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Dr. Marlene Schwartz is the deputy director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University. Prior to joining the Rudd Center, she served as co-director of the Yale Center for Eating and Weight Disorders from 1996 to 2006.

Dr. Schwartz's research bridges the fields of eating disorders and obesity and is focused on how home environments, communities, and school landscapes shape the eating attitudes and behaviors of children. She frequently collaborates on local state projects with the Connecticut State Department of Education and recently completed a large research study examining the effectiveness of an intervention to remove unhealthy beverages and snacks from schools.

Dr. Schwartz is the recipient of two grants from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Healthy Eating Research Program. The first was awarded in 2006 and examined the predictors and outcomes associated with local School Wellness Policies in Connecticut. The second grant, awarded in 2007, moves this field inquiry to a younger age group and examines predictors and consequences of food policies in preschool and daycare settings.

Dr. Schwartz co-authored a book for parents of children with eating disorders, entitled Helping Your Child Overcome an Eating Disorder: What You Can Do at Home (New Harbinger Press, 2003), and co-edited the book Weight Bias: Nature, Extent, and Remedies (Guilford Press, 2005).