
Global Capacity Building in Nutrition Science: Training Future Practitioners, Empowering Future Leaders
Thursday, May 31, 2012 - Friday, June 1, 2012
The New York Academy of Sciences
Building capacity in nutrition science is fundamental at all levels and across multiple dimensions: from basic scientific research to policy making, from program design to program implementation and evaluation, and from individual nutrition counseling skills to management and leadership skills. Nutrition issues are often placed at the crossroads of several disciplines, and lack of capacity in initiating and leading multi-sectoral interactions leads to missed opportunities to address nutrition problems.
Where do we stand in terms of the capacity of the current and future generations of nutrition and public health practitioners in addressing the double burden of malnutrition? What are the obstacles to adequate capacity building and how can they be overcome?
This conference will bring together leading experts from academia, industry, and the non-profit sector to review the state of educational and professional trainings available in the nutrition domain, and to discuss novel ideas and methods for filling future gaps.
Registration Pricing
Member | $10 |
Student/Postdoc Member | $10 |
Nonmember | $40 |
Nonmember (Student / Postdoc / Resident / Fellow) | $20 |
Presented by
Agenda
* Presentation times are subject to change.
Day 1: Thursday May 31, 2012 | |
Working Group SessionsThe Sackler Institute for Nutrition Science invites all conference attendees to participate along-side our speakers and moderators, for a series of discussions around key areas with the aim of identifying critical knowledge gaps and future research opportunities. These thought provoking and stimulating workshops will include brainstorming, Q&A sessions, and networking opportunities. | |
12:30 PM | Registration |
1:30 PM | Working Group 1: Scoping the Existing Capacity for Nutrition Program Implementation: Best Practices and Approaches |
2:30 PM | Working Group 2: Building Careers in Nutrition Sciences, Policy and Implementation for Students and Young Graduates |
3:30 PM | Working Group 3: Mid-Career Nutritionists: Gaps, Challenges, and Ways to Empower Future Leaders |
4:30 PM | Networking Reception |
Day 2: Friday June 1, 2012 | |
8:15 AM | Registration |
8:45 AM | Introduction and Welcome |
Session I: Mapping of Ongoing Capacity-Building Efforts, Challenges and Lessons Learned | |
9:00 AM | Capacity Building in Nutrition Science: Asia Reflection and Future Challenges |
9:30 AM | Capacity Building in Basic Nutritional Sciences in Eastern Africa: A Consortium-Based Approach |
10:00 AM | Q&A Session |
10:15 AM | Nutrition Education: Form and Function |
10:45 AM | Coffee Break |
11:00 AM | Online Professional Development: Opportunities and Challenges |
Session II: Capacity Building Across Sectors and Innovation Perspectives | |
11:30 AM | Implementation of 21st Century Science Demands Greater Investment in Human Capacity |
12:00 PM | Danone: Global Support for Future Leaders in Nutrition |
12:30 PM | Q&A Session |
12:45 PM | Networking Lunch |
Session III: Developing Tools for Capacity Building | |
1:45 PM | Nutrition Education: The Whys, Whats, and Hows of Effectively Changing Eating Behaviors |
2:15 PM | Prospectives from the Field |
2:45 PM | Panel Discussion Perspectives on Capacity Building for Advocacy and Creating Nutrition Intervention Demand Curriculum Development Practitioners of a Cross-Disciplinary Approach |
3:45 PM | Summary |
4:00 PM | Meeting Close |
Please check this website again for updates.
Speakers
Organizer
Mandana Arabi, MD, PhD
The Sackler Institute for Nutrition Science
Speakers
Gayle Binney
The Dannon Company, Inc.
Gayle Binney serves as Manager of the Dannon Institute, an independent nonprofit foundation funded by Dannon to encourage and support continued study of the relationship between nutrition and health. In this role, Gayle promotes and executes nutrition education programs established by the Dannon Institute Board of Directors. The Board’s key areas for support include: 1) enhancing leadership skills in nutrition through the Nutrition Leadership Institute, an intensive leadership-training program for outstanding nutrition doctoral graduates; and 2) promoting children’s nutrition education through programs such as its School Wellness initiative, which is directed toward school superintendents, and Growing Leaps and Bounds, which empowers parents to create a healthy environment for their children from birth to age 5 by making smart food choices and encouraging physical activity.
Gayle is also the Manager of Corporate Responsibility at The Dannon Company, where she directs the company's philanthropic initiatives supporting children's nutrition education. The Dannon Company established the Dannon Next Generation Nutrition Grants in 2006 to promote childhood nutrition education programs in each of the four communities where a Dannon facility is located. In 2011, Dannon was recognized in the Reputation Institute's Corporate Social Responsibility Index as one of the 50 companies with the best reputations in the areas of citizenship, governance, and workplace practices.
Glenn Denning, PhD, MPA
Columbia University
Glenn Denning is Director of the Columbia University’s Center on Globalization and Sustainable Developmentwith a mission to mobilize the scientific expertise of the Earth Institute for multi-sector policy support to governments and development organizations. Denning also directs the Master of Public Administration in Development Practice program at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs and is a Professor of Professional Practice in International and Public Affairs. He helped establish The MDG Centre, East and Southern Africa in Nairobi, Kenya, served as its first Director (2004 to 2009) and provided leadership to the Centre’s agenda in agriculture and rural development and its support to the African Green Revolution. He previously held senior management positions at the International Rice Research Institute and the World Agroforestry Centre, and has lived and worked in Asia and Africa for more than 30 years. Denning served on the UN Millennium Project Hunger Task Force (2004 to 2006) and is currently a member of the Senior Steering Group of the UN High Level Task Force on the Global Food Security Crisis and the Technical Advisory Committee of the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program. He also serves on the board of the Tanzania-based Institute of African Leadership for Sustainable Development. Denning holds agricultural science degrees from the University of Queensland, a PhD from the University of Reading, and an MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School.
Jessica L. Escobar-Alegria, MSc
University of South Carolina
Jessica L Escobar-Alegría, MSc works for the Division of Nutrition and Obesity Prevention at the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, and is a PhD candidate of the University of South Carolina, Department of Health Promotion Education and Behavior, Arnold School of Public Health. Ms Escobar holds a Masters in Science on International Nutrition and Epidemiology from Cornell University, NY, USA (2004); and a bachelors degree on Nutrition and Dietetics from Universidad Evangélica de El Salvador (1998). She has worked in El Salvador for the United Nations World Food Program on Nutritional Surveillance, on vulnerable population's nutritional assessments during natural disasters, and on emergency relief operations (2006-2010); and for the Ministry of Health on the implementation of the national nutritional program on breastfeeding, complementary feeding, and baby-friendly initiatives (2004-2006). In addition, she has worked for the Pan-American Health Organization, Washington DC, USA as a technical officer of the Nutrition Unit (2003-2004). Her current research interest is on the sustainability of food security and nutrition policies and programs and socio-political analysis in Latin American countries.
Shibani Ghosh, PhD
Tufts University
Robert J. Karp, MD
SUNY-Downstate Medical Center
Nabeeha Kazi, MIA, MPH
Humanitas Global Development
Nabeeha Mujeeb Kazi is Managing Director of Humanitas Global Development (HGD), a Washington, DC-based international development agency. She has directed high-profile global food and nutrition security initiatives and designed advocacy, public-private partnership, community mobilization, behavior change and stakeholder engagement programs. The organizations she and her team have collaborated with include the New York Academy of Sciences, Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, World Bank, World Health Organization, The Mathile Institute for the Advancement of Human Nutrition, The Global Fund for Women, Save the Children, Kiwanis International, The Micronutrient Initiative, and UNICEF among others.
Prior to HGD, Nabeeha served as Senior Vice President and Partner at global communications firm, Fleishman-Hillard. She also worked for the Clinton Foundation’s HIV/AIDS Initiative developing national HIV/AIDS plans for Caribbean and African countries, and worked at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in Mexico. Nabeeha serves on the boards of FINCA International and United Neighborhood Centers of America, and has served on a variety of taskforces and committees including those for Scaling Up Nutrition, Millennium Villages, Feed the Future and the New York Academy of Sciences. Nabeeha is a Phi Beta Kappa undergraduate of Kansas State University, where she majored in journalism and political science. She has dual master’s degrees in public health and international affairs from Columbia University.
Pamela A. Koch, EdD, RD
Teachers College Columbia University
Dr. Pamela Koch is the Executive Director at the Center for Food & Environment where she develops, evaluates and publishes curriculum for school-aged children that teaches them about the to understand that our food choices impact our personal health and the health of the natural environment. Additionally, Pam also does policy and system change work that can help make healthful foods the easy, desired, and expected choice.
Pam is the lead author of the Linking Food and the Environment (LiFE) Curriculum Series with three modules: Growing Food, Farm to Table & Beyond, and Choice, Control & Change. Three National Institutes of Health (NIH) Science Education Partnership Awards (SEPA) grants funded LiFE. Pam is also the lead author on the Food Day School Curriculum, the author of Studio in a School’s Art & Healthy Living Nutrition Curriculum, and worked with GrowNYCGreenMarkets to develop their Seed to Plate Curriculum. Additionally, Pam oversees the EarthFriends Program at Teachers College where students learn about “the whole story of food,” while having experiences growing, cooking, and eating whole, locally sourced foods. The curriculum and programs of the Center for Food & Environmentall use theory-based, behaviorally focused nutrition education that incorporate research-based elements of effectiveness.
Hunter Reed
F.A.S.T.NYC
Hunter Reed is President at F.A.S.T.NYC. fastnyc is a 501(c)3 solution-based organization, founded in response to the accelerating rate of Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes in New York City's children, as well as to the severe lack of nutrition education and physical activity programs in New York City’s public schools. fastnyc helps schools develop, implement and establish healthy eating and physical activity policies and practices through custom-built nutrition, exercise and sports programs, which are tailored to fit each school’s individual needs. fastnyc uses a coordinated approach by working closely with a school’s principal and parent association to help schools establish environments that encourage, inspire and support healthy eating and regular physical activity for its students and staff.
Christina M. Stark, MS, RD, CDN
Cornell NutritionWorks
Christina M. Stark, MS, RD, CDN, is a Senior Extension Associate with the Division of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell University, where she has worked since 1981. She is currently the Program Leader for Cornell NutritionWorks, an online professional development program for nutrition and health practitioners at nutritionworks.cornell.edu. She has a BS in Consumer Food Science from the University of California at Davis, and an MS in Foods and Nutrition from Oregon State University. Prior to coming to Cornell, she worked in a similar position at the University of Wisconsin in Madison and was also a recipe tester for Bon Appétit magazine in Los Angeles. For over 32 years, she has been responsible for interpreting and communicating research based information on food and nutrition issues to extension educators, other professionals, consumers, and the media. Her most recent interests include providing continuing professional education to nutrition and health practitioners using distance technology.
Emorn Wasantwisut, PhD
Mahidol University
Emorn Wasantwisut (Udomkesmalee), PhD, is the Senior Advisor and Former Director of the Institute of Nutrition, Mahidol University, Thailand. She holds a current position of Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of International Health, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Wasantwisut holds a PhD in nutritional biochemistry and metabolism from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Massachusetts, USA (1985). Her post-doctoral training was at the Vitamin and Mineral Nutrition Laboratory, Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center, US Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, Maryland, USA (1987). In addition, she is the Past-Chairperson, Scientific Program Committee of the International Congress of Nutrition 2009. She is a member of the Task Team/Transition Team of the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement; WHO Nutrition Guidance Expert Advisory Group on Micronutrients; the International Zinc Nutrition Consultative Group (IZiNCG) Steering Committee; the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF); the Biomarkers of Nutrition for Development (BOND) project; the International Union of Nutritional Sciences (IUNS) Council; the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) Partnership Council; International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) Strategic Advisory Council; the Advisory Group of the New York Academy of Science Nutrition Science Research Initiative; Editorial Board of Food and Nutrition Bulletin and the Culinary Institute of America’s Worlds of Healthy Flavors Scientific and Public Health Advisory Committee. Her research interests include micronutrient assessment, bioavailability and metabolism; micronutrient interaction especially of vitamin A and zinc or iron and zinc; and micronutrient and immune function.
Debra J. Wolgemuth, PhD
Columbia University Medical Center
Dr. Debra J. Wolgemuth, Professor of Genetics and Development and Obstetrics and Gynecology, is Associate Director for Research at the Institute of Human Nutrition at Columbia University Medical Center and also served as Director of the Cancer Genetics and Epigenetics program in the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center for 15 years. She is the director of the Nutritional and Metabolic Biology (NMB) PhD training program (for the past nine years) and is the PI of the program’s recently renewed pre-doctoral training grant from NIDDK. She is also the PI of a new post-doctoral training grant on “Interdisciplinary training in nutritional and population health sciences”, also from NIDDK. In addition to serving as the Chair of the Training Committee of the NMB PhD Program, she has served on pre-doctoral training committees from the Department of Genetics and Development and the Integrated Program in Cellular, Molecular, and Biomedical Studies at Columbia. She also served on the Steering Committee for the NICHD/Burroughs Wellcome Foundation Reproductive Sciences Advanced Training Course and served as a consultant, under the aegis of a Fulbright Fellowship, to the Dean of the Graduate School at the University of Kiev-Mohyla Academy, advising on establishing graduate programs in basic sciences (including nutrition) and in public health. Dr. Wolgemuth received her PhD from Columbia University and did post-doctoral training at Sloan Kettering and The Rockefeller University in molecular biology and genetics. She is an internationally recognized investigator in the fields of developmental and reproductive biology and served as the PI for an NIDDK-funded Program Project Grant on “Genetic Studies on Vitamin A Metabolism and Actions” and recently led an NICHD-sponsored panel on the role of vitamin A in the control of male reproduction. In collaboration with Drs. Richard Deckelbaum and Bonnie Dunbar, she is currently developing PhD-level training programs in nutritional sciences in Eastern Africa.
Derek Yach, DSc, MPH, MBChB
PepsiCo
Derek Yach is Senior Vice President of Global Health and Agriculture Policy at PepsiCo where he leads engagement with major international groups and new African initiatives at the nexus of agriculture and nutrition. He has headed global health at the Rockefeller Foundation, has been a Professor of Global Health at Yale University, and is a former Executive Director of the World Health Organization (WHO). At the WHO, he served as cabinet director under Director-General Gro Harlem Brundtland where he led the development of WHO’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and the Global Strategy on Diet and Physical Activity. Dr. Yach established the Centre for Epidemiological Research at the South African Medical Research Council. He has authored or co-authored over 200 articles covering the breadth of global health. Dr. Yach serves on several advisory boards including those of the Clinton Global Initiative, the Chicago Council on International Affairs’ Agricultural Development Initiative, the World Economic Forum’s New Vision for Agriculture, the NIH’s International Centre and the World Food Program USA.
Additional biographies coming soon.
Capacity Building in Nutrition Science: Asia Reflection and Future Challenges
Emorn Wasantwisut, PhD, Institute of Nutrition, Mahidol University
The continent of Asia emerged from high burden of protein-energy malnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies to a region in transition. The severity of under-nutrition in mothers and young children markedly declined over the years while obesity and non-communicable diseases increased rapidly, leading to the scenario of double-burden of malnutrition. The capacity in nutrition science in the early years was built primarily within the medical/health sciences and public health related professionals. In the 1960s and ‘70s, individual training, fellowships and scholarships resulted in a group of nutrition leaders who pioneered the efforts to tackle the regional nutrition problems at the time. During early 1980s, the major funding for capacity development in nutrition diminished and several programs phased out. Short-course trainings and workshops were coupled onto research or program-based activities. This vacuum period and a gap of leadership generation led to the decline of several institutions and became the basis for ‘Manila Forum’ organized by UNU in 1996 to review and re-strategize the manpower development plan in nutrition. In 2002, the United Nations System Standing Committee on Nutrition (SCN) established a Working Group on Capacity Strengthening in Nutrition in Asia (CASNA) to develop a strategic plan and provide guidance for implementation including monitoring and evaluation scheme, under the umbrella of the UNU-Food and Nutrition Program. CASNA Task Force identified core areas for research and training together with the implementing model of grouping trainer and trainee institutions with common interests. Unfortunately, a number of constraints led to a stall on CASNA strategy. Recently, the increasing recognition that to effectively solve nutrition problems, the knowledge in nutrition science should be generated based on local context, resulted in the Government model of research centers of excellence (e.g. China, Singapore) with potentials to become a regional resource base. To address the complexities of malnutrition in Asia, the forthcoming generation of nutrition scientists is expected to possess in-depth knowledge with application to policy and program, as well as conquer the skills of leadership; advocacy; team-building; communication across disciplines etc.
Capacity Building in Basic Nutritional Sciences in Eastern Africa: A Consortium-Based Approach
Debra J. Wolgemuth, PhD, The Institute of Human Nutrition, Columbia University Medical Center
Developing countries suffer severely from a lack of human resources in science, technology, and the biomedical sciences. Africa in particular has a crisis, with many countries experiencing chronic shortages of biomedical engineers, medical and research laboratory technicians, medical doctors and basic scientists. We at the Institute of Human Nutrition suggest that there is immediate and compelling need for education and training of scientists who could then build and sustain state of the art laboratory approaches to nutrition-related problems in Eastern Africa. Building capacities in laboratory based nutritional sciences is vital from a public health perspective and will be a key contributor to strengthening the interfaces of economical growth and agricultural development. Laboratory-based PhD level training in most of sub-Saharan Africa has been hindered by the lack of facilities and faculty to compete with international standards of excellence [see Nature 474: cover; 542-543; 555-573 (2011), wherein 21 pages and the cover feature are focused on this major gap at several levels]. Because of these limitations, many students from Africa leave to go to international institutes for graduate and professional training and do not return to their home countries. Local mechanisms for training individuals at the graduate level to sustain and expand such facilities and programs are lacking. The economic benefits of better nutrition and health are often underappreciated by government leaders in many African nations. To this end, we further suggest that it will be critical to engage the ministries of the participating institutions’ respective countries toward the goal of advancing education in the area of nutritional sciences. As an approach to capacity building, we are developing a PhD level training program in basic nutritional sciences using a consortium-based model that is multi-institutional, Africa-based, and Africa-led. The consortium would be led by a team of investigators and educators who are internationally recognized for their successes and experience in nutritional and related basic sciences and who would work closely with the faculty at the participating institutions. The concept of forming an African consortium to accomplish such goals has already been tested in other, complementary disciplines and will be discussed.
Online Professional Development: Opportunities and Challenges
Christina M. Stark, MS, RD, CDN, Cornell NutritionWorks
This presentation will examine the opportunities and challenges of building capacity in nutrition using an online professional development program called Cornell NutritionWorks. The program, developed by faculty in the Division of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell University, provides continuing education opportunities to over 9,500 community-based practitioners in 115 countries worldwide. Offerings include single seminars on a variety of nutrition and global health issues, multi-unit trainings on topics such as "Food Policy in Developing Countries" and "Programming for Infant and Young Child Feeding," and an in-depth facilitated course on "Preventing Childhood Obesity: An Ecological Approach." Overall, an online platform can be an efficient and effective way to build capacity, but requires significant resources to develop and maintain.
Danone: Global Support for Future Leaders in Nutrition
Gayle Binney, Dannon Institute, The Dannon Company, Inc.
Danone, a multinational food and beverage corporation, has supported initiatives around the world related to the development of future leaders in nutrition. This presentation will demonstrate how Danone has supported capacity building initiatives in nutrition and health around the world and how this relates to Danone's mission of health through food. Programs supported by Danone include the European Nutrition Leadership Program (1993 – Present), French-Speaking African Nutrition Leadership Program (2008 – Present), and, through the Dannon Institute, the Nutrition Leadership Institute for North America (1998 – Present).
Nutrition Education: The Whys, Whats and Hows of Effectively Changing Eating Behaviors
Pamela A. Koch, EdD, RD, Center for Food & Environment, Teachers College Columbia University
For nutrition education to effectively change eating behavior, curriculum and program developers and researchers need to use the appropriate psychosocial theories in order to: motivate people in personally relevant ways, teach the knowledge and skills needed to do the desired behavior, teach self-regulation processes that enable people to initiate and maintain behavior change, and create environments that are supportive of healthful behaviors. This presentation will explain Dr. Isobel Contento’sDESIGN Model for Planning Theory-Based Nutrition Education. DESIGN stands for: Decide Issues, Audience and Behaviors; Explore Determinants or Mediators; Select Theory, Philosophy, and Components; Indicate Objectives; Generate Plans; and Nail Down Evaluation. As Pam reviews these steps, she will incorporate in examples from curriculum programs she has developed and evaluated.
Prospectives from the Field
Hunter Reed, F.A.S.T.NYC
This presentation will give a field perspective on delivering health and nutrition education to the public - primarily the young public in NYC public schools who are facing Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes at epic proportions. We will examine the impact of the lack of professional development for principals, teachers and kitchen staff in NYC public schools, in the areas of Nutrition Education and Physical Education, and its effects on childhood obesity and its related diseases. A second topic covered will be the lack of compliance by the Department of Education with the State's Physical Education Regulations in public schools. This lack of compliance has created a critical need for organizations like fastnyc to educate school populations on the importance of regular physical activity and proper nutrition, while simultaneously implementing programs that coincide with the CDC’s School Health Guidelines.
Travel & Lodging
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