About

Olivia S. Anderson, PhD, MPH, RD, is a Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, where she also serves as Associate Chair of Educational Initiatives. Her scholarly interests focus on the scholarship of teaching and learning in public health education, with specific emphasis on the implications of the public health discipline for interprofessional education and practice, lactation education aimed at reducing health disparities and promoting population health, and equitable teaching strategies for effective education, particularly in public health writing. Dr. Anderson teaches maternal child nutrition and professional development courses that foster public health writing and teaching skills. Her research involves developing assessment tools to measure interprofessional collaboration and practice behaviors among health science students, assessing and evaluating interprofessional education modules, and exploring equitable teaching practices for public health writing through partnerships with educational technology tools. Her work aims to enhance interprofessional socialization among students and improve public health education practices.

Research topics

• Nursing
• Medicine
• Medical education
• Computer Science
• Psychology
• Pedagogy
• Pediatrics

Selected publications

• Health Professional Students' Experiences with Gender-Identity Inclusive Content in the Classroom and Supervised Clinical Learning

  NSUWorks (Nova Southeastern University) · 2026-03-03

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Purpose: Gender-identity diverse populations have unique healthcare needs, but they experience stigmatization leading to negative health outcomes. Healthcare professionals have reported obstacles to delivering affirming care to gender-identity diverse patients due to limited training. We assessed how health profession students encounter gender-identity content and how students’ perceived preparedness to provide care for gender-identity diverse populations. Methods: A survey distributed to students enrolled in health professional programs at a large mid-western university included close-ended questions about exposure to gender-identity diverse curricular content in didactic and supervised clinical settings and perceived preparedness to work with gender-identity diverse populations. Open-ended questions asked what could better prepare learners with knowledge or skills to work with gender-identity diverse clients in classroom and clinical learning settings, respectively. Descriptive statistics were calculated for close-ended questions. Open-ended responses were examined through a content analysis approach. Results: Most respondents indicated they are taught about inclusive language (66%, n=29/44) and gender-identity inclusive content should be incorporated into curricula (71%, n=31). Of those who indicated they were exposed to this population in course or clinical settings, less than half felt their coursework prepared them to work with gender-identity diverse patients (49%, n=17/35) and less felt their clinical experiences prepared them (17%, n=6). Through open-ended responses, respondents indicated needing more exposure to this population through applied learning or in clinical settings. Conclusions: By identifying gaps within didactic and clinical curricula, educators are informed to develop effective interventions to prepare health profession trainees to provide respectful, comprehensive care to all patients.

  PublisherOA PDF

• Increased preparedness of dietetics students to serve transgender and gender-identity-diverse clients following case-based learning

  Nutrition and Health · 2026-01-08

  articleSenior authorCorresponding

  Background: Integrating transgender and gender-identity-diverse (TGD) content in dietetics education is essential for addressing knowledge gaps among future registered dietitian nutritionists (RDNs). TGD populations have unique nutrition-related needs, yet there is limited evidence related to this topic within the field of dietetics. Aim: We aimed to explore dietetics students’ perceived preparedness to work with TGD clients and experiences with TGD content through case-based learning. Methods: Graduate dietetics students ( n = 23) engaged in a case study on dietary and health behaviors of an adult transgender woman in winter 2025. Students completed a survey about their perceived knowledge gained following the case and wrote reflections about further training opportunities and how the case informed their future career. Descriptive statistics were calculated for close-ended responses. A content analysis approach was used to analyze open-ended responses. Results: Most participants ( n = 21/23, 91%) found the case helpful in preparation for working with transgender clients. Participants agreed they developed dietetics competencies such as demonstrating cultural humility ( n = 17/23, 74%) and implementing culturally sensitive strategies ( n = 18/23, 79%). Themes were identified related to improving dietetics training opportunities related to the TGD population including more training, training on counseling skills, and more exposure to cultural humility. Themes regarding how the case informed career perspectives included individualized care, awareness of diverse populations, and realization that the field needs more evidence-based guidance. Conclusion: TGD content delivered through case-based learning positively impacted dietetics students’ knowledge and confidence in working with TGD clients in future practice. Understanding students’ knowledge gaps can help inform dietetics education to ensure comprehensive training and equitable nutrition care among future RDNs.

  PublisherDOI

• An Evaluation of Lettersmith: A Technology Tool to Support Transparency of Assigned Public Health Writing

  Pedagogy in Health Promotion · 2025-02-05

  articleSenior authorCorresponding

  Educational technology can be used in the design of transparent writing assignments to support students in meeting learning outcomes. Lettersmith is a free online educational technology that aims to assist students in understanding and completing their writing assignments. In this Original Research paper, we describe a transparently designed public health writing assignment that used Lettersmith and evaluate whether undergraduate public health students perceived improvements in their writing skills after incorporating Lettersmith into a semester-long writing assignment and whether students perceived Lettersmith and its features as useful for supporting their writing. To implement the transparent design, student participants ( n = 64) received explicit instructions about the purpose of the blog writing assignment and used Lettersmith as a tool to support their writing. We used pre- and post-surveys with closed- and open-ended questions to collect participant responses. Participants perceived that their writing skills improved after using Lettersmith to complete the blog writing assignment. The skills that participants prioritized while writing were highly pertinent to public health practice, such as communicating scientific research to a general audience. Most participants recommended that public health instructors use Lettersmith in other courses and specified that the tagging function of Lettersmith improved their writing process. This evaluation of Lettersmith integrated into a transparently designed public health writing assignment suggests that the implementation of such tools can support the writing process, improve the writing of undergraduate public health students, and foster public health communication skills.

  PublisherDOI

• Advancing Gender-Identity Inclusive Curricula: Exploring Initiatives and Needs among Maternal and Child Health Instructors.

  PubMed · 2025-01-01

  articleSenior author

  BACKGROUND: Maternal and child health (MCH) education shapes practices that support health outcomes for parents, pregnant individuals, and children. Traditional "sexed" language may exclude or marginalize certain groups like transgender populations. Since most current health profession instructors were trained in the context of traditional language, preparing future health professionals to address healthcare needs for gender-identity diverse individuals remains a challenge. Our objective was to assess whether health professional instructors provide gender-identity content in MCH courses and to understand what types of support instructors may need. METHODS: Ten MCH instructors participated in a semi-structured interview focused on how they included gender-identity content, perceived students' readiness with diverse patients, and what support they need to teach gender-identity inclusive content. Interviews were audio-video recorded, transcribed, and thematically coded. RESULTS: Generally, instructors incorporated gender-identity content into their courses. They acknowledged the complexity of these concepts and had a range of readiness to teach these topics. Instructors indicated additional guidelines and training would enhance their preparedness to integrate gender-identity concepts into their courses. CONCLUSIONS: A determinant of preparing health professional students for encountering gender-identity diverse patients is faculty preparedness. MCH instructors are integrating gender-identity content but would benefit from targeted training and following published guidelines.

  Publisher

• Implementation of Lettersmith to improve the writing process among graduate-level public health students: Results from a pilot evaluation study

  Educational Technology Research and Development · 2025-02-24

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• The infidelity of H ₂ O/Ce in alkalic melts—a result of low-degree melting and CO ₂ -rich primary melts

  2025-01-01

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Does duration of nutrition counseling in the primary care setting correlate with patient dietary behavior? A scoping review

  Nutrition and Health · 2025-03-20 · 1 citations

  reviewOpen accessSenior author

  BackgroundMany Americans look to primary care physicians (PCPs) for education on how to lead healthier lives. Understanding the duration of nutrition education necessary for PCPs to produce a behavioral impact may inform physician appointment recommendations.AimTo assess whether the duration of nutrition education given by PCPs correlates with changes in dietary behavior, or secondarily, health status, among patients without complex chronic disease.MethodsPRISMA-ScR guidelines were followed for this scoping review. Inclusion criteria of our review included: PCPs providing nutrition/dietary education, dietary intervention, adult participants, original research, manuscript published in English, study conducted in the U.S., and published 2011-present. Databases searched: PubMed, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, and Scopus. Exclusion criteria included: patients experiencing complex chronic health conditions. Data extracted included: study design, description of PCP dietary intervention, length of nutrition education, and general directions of health/behavioral outcomes.ResultsThree reviewed papers studying behavioral interventions that included PCP nutrition education yielded a positive impact on patient outcomes such as dietary behavior and/or weight loss, though only two of the three studies yielded results that achieved statistical significance.ConclusionThere appears to be an important role for nutrition education in the primary care setting. However, our review exposed great need for further research on the specific association between duration of nutrition counseling and resulting changes in dietary and health outcomes.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Implementing a Scaffolded Curriculum in Dietetics Training to Support Student Readiness for Clinical Practice

  Pedagogy in Health Promotion · 2025-11-28

  articleSenior authorCorresponding

  Dietetics trainees have reported gaps in practice when translating knowledge and skills learned in didactic settings. To address these gaps, a scaffolded curricular model was implemented into a Future Education Model Graduate Program in Dietetics. A nutrition counseling program that engaged students with student (“peer”) clients and community member clients, called the Nutrition Counseling Center (NCC), was established as a curricular steppingstone to support the development of students’ counseling skills after the classroom setting but before entering clinical sites. The scaffolded approach has been implemented for two semesters thus far, providing the program director and instructors with challenges and solutions generated for future years. We describe current lessons learned, including student readiness, HIPAA and sensitive client information, scheduling, client population descriptions, and marketing and advertising as well as solutions that have or will be implemented. The success of this scaffolded approach to dietetics training will be evaluated through formal processes to understand how to best support dietetics trainees’ transition to practice, to provide continued quality improvement in the program for continued success of future cohorts, and to inform curricular development among the broader dietetics field to impact patient and population health.

  PublisherDOI

• Correction: Associations of Intrinsic Motivation and External Pressures with Engaged Learning Pedagogies by Faculty Teaching Capstone Experiences: A Mixed Methods Approach

  Innovative Higher Education · 2024-05-03

  articleOpen access1st author
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Fumonisin, Folate and Other Methyl Donors and Neural Tube Defects

  Elsevier eBooks · 2024-11-30

  book-chapter
  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Dana C. Dolinoy

  24 shared

• Karen B. Farris

  University of Michigan–Ann Arbor

  22 shared

• Vinoothna Bavireddy

  University of Michigan–Ann Arbor

  20 shared

• Samantha A. Chuisano

  University of Michigan–Ann Arbor

  17 shared

• Thomas Bishop

  University of Michigan–Ann Arbor

  17 shared

• Anna Sadovnikova

  Monmouth University

  17 shared

• Vincent D. Marshall

  16 shared

• Carolyn F. McCabe

  14 shared