Dr. Brostow earned her PhD in Human Nutrition in 2014, and is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist. She first joined the Veterans Affairs Eastern Colorado Health Care System in 2015 as a Health Services Research Fellow, and as the clinical Dietitian for the Denver VA Medical Center’s inpatient homeless program. Since joining the Rocky Mountain Mental Illness Research Education and Clinical Center (MIRECC) in 2018, Dr. Brostow’s research has focused primarily on food insecurity in relation to mental health and polytraumatic injury rehabilitation. Specifically, she is interested in the biological, psychosocial, environmental, and economic factors that comprise “nutritional functioning”, and shape how combat Veterans with traumatic brain injuries (TBI) access and use food. In addition, Dr. Brostow is interested in the human microbiota, and its interactions with dietary habits, mental health and cognitive function.

Dr. Brostow’s current grant funded project is a VA Career Development Award in Rehabilitation Research and Development, the goal of which is to develop a comprehensive measure of nutritional functioning to be used to assess combat Veterans’ nutritional needs. This measure will allow clinicians and mental health providers to target personalized therapies aimed at augmenting psychosocial recovery and enhancing reintegration into civilian life.