Nicole Farmer, MD

BS, University of Maryland
MD, Howard University College of Medicine

In this intramural research position, Dr. Farmer is involved in both community-based and patient research exploring the role of cooking in chronic disease prevention and psychosocial health.

Prior to joining the NIH, she was a well-established primary care clinician and routinely engaged her patients in nutrition education through cooking classes. Dr. Farmer’s research focus may be categorized into three major areas: psychosocial outcomes of health behaviors, role of cooking interventions on dietary behaviors and cardiovascular outcomes, and mechanisms of health disparities.

She was recently named a recipient of the 2020 William G. Coleman Minority Health and Health Disparities Research Innovation Award from the NIH’s National Institute of Minority and Health Disparity for her work in exploring microbiome-related dietary metabolites in cardiovascular disease health disparities.

Dr. Farmer is an alumnus of Howard University College of Medicine, received her internal medicine training from Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, and held a prior appointment at Johns Hopkins University Hospital. She has also completed fellowship level training in Integrative Medicine from the Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona and Duke University Integrative Medicine. In addition, Dr. Farmer was named a Harvard Macy Fellow in 2021 for her work on incorporating humanities into culinary medicine education and research. Dr. Farmer’s work on cooking and mental health was featured this year by the NIH Intramural Research Program’s podcast, Speaking of Science.

Current Research Activities

Studies – ClinicalTrials.gov

Principal Investigator

Observational Study of Dietary Intake and Dietary Behaviors in Adults With Sickle Cell Disease (NCT: 05170412)

Exploring a Dietary Behavior Intervention in African-Americans at Risk for Cardiovascular Disease: A Community Acceptability and Feasibility Study (NCT: 04305431)

Associate Investigator

Mediterranean-like Unprocessed (CLEAN-MED) Diet Intervention Study of the Gut Microbiome of Healthy Adults

Howard University Partnership with the National Institutes of Health for Equitable Clinical Trial Participation for Racial/Ethnic Communities Underrepresented in Research (HoPe-NET)

18-CC-0079 (NCT#03493958): Pilot RCT of Web-based Behavioral Sleep Intervention for Individuals with Alcohol Use Disorder

17-H-0162: Tailoring Mobile Health Technology to Reduce Obesity and Improve Cardiovascular Health in Resource-Limited Neighborhood Environments: A Multi-Level, Community-Based Physical Activity Intervention

16-CC-0162 (NCT# 02911077): Longitudinal Changes in the Oral and Gut Microbiome of Individuals with Alcohol Dependence

13-H-0183: Cardiovascular Health and Needs Assessment in Washington D.C. - Development of a Community-Based Behavioral Weight Loss Intervention

• NIH Director’s Award, Member of the NIH COVID Vaccine and Booster Clinic Team, 2022
• NHLBI Director’s Group Award for Nutrition Research Implementation Plan Writing Group and Nutrition Research Working Group, 2021
• Harvard Macy Fellowship Awardee, Harvard Marcy Institute, 2021
• William G. Coleman Minority Health and Health Disparities Research Innovation Award, 2020
• Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities Research Mentor Award for Amgen Scholars Program at the NIH, 2020
• Future Research Leaders Award, Office of Workforce Diversity, Office of the NIH Director, National Institutes of Health, 2019
• Novartis Pharmaceuticals Medical Student Research Scholarship, 2004

Powell-Wiley Tiffany M.; Baumer Yvonne, Osei Baah Foster, Baez Andrew Baez, Farmer Nicole, Mahlobo Christa T., Pita Mario A., Kameswari A., Tamura K., Wallen Gwenyth R. Social Determinants of Cardiovascular Disease. Circulation Research, 2022.

Farmer N, Osei Baah F, Williams F, Ortiz-Chapparo E, Mitchell VM, Jackson L, Collins B, Graham L, Wallen GR, Powell-Wiley TM, Johnson A. Use of a community advisory board to build equitable algorithms for participation in clinical trials: a protocol paper for HoPeNET. BMJ Health Care Inform. 2022 Feb;29(1):e100453. doi: 10.1136/bmjhci-2021-100453. PMID: 35185011; PMCID: PMC8860013.

Farmer N, Gutierrez-Huerta CA, Turner BS, Mitchell VM, Collins BS, Baumer Y, Wallen GR, Powell-Wiley TM. Neighborhood environment associates with trimethylamine-n-oxide (TMAO) as a cardiovascular risk marker. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2021, doi:10.3390/ijerph18084296

Farmer N and Cotter E. Well-being and Cooking Behavior: Using the Positive Emotion, Engagement, Relationship, Meaning and Accomplishment (PERMA) Model as a Theoretical Framework. Frontiers in Psychology. 2021; 12:560578.

Farmer N, Powell-Wiley TM, Middleton KR, Roberson B, Flynn S, Brooks AT, Kazmi N, Mitchell V, Collins B, Hingst R, Swan L, Yang S, Kakar S, Harlan T, Wallen GR. A community feasibility study of a cooking behavior intervention in African-American adults at risk for cardiovascular disease: DC COOKS (DC Community Organizing for Optimal culinary Knowledge Study) with Heart. BMC Pilot Feasibility Stud. 2020; Oct 19 (6):158.

Farmer N, Lee LJ, Powell-Wiley TM, Wallen GR. Cooking Frequency and Perception of Diet among US Adults Are Associated with US Healthy and Healthy Mediterranean-Style Dietary Related Classes: A Latent Class Profile Analysis. Nutrients. 2020; 12(11):3268.

Farmer N, Wallen GR, Baumer Y, Powell-Wiley T. COVID-19: growing health disparity gaps and an opportunity for health behavior discovery? Health Equity. 2020 4:1, 316–319

Farmer N, Touchton-Leonard K, Ross A. Psychosocial Benefits of Cooking Interventions: A Systematic Review. Health Educ Behav. 2018 Apr;45(2):167-180. doi: 10.1177/1090198117736352

Visit Scopus for a full list of Dr. Farmer's publications.