Maria Rinaldi, PhD, is a clinical extern at the Boston Child Study Center- Maine. Maria earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Engineering Psychology from Tufts University, followed by a Master of Public Health and a PhD in Epidemiology from the University of Minnesota. She is pursuing a Master’s in Social Work at the University of New England to further integrate clinical practice with community health.
Across both clinical and community-based settings, Maria is a dedicated advocate for preventative health and for supporting the emotional wellbeing of children, caregivers and families. Her work centers on the intersection of direct clinical care and macro-level public health strategies that foster long-term, positive health outcomes. She is currently developing an innovative, evidence-based toolkit designed to support immediate and long term health outcomes. In addition, Maria has designed and implemented comprehensive, school-wide mindfulness initiatives to promote student wellbeing.
Maria also serves as adjunct faculty in the University of New England’s (UNE) Master of Public Health program, where she teaches Social and Behavioral Health,and is the departmental subject matter expert for the course. Prior to joining UNE, she developed and taught the course, Topics in Children and Adolescent Health, at the University of Southern Maine’s School of Public Health.
Maria’s research focuses on pediatric health. As a doctoral research fellow at the Mayo Clinic, she was the principal investigator for three studies examining the incidence and etiology of peanut allergy over a 10-year period. She also led two projects for the International Breast Milk Project, where she oversaw study design and implementation. Her research has been published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Pediatrics, Breastfeeding Medicine, Current Problems in Pediatric and Adolescent Health Care, and Child Poverty in America Today.