John W. Easterbrook, PhD

Prior to rejoining the Gillings School of Global Public Health in June 2019, Dr. Easterbrook spent three years as Assistant Professor (tenure-track) in the English Department at California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) in San Luis Obispo. At Cal Poly, Dr. Easterbrook taught undergraduate and graduate courses in environmental writing and early Anglo-American writing from the fifteenth through the eighteenth century. Before joining the faculty at Cal Poly, he served as communications lead with the Department of Nutrition at UNC-CH. Earlier in his career at UNC-CH, Dr. Easterbrook served as Project Manager with the Aiello Research Group in the Department of Epidemiology. Dr. Easterbrook holds a bachelor of arts in English from Manhattan College, where he was valedictorian, a master of arts in English from New York University, and a doctorate in English from New York University.

Key Publications

Synergizing Mouse and Human Studies to Understand the Heterogeneity of Obesity. Gordon-Larsen P, French JE, Moustaid-Moussa N, Voruganti VS, Mayer-Davis EJ, Bizon CA, Cheng Z, Stewart DA, Easterbrook JW, Shaikh SR (2021). Advances in Nutrition.
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Cosmopolitanism and Adriaen van der Donck's A Description of New Netherland. Easterbrook JW (2014). Early American Literature, 49(1), 3-36.
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Staff/Administrative Duties

Dr. Easterbrook oversees the administration and operations of the NIDDK-funded UNC Nutrition Obesity Research Center (NORC; P30DK056350). In that capacity, he oversees the development of large multi-disciplinary grant applications for the Department of Nutrition (e.g., P30, UG1, U24).  For the NORC’s Administrative Core, he serves as financial manager for the Center and related projects (pre- and post-award), and he provides financial oversight for the NORC-supported research service centers. For the NORC’s Enrichment Program, he develops educational outreach components and administers the collaborative seminar series. He is point of contact for the NORC’s Pilot & Feasibility (P&F) Program, for which he coordinates the annual pilot funding application cycle and the annual P&F Symposium. Dr. Easterbrook also oversees the grant writing process for annual progress reports to NIH, administrative supplements, and competitive renewal proposals, including reporting on the Center's measures of success.

Education

PhD, English, New York University, 2015

MA, English, New York University, 2008

BA, English, Manhattan College, 2004