On the first Monday of each month, the Nutrition and Global Health Program hosts a Work-in-Progress meeting from 12-1pm ET, followed by a Monthly Seminar from 1-2pm ET. The work-in-progress meeting features the work of students and postdocs in the NGH community, and the monthly seminars showcase faculty and guest speakers from the Harvard Chan School community and beyond.
Upcoming Events:
Past Events:
Nutrition & Global Health Concentration Info Session
The Nutrition and Global Health concentration is open to all Master’s and Doctoral students at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Join the info session to learn more about the concentration and hear from program faculty and students working to address the pressing needs of global populations affected by under-nutrition and overweight and obesity.
Please contact pshuang@hsph.harvard.edu with any questions.
May 1st Nutrition and Global Health Monthly Seminar
Location: Virtual on Zoom
Date & Time: Monday, May 1st, 2023, 1-2pm EST.
Title: The Impact of Prenatal Dietary Choline on Child Outcomes: a Review of the Evidence
Description: The importance of prenatal methyl donor nutrition is becoming increasingly evident as the mechanisms underlying fetal programming are elucidated. Although folate and vitamin B12 food fortifications programs have been successful, a large majority of women in the US and worldwide consume insufficient dietary choline. In this talk, I will review the scientific literature examining the impact of prenatal dietary choline on fetal and long-term child development.
April 3rd Nutrition and Global Health Seminar
Location: Virtual on Zoom
Date & Time: Monday, April 3rd, 2023, 1-2pm EST.
Title: Breastfeeding Protection, Promotion and Support at Scale: The 2023 Lancet Series on Breastfeeding
Description: This webinar will address commercial, social, political, economic, and health care systems barriers preventing women from breastfeeding for as long as they wish, and how to overcome them.
April 2023 Work-in-Progress Meeting
Speakers:
- Yujia Lu, SM2 Student, Department of Epidemiology: “Imaging-based Visceral Adipose Tissue Volume and Cancer Risk in the UK Biobank Cohort”
- Hena Nafis, MPH Student, Department of Nutrition: “Overeating – How do we overcome this problem?”
March 2023 Work-in-Progress Meeting
Speakers:
- Esther Hallsdottir & Stuti Ginodia, Master in Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School of Government: “Drivers of Stunting in Sindh Province, Pakistan”
February 2023 Work-in-Progress Meeting
Speakers:
- Palak Madan, MPH Student, Department of Nutrition: “Genetics of Erythroid Iron Metabolism in the Hepcidin Era – A Review”
February 6th Nutrition and Global Health Seminar
Location: Virtual on Zoom
Date & Time: Monday, February 6th, 2023, 1-2pm EST.
Title: School Meal Programs Around the World: Results from the 2021 Global Survey of School Meal Programs
Description: This seminar will introduce the Global Survey of School Meal Programs©, which has been conducted in 2019 and 2021 with information gathered on school feeding activities in about 155 countries in total. We will present some key results from the 2021 survey, including an overview of how school meal programs have been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, and we will discuss research gaps that can best be address by public health scholars and practitioners.
December 2022 Work-in-Progress Meeting
Speakers:
- Banapsha Rahman, MPH-65 Student: “Food Law and Policy Clinic: The Global Food Donation Policy Atlas.”
- Nazia Binte Ali, GHP Doctoral Student: “Acute Undernutrition and Child Development Outcomes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.”
November 7th Nutrition and Global Health Seminar
Location: Virtual on Zoom
Date & Time: Monday, November 7th, 2022, 1-2pm EST.
Title: Using Iron Stable Isotopes to Develop Safe and Effective Oral Iron Supplementation Programs
Description: Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) remains a major public health problems worldwide, especially in young women. Oral iron supplementation can be an effective strategy to treat and prevent IDA, but guidelines vary. Many experts recommend doses of 150-200 mg elemental iron per day, with the dose split through the day. But the fraction of iron absorbed from high doses of oral iron is low, and unabsorbed iron can cause gut inflammation and dysbiosis, and these reduce compliance. Recent studies, using serum hepcidin profiles and stable iron isotopes, have defined more effective oral iron regimens to prevent and treat IDA.
October 3rd Nutrition and Global Health Seminar
Location: FXB G-13 (on Campus) and Virtual (on Zoom), HYBRID
Date & Time: Monday, October 3rd 2022, 1-2pm EST.
Title: A Tale of Two Sugars: The Epic Human Story of Amylose and Lactose
Description: Human diet has radically changed since the emergence of our genus approximately 2 million years ago. Over that period, gene duplications related to digestion – such as amylase copy number – have vastly expanded, and genetic variants – such as lactase persistence (LP) – are among the genomic features under highest selection in the human genome. Although the evolutionary dynamics behind some of these changes are partly known, their microbial correlates within the human microbiome are less explored. Here we discuss human adaptations to two carbohydrates, amylose and lactose, and show that far from being simple, they involve a complex interplay between the host genome and microbiome. Using direct molecular evidence from the archaeological and paleoanthropological record, we discuss human dietary evolution and argue that only by investigating the host genome and microbiome in tandem can our evolution, biology, and health be fully understood.
October 2022 Work in Progress Meeting
Speakers:
- Elisabetta Ferrero, MPH Student: “Changes in School Feeding Operations During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Mixed-Methods Study Across 139 Countries”
- Samantha Jaffe, MPH Student: “A Landscape Analysis: Lactation Management and Support for Low Birthweight Infants in Low-Resource Settings”
Nutrition & Global Health Concentration Info Session
The Nutrition and Global Health concentration is open to all Master’s and Doctoral students at Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health Join the info session to learn more about the concentration and hear from program faculty and students working to address the pressing needs of global populations affected by under and over nutrition.
Please contact kcarthew@hsph.harvard.edu with any questions.
August 29th Nutrition & Global Health Seminar
Location: FXB G-13 (on Campus) and Virtual (on Zoom), HYBRID
Date & Time: Monday, August 29th 2022, 1-2pm EST.
Title: International collaborations to develop and operationalize a Global Diet Quality Score (GDQS)
Description: There is presently no global standard metric that has been widely adopted for enabling systematic and comparable assessments and monitoring of diet quality in populations. Since 2018, an international consortium of researchers has collaborated to address this deficit by developing, validating, and operationalizing a simple food-based Global Diet Quality Score (GDQS) that describes the contribution of diet to both nutrient adequacy and non-communicable disease risk in diverse settings. This talk will summarize the outcomes of the GDQS project to date, and ongoing and upcoming research and programmatic activities.
May Nutrition & Global Health Seminar
Date & Time: Monday, May 2nd 2022, 1-2pm EST.
Title: Periconceptional micronutrient supplementation and pregnancy loss in rural Bangladesh: The JiVitA-5 Trial
Description: Antenatal multiple micronutrient supplementation (MMS) can reduce adverse pregnancy outcomes, is recommended by WHO where deficiencies exist, and is on the Essential Medicines List. However, it remains unknown whether starting MMS preconceptionallycan improve pregnancy outcome. The JiVitA-5 trial assessed effects of preconceptional-through-1st trimester MMS vs placebo supplementation on pregnancy loss among primigravidsin rural Bangladesh. All mothers received open-labeled MMS thereafter. Initial findings will be presented and discussed.
April Nutrition & Global Health Seminar
Date & Time: Monday, April 4th, 12-1pm
Title: Reducing Demand for Ultra-Processed Products: Policy innovations from around the world
Description: Unhealthy diets are a major and growing driver of non-communicable diseases and premature mortality around the world, necessitating urgent action. This talk will highlight innovative policy responses, largely from the global South, that seek to reduce demand for sugary drinks and ultra-processed products. It will cover the advocacy strategies used to achieve policy change, particularly in the face of tremendous industry opposition; findings from early impact evaluations; lessons learned; and future directions.
April 2022 Work in Progress Meeting
Speaker:
- Kenny Mendoza Herrera, PhD Student: “Association between parental feeding styles and excess weight, and its mediation by diet in Costa Rican adolescents”
- Barbara Lourenco, Fulbright Fellow: “Favorable conditions for intrauterine growth in the Brazilian Amazon: a latent variable analysis with fetal biometric parameters”
March Nutrition and Global Health Seminar
Date & Time: Monday, March 7th, 1-2pm
Title: Modeling Global Nutrients Intake Distributions
Description: Limited access to high quality nutrient intake data has been a
barrier to progress and innovation in the field of nutrition research. In an effort todemocratize data access, we compiled datasets from more than 30 diverse countries, modeled usual nutrient intakes for over 50 combined acro-and micronutrients, and made these nutrient distributions freely available so they can be applied directly in future research efforts.
March 2022 Work in Progress Meeting
Speaker:
- Miles Kirby, Research Associate: “Biomarkers of environmental enteric dysfunction in pregnancy and adverse birth outcomes: an observational study among women living with HIV in Tanzania”
February Nutrition and Global Health Seminar
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Date & Time: Monday, February 7th, 12-1pm
Title: Early life influences on adult health and well-being: Comparative studies from low and middle income countries in the COHORTS collaboration
Description: This talk will highlight work done by the COHORTS collaboration, which unites long term studies in Brazil, Guatemala, India, the Philippines and South Africa to study how child characteristics at birth and patterns of growth relate to adult non-communicable disease risk, human capital, and other aspects of well-being. It will address methodological challenges as well as substantive findings.
February 2022 Work in Progress Meeting
Speaker:
- Hannah Jin, MPH Candidate
December Nutrition and Global Health Seminar
Date & Time: Monday, December 6th, 12-1pm
Title: How the COVID pandemic has changed how countries care for the world’s schoolchildren: Rethinking the “next 7000 days” in a young person’s life
Description: The covid pandemic closed schools worldwide. The resulting social, educational and development disaster has sharpened the resolve of countries worldwide, rich and poor, to build a different global view of health and education systems for school children and adolescents. We were tracking children from January 2020: here is the story of how countries reacted then, and what they are trying to do now.
December 2021 Work in Progress Meeting
Speaker:
- Juliet McCann, SM-2 student
November 2021 Work in Progress Meeting
Speaker: Uttara Partap, Postdoctoral Fellow: “Burden and determinants of anaemia among young adolescents in Ethiopia, Sudan and Tanzania”
Nutrition & Global Health November Seminar
Speaker: Dr. Kathryn G. Dewey, PhD, Distinguished Professor Emerita, Institute for Global Nutrition and Department of Nutrition, University of California, Davis
Title: Meeting Nutrient Needs During the First 1000 Days: Challenges and Opportunities
October Nutrition and Global Health Seminar
Date & Time: Monday, October 4th, 12-1pm
Title: Tackling Nutrition at Both Ends
Description: The world has an ambitious target to end malnutrition in all its forms by 2030. This talk will focus on a decade of research undertaken in Zimbabwe aimed at tackling malnutrition ‘at both ends’: early-life prevention of stunting, and convalescent care for children recovering from the most severe forms of malnutrition. The talk will explore our understanding of the pathogenesis of stunting and severe acute malnutrition; and new approaches to prevention and treatment of malnutrition.
October 2021 Work in Progress Meeting
Speakers:
- Ilana Cliffer, Postdoctoral Fellow
- Gabriela Rosa, MPH Student
August 2021 Nutrition and Global Health Seminar
Speaker: Zulfiqar Bhutta, PhD, MBBS, FRCPCH, FAAP
Title: “How Stunting Improves? An Evaluation through the Exemplars Lens”
Description: This seminar will provide an overview of the Exemplars Methodology using Mixed Methods; assessment of trends in stunting, focused country specific success stories along with the gaps and challenges of addressing stunting at scale, focused on designing innovative and effective solutions for improving child stunting in other LMICs.
Nutrition and Global Health Concentration: Info Session
The Nutrition and Global Health concentration is open to all Master’s and Doctoral students at Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health Join the info session to learn more about the concentration and hear from program faculty and students working to address the pressing needs of global populations affected by under and over nutrition.
Please contact kcarthew@hsph.harvard.edu with any questions.
May 2021 Nutrition and Global Health Seminar
Monday, May 3rd, 2021
1:00-2:00pm ET
Dr. Chris Duggan, MD, MPH
Title: “Is zinc the answer for childhood diarrhea? Recent trial data from Tanzania and India”
Professor, Departments of Nutrition and Global Health and Population, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Professor, Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School
May 2021 Work in Progress Meeting
12:00-1:00pm ET
Speakers:
- Shradha Chhabria, MPH Student, Department of Global Health and Population: “Estimating Obesity-Attributable COVID-19 Outcomes in Saudi Arabia from 2020-2025”
- Lea Sinno, MPH Student, Department of Nutrition: “COVID-19 Impacts on the Food and Health Systems in Ethiopia”
Africa’s Water Opportunity: Science, Sustainability, and Solutions
In celebration of Earth Day, the Harvard Center for African Studies reconvened our Climate Change, Agriculture, and Health in Africa initiative around the theme of water for a two-day virtual conference from April 21 – 22, 2021 on Africa’s Water Opportunity: Science, Sustainability, and Solutions (linked with more information and posters attached).
To address Africa’s water opportunity, panels featured a diverse mix of faculty and researchers, private sector representatives, NGOs, and non-profits working on 21st century solutions to water. Each panel and keynote focused on science, sustainability, and solutions. What does the latest research reveal about each theme for discussion, and what novel or innovate research is taking place? How can national governments, local communities, and the private sector in Africa develop sustainable water solutions? And, what best practices should be held up as models for addressing the water question in Africa?
Our keynote speakers were:
- Dr. Martin Fregene, Director of Agriculture and Agro-Industry, African Development Bank Group (AfDB)
- Dr. Apollos Nwafor, Vice President, Policy and State Capability, Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA).
2021 Nutrition and Global Health Career Panel
April 2021 Nutrition and Global Health Seminar
Monday, April 5th, 2021
1-2:00pm ET
“Resetting the Table: How Not to Fix our Broken Food System”
Robert Paarlberg, PhD
Associate, Sustainability Science Program, Harvard Kennedy School
Associate, Weatherhead Center for International Affairs
April 2021 Work in Progress Meeting
12:00-1:00pm ET
Speakers:
- Wanqing Xu, SM-2 Candidate, Department of Epidemiology: “Association between food insecurity and dysfunctional eating behaviors among Puerto Rican residents”
- Ahmed Aboushady, MPH Student, Department of Global Health and Population: “Bushmeat and Zoonotic Diseases”
March 2021 Nutrition and Global Health Seminar
Monday, March 1st, 2021
1:00-2:00pm ET
Dr. Wafaie Fawzi, MBBS, MPH, MS, DrPH
Richard Saltonstall Professor of Population Sciences
Professor of Nutrition, Epidemiology, and Global Health
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Dr. Chris Sudfeld, ScM, ScD
Assistant Professor of Global Health and Nutrition
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
March 2021 Work in Progress Meeting
- Dr. Kwabena Lartey, MPH Student, Department of Global Health and Population: “Nutrition activities in HIV care and support: a risk benefit analysis of Vitamin A, D and Zinc supplementation”
- Dr. Nandita Perumal, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Global Health and Population: “Association between gestational weight gain adequacy and perinatal outcomes in Tanzania”
February 2021 Nutrition and Global Health Seminar
Monday, February 1st, 2021
1:00-2:00pm ET
Dr. Ashkan Afshin, MD, MPH, MSc, ScD
“Estimating the burden of disease related to multiple micronutrient deficiencies”
Adjunct Assistant Professor, Global Health
Assistant Professor, Health Metrics Sciences
University of Washington
February 2021 Work in Progress Meeting
12:00-1:00pm ET
Speakers:
- Dr. Apoorva Gomber, MPH Student, Department of Global Health and Population: “Psychosocial Impact of Type 1 youth diabetes camps in India – Disordered eating behaviors and going beyond blood glucose testing among adolescent patients”
- Dr. Isabel Madzorera, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Global Health and Population: “Women’s participation and decision-making in key agriculture activities – associations with diet quality for women in rural Tanzania”
December 2020 Nutrition and Global Health Seminar
1:00-2:00pm ET
“Determining the Nutrient Composition of Human Milk: Research on an Old Problem”
Lindsay Allen, PhD
Center Director, USDA
ARS Western Human Nutrition Research Center
University of California, Davis
December 2020 Work in Progress Meeting
12:00-1:00pm ET
Speakers:
- Dr. Dongqing Wang, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Global Health and Population: “Effects of Prenatal and Postnatal Maternal Multiple Micronutrient Supplementation on Child Growth and Morbidity in Tanzania”
- Juliet McCann, SM-2 Student, Department of Global Health and Population: “Behavioral interventions to increase family support for recommended maternal and child nutrition practices in low- and middle-income countries: Results from a systematic review”
November 2020 Nutrition and Global Health Seminar
1:00-2:00pm ET
“Salt Wars: The Science and Politics of Salt”
Dr. Michael F. Jacobson, PhD
Co-founder and Senior Scientist
Center for Science in the Public Interest
November 2020 Work-in-Progress Meeting
12:00-1:00pm ET
Speakers:
- Latifat Okara, MPH Student, Department of Global Health and Population: “Optimizing under-5 nutrition from the pregnancy phase: a primary health care approach”
- Lily Bliznaska, PhD Candidate, Department of Global Health and Population: “Changes in diet and dietary predictors over time in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia”
October 2020 Nutrition and Global Health Seminar
Monday, October 5th, 2020
1:00-2:00pm ET
“Eating Healthy, Sustainably and Equitably in the Anthropocene Era”
Dr. Jessica Fanzo, PhD
Bloomberg Distinguished Professor of Global Food and Agriculture Policy and Ethics
Director, Global Food Ethics and Policy Program
Editor-in-Chief, Global Food Security Journal
Berman Institute of Bioethics, Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and Bloomberg School of Public Health
October 2020 Work-in-Progress Meeting
12:00-1:00pm ET
Speakers:
- Matt Cooper, Data Science Postdoctoral Fellow: “Modeling Food Insecurity Over Time and Space”
- Sachin Shinde, Postdoctoral Research Fellow: “Iron supplementation, dietary diversity and nutritional and academic outcomes among adolescents in India”
2020 Nutrition and Global Health Concentration: Info Session
12:00-1:00pm ET
September 2020 Nutrition and Global Health Monthly Seminar
1-2:00pm ET
“Food Production Systems to Sequester Soil Carbon and Offset Emissions”
Dr. Rattan Lal, PhD
Distinguished University Professor of Soil Science
School of Environment and Natural Resources
The Ohio State University
May 2020 Nutrition and Global Health Seminar
Speaker: Sheila Isanaka, Assistant Professor, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Date and Time: Monday, May 4, 2020, 1-2pm
Location: Zoom
April 2020 Work-in-Progress Meeting
Latifat Okara
Date & Time: Monday, April 6, 2020, 12-1pm
Location: Zoom
March 2020 Nutrition and Global Health Seminar
Speaker: Davaasambuu Ganmaa
Date & Time: March 2, 2020, 1:00-1:50pm
Location: Kresge 502
March 2020 Work-in-Progress Meeting
Nadhira Nuraini Afifa: “MEGA: Meals, Education and Gardens for In-School Adolescents”
Date & Time: Monday, March 2nd 2020, 5:30-7pm
Location: Building 1, Room 1208
February 2020 Nutrition and Global Health Seminar
Speaker: Jacqueline Lauer, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Boston Children’s Hospital
Date and Time: Monday, February 3, 2020, 1-2pm
Location: Kresge 502
February 2020 Work-in-Progress Meeting
Simone Passarelli (PhD Student): Caregivers’ perceptions of their child’s growth in Ethiopia
Date and Time: Monday, February 3, 2020, 5:30-7pm
Location: Building 1, Room 1208
December 2019 Nutrition and Global Health Seminar
Speaker: Marion Roche, Senior Technical Advisor, Nutrition International
Date and Time: Monday, December 2, 2019, 1-2pm
Location: Kresge 502
The video recording of the seminar can be found here. The Powerpoint slides are here.
December 2019 Work-in-Progress Meeting
Dongqing (DQ) Wang (Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health): Impacts of school feeding on health and education of children and adolescents in low- and middle-income countries: protocol for a systematic review
Date and Time: Monday, December 2, 2019, 5:30-7pm
Location: Building 1, Room 1208
2019 Nutrition and Global Health Symposium
Date and Time: November 20, 2019, 9am-1pm
Location: Kresge G3 Auditorium
Event materials from the symposium, including the video recording, keynote speech slides, and event photos can be found here.
November 2019 Nutrition and Global Health Seminar
Speaker: Jean-Philippe Drouin-Chartier, Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Date and Time: Monday, November 4, 2019, 1-2pm
Location: Kresge 502
November 2019 Work-in-Progress Meeting
Goodluck Lyatuu (Director of Programs, Management and Development for Health): Leaving no one behind: Improving treatment outcomes among HIV-positive adolescents on ART care
Date: Monday, November 4, 2019, 5:30-7pm
Location: Building 1, Room 1208
October 2019 Nutrition and Global Health Seminar
Speaker: Emily Smith, Assistant Professor, George Washington University
Date and Time: Monday, October 7, 2019, 1-2pm
Location: Kresge 502
The video recording of the seminar can be found here. The Powerpoint slides are here.
October 2019 Work-in-Progress Meeting
Jorick Bater (MS Student, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health):Predictors of low birth weight and preterm birth among rural Ugandan infants: findings from a birth cohort study
Date and Time: Monday, October 7, 2019, 5:30-7pm
Location: Building 1, Room 1208
