Kathryn Marchak ’28 (CAHNR) spent her summer working with the nutrition platform NourishedRx to help spread its mission of “food is health.”

“I’ve learned a lot,” Marchak says. “I really like their mission that ‘food is health.’ I believe that nutrition really does give the body the building blocks that it needs to heal, rebuild, and recover to perform its best.”

NourishedRx is a platform that offers users personalized, data-driven nutritional plans that support overall health. The company works with individuals, food suppliers, health plans and providers, and government agencies.

This paid internship was offered through a collaboration between NourishedRx and the CAHNR Dean’s Advisory Board, of which NourishedRx founder and CEO Lauren Driscoll is a member.

“Kate was a great intern at NourishedRx,” Driscoll says. “The team really enjoyed working with her and the other interns from CAHNR.”

For the first five weeks of her remote internship, Marchak worked on outreach.

“[I’ve been] getting people enrolled, really getting people to learn more about what our mission is and what we’d love for them to be a part of,” Marchak says.

She also worked on reaching out to “silent members” who are already on the platform but not communicating with the NourishedRx team.

“Within the second week, I had learned enough to be given [that] second responsibility,” Marchak says.

For the second half of the summer, Marchak shadowed NourishedRx’s health coaches during consultations and joined meetings with registered dieticians.

“Kate quickly mastered our systems and workflows, and made a real impact on our largest outreach program,” Driscoll says. “She also joined our clinical team, where she helped to revamp our maternal health education materials – bringing creativity and real attention to detail.”

Marchak says this internship has given her a valuable perspective on how nutrition influences people’s health outcomes.

“Nourished Rx has shown me that health outcomes are influenced by much more than just medical care,” Marchak says. “Factors like nutrition, food access, and social support can determine whether a patient is able to follow through with their treatment plan…Good healthcare starts with understanding a person outside of the clinic.”

This work relates to CAHNR’s Strategic Vision area focused on Enhancing Health and Well-Being Locally, Nationally, and Globally.

Follow UConn CAHNR on social media