Kathleen Keller's research is aimed at understanding how eating behaviors develop in childhood and applying this information to the design of effective interventions to improve dietary quality and prevent chronic diseases, like obesity. Dr. Keller's approach combines methodologies from a variety of disciplines to investigate the underlying sources of individual variation in food intake decisions. Her research approaches include behavioral observation, sleep health assessment, actigraphy, body composition testing, functional magnetic resonance imaging, genetic testing, taste phenotyping, and collection of physiological variables to understand how and why children eat the foods that they do. In addition, she applies this research to helping parents and caretakers develop more effective approaches to feeding children.