Nutrition and Foods Program

Background

Dr. Schier is an early-career health behavior scientist whose community-engaged, mixed-methods research centers the lived experiences of transgender and gender-diverse (TGD) youth, examining how minority stress, family systems, and social determinants shape their health behaviors and wellbeing. She has built a CBPR-driven research program anchored by Project Gender NutriScope. In 2023, Dr. Schier founded the Affirm Health Research Collaborative (AHRC) to train undergraduate and graduate students in community-engaged research methods. AHRC welcomes graduate and undergraduate students interested in:

• Community-based participatory methods, including group concept mapping and qualitative approaches
• SGM health equity, with particular depth in transgender and gender-diverse youth nutrition
• Mixed-methods work spanning secondary datasets and community-engaged fieldwork
• Translational work connecting research to curriculum change, clinical practice, and policy

Professional Leadership & Service

• Chair, Community and Public Health Nutrition Research Interest Section, American Society for Nutrition
• Early Career Reviewer, NIH Center for Scientific Review
• North Carolina Chapter Leader, GLMA (Health Professionals Advancing LGBTQ+ Equality)
• Board Member, Hellbender Health, Boone, NC
• Guest Editor, BMC Nutrition Special Collection: Intersection of Gender and Nutrition
• Editorial Board, Critical Dietetics
• 2021–2022 American Society for Nutrition Science Policy Fellow

Courses Taught

• NUT 3205 — Nutrition and the Life Cycle
• NUT 3300 — Nutrition Education
• NUT 4300 — Health Promotion and Practice
• NUT 3800  — Research Methods and Policy 

Education

PhD, Interdisciplinary Nutrition — The Ohio State University, 2023 

MS, Nutrition and Dietetics — Saint Louis University, 2018

Selected Publications

Schier H, Chetty K, Induri S, Gunther C. "When You Feel More at Home, You Want to Take Better Care of That Home": Key Informant Perspectives on Nutrition Priorities, Behaviors, and Health Promotion for Transgender and Gender-Diverse Youth. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. 2026 Apr 9. Epub ahead of print.

Schier H, Chetty K, Induri S, Knopp M, Gunther C. Diet quality and nutritional health among transgender and gender-diverse youth and young adults: mixed methods results from Project Gender NutriScope. BMC Nutrition. 2026;12(1):52.

Linsenmeyer WL, Chrusciel T, Schier H, Sherman A, Hollinger R. Transgender and gender diverse adults are under-enrolled in food assistance programmes and report negative experiences when accessing benefits: an analysis of the US Transgender Survey. Public Health Nutrition. 2026;29(1):e7.

Schier H, Chetty K, Induri S, Gallagher L, Knopp M, Kennel J, Gunther C. Project Gender NutriScope: Methods of a Mixed Methods, Community-Engaged Study Design to Explore the Nutritional Needs of Transgender and Gender-Diverse Youth and Young Adults. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior. 2025;57(4):345-354.

Anderson AM, Rosenberg S, Schier H, Eskew SK, Harpin SB, Brooks-Russell A, Sun CJ. Cross-Sectional Relationships Between Gender, Disordered Eating Behaviors, and Suicide Among High Schoolers in Colorado. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2025;22(2):152.

Schier H, Gunther C. Policy implications for nutritional health and food security among transgender and gender-diverse individuals in the United States. Journal of Agriculture, Food, Systems, and Community Development. 2024;14(1):1-6.

Schier H, Chetty K, Induri S, Kennel J, Gunther C. Exploring Nutrition-Related Interests of the Transgender and Gender-Diverse Community: A Content Analysis of a Transgender-Centric Discussion Forum on Reddit. Public Health Nutrition. 2024;27(1):e166.

Schier H, Gunther C, Landry M, Ohlhorst S, Linsenmeyer W. Sex and Gender Data Collection in Nutrition Research: Considerations through an Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access Lens. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. 2023;123(2):247-252.

Schier H, Linsenmeyer W. Nutrition-related messages shared among the online transgender community: A netnography of YouTube vloggers. Transgender Health. 2019;4(1):340-349.