Dr. Vanessa Nicholson Robinson joined Tufts CTSI in February 2026 as the new Director of CREST! She will provide visionary leadership to strengthen and expand the CREST’s mission and impact, including but not limited to building and sustaining collaborative relationships, ensuring community voices are centered in research agendas, and facilitating effective communication and partnerships between residents, community organizations, and researchers.

Dr. Robinson is an Assistant Professor at Tufts University’s School of Medicine, where she translates theory to practice outcomes in maternal health and nutritional health fields. She is credited as a co-author of the proposal for the inaugural Tufts Center for Black Maternal Health and Reproductive Justice via her advisement, arrangement, and writing of the Center’s initial budget and original unit lead positions. In collaboration with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, she is the Chief Report Editor and Lead Technical Writer of the Special Commission’s Report on Racial Inequities in Maternal Health. This report discusses barriers and recommendations for addressing racial inequities in maternal health. Within the world of food equity and justice, Dr. Robinson is a Co-Investigator and Food Justice and Equity Advisor of a $6M NIH-funded Food is Medicine Initiative known as Delta GREENS (Growing a Resilient, Enriching, Equitable Nourishing food System).

Dr. Robinson holds an MPH from Jackson State University in Jackson, Mississippi, and a DrPH from the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston.