Analyzing the Links Between Food Deserts and Diabetes
Posted on UM-IHC’s LinkedIn, Adapted for the MPower website | September 10, 2025
Editor’s Note: The University of Maryland Institute for Health Computing is a strategic initiative of the University of Maryland Strategic Partnership: MPowering the State, combining computational expertise and biomedical research to create a premier learning health care system and improve patient care and outcomes in Maryland and beyond.
Rozalina McCoy, MD, MS, a faculty member at the University of Maryland Institute for Health Computing (UM-IHC), and Abby Abaku, an undergraduate student at the University of Maryland School of Public Health, are investigating the relationship between food deserts and diabetes among Maryland residents.
Abby was one of 18 students mentored this past summer at the University of Maryland School of Medicine as a part of the 2026 UM Scholars program. Offering paid research experiences that connect students from University of Maryland, College Park and University of Maryland, Baltimore with faculty mentors at the opposite campus and with leadership at the Maryland Department of Health, the UM Scholars program is a strategic initiative of MPower.
Using UM-IHC’s advanced computing resources, Dr. McCoy and Abby ran statistical models to assess the link between limited food access and type 2 diabetes. Their findings will be used to inform individualized care plans and help health care professionals understand real-life challenges patients face.
Click here to watch the video on YouTube
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