Melissa Horning is an Associate Professor at the University of Minnesota, School of Nursing. Because nutritious food is cornerstone for optimal health, Dr. Horning’s transformative, community-partnered research is influencing social determinants of health to address inequities in food security and diet quality. Her research focuses within communities experiencing disproportionately greater barriers to accessing nutritious food and achieving optimal diet-related health outcomes. Dr. Horning leads an NIH-funded, community-partnered research trial that is producing pivotal evidence to guide the development and operation of mobile grocery stores at both local and national levels. She also led the development of food stocking guidelines, now embedded in the national toolkit for mobile grocery stores to support culturally-connected and nutritious mobile grocery-shopping environments. Her research has a broad interdisciplinary reach and impact, being widely cited across journals in nursing, nutrition, medicine, psychology, and public health. As a recognized expert, Dr. Horning also serves on NIH special emphasis review panels. Dr. Horning received her BSN from the College of St. Benedict in 2006 and her PhD from the University of Minnesota School of Nursing.