesity. She continues to conduct studies to determine which features of digital programs contribute to efficacy, how to use wearable and other passive data to inform tailoring, and what types of intervention messages and strategies work best for whom and in what contexts. Her work has focused on bringing greater specificity to digital intervention science and uses advanced intervention methodologies such as the Multiphase Optimization Strategy, multiple randomized trials (MRT) and adaptive (SMART) designs to optimize digital obesity prevention and treatment interventions. Her recent work has focused on precision public health messaging for just-in-time-adaptive interventions and precision nutrition and obesity approaches which offer high degrees of individual tailoring.
Reilly Becker, MS
Research Assistant, Tate Lab
Reilly Becker joined the NRI in 2024 with Dr. Tate's Lab. Reilly's passion for science started with his Biology BS undergraduate at UNC Charlotte. He later obtained his graduate degree in Bioinformatics & Genomics from UNC Charlotte. Reilly wishes to use his skill set to benefit the field of human health in clinical research. He enjoys physical exercise, playing chess, and playing piano.
Leah Bouk, MBA
Clinical Site Coordinator, Tate Lab
A native of Salisbury, North Carolina, Mrs. Bouk has 17 years of experience in the clinical research industry, supporting a wide range of clinical and translational research projects. Her expertise spans phase II-IV industry-sponsored clinical trials, as well as federally-funded and investigator-initiated research studies. With over 14 years supporting the Duke University research office on the North Carolina Research Campus, Mrs. Bouk worked to engage healthcare practices and local communities to enroll large-scale, longitudinal, community research studies including the MURDOCK Study and the Project Baseline Health Study. Throughout her career, Mrs. Bouk has managed cross-functional study teams across various phases of the clinical trial lifecycle. This includes handling study contracts and budgets, regulatory submissions, patient recruitment plans, primary data collection, and implementing QC and QA practices. Recently, Mrs. Bouk supported a start-up company by developing a program to identify patients through an AI-powered patient matching solution for sponsors and clinical research sites. Mrs. Bouk graduated from North Carolina State University with a B.S. in Biological Sciences with a concentration in Nutrition, and earned an MBA from Wingate University in Corporate Innovation.
Addison Lewis
Research Assistant, Tate Lab
Addison joined the NRI in December 2023 as a research technician for All of Us (AoU) and Nutrition for Precision Health (NPH). While growing up in Hickory, NC, Addison developed a love for science in medicine, leading her to graduate from NCSU in 2023 with a BS in Human Biology. Addison hopes to continue onto PA school one day but is excited to gain clinical lab experience at NRI. Outside of work and school, Addison enjoys playing with her schnauzer, crocheting, and cooking.
Chrysa Mahoney, MS, RD, LDN
Research Assistant, Tate Lab
Chrysa Mahoney is a Research Assistant at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Nutrition Research Institute (NRI). She joined the NRI in 2023 to work with Dr. Tate on the All of Us (AoU) Research Program and the Nutrition for Precision Health (NPH) study supported by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH). Chrysa has 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry in a variety of therapeutic areas and especially enjoyed working on therapies for T2DM and obesity.
Cassandra Riggs
Research Assistant, Tate's Lab
Cassandra graduated from UNC Chapel Hill with a BS in Biology in 2023 and is currently pursuing an MS in Health Informatics at UNC Charlotte. She joined Dr. Tate's Lab in 2024, eager to deepen her knowledge and contribute to innovative research. In her spare time, Cassandra enjoys staying active outdoors.
Julie Stegall, MSW
Project Manager, Tate Lab
Julie joined the NRI in 2009 with Dr. Carol Cheatham’s Nutrition & Cognition Lab where she helped launch some of the first human studies completed on the NCRC. In her time with the NRI, she has had the pleasure of working with Dr. Philip May on his Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASDs) research and founding director, Dr. Steven Zeisel, on his choline biomarker study. She has coordinated studies with babies, toddlers, school age children, and adults. Julie earned a BA in Journalism and Mass Communications and a Masters in Social Work from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Julie is currently working on multiple projects, including the Nutrition for Precision Health study. After living in Chapel Hill, Boston, Niger, and Asheville, Julie is a returned Kannapolis native who has enjoyed watching the area’s residents grow and learn in partnership with the research being conducted.
Virtual Internship Program is accepting applications
‘Human’ touch improves weight-management apps
This article originally appeared on unc.edu. Written by Scott Jared, University Communications Traditional in-person weight-management programs result in about 10% weight loss over six to 12 months, better results than people get using more convenient smartphone apps....
What’s the best diet for your body? A federal study aims to find out.
Reprinted from the Washington Post. The UNC Nutrition Research Institute is one of the sites conducting the study described in this article. Anyone 18 or older who is interested in participating can join by enrolling first in the national All of Us research program...
