This is the first 'AGN page' in SCN News. The purpose of this page is to introduce the AGN (Advisory Group on Nutrition) and its current members. The AGN page in future issues of SCN News wilt provide a summary and update of the AGN's activities and discussions.
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What is the AGN? The AGN is a group of experienced individuals that provides
scientific advice to the SCN. It is an independent technical body. AGN members
are drawn from relevant disciplines with wide geographical representation. The
group usually meets once per year to advance SCN proposals and initiatives, and
to review the progress of the SCN. |
AGN members are appointed by the Chair in consultation with SCN members. Membership is extendable, with an initial appointment for two years.
Ricardo Uauy (AGN Chair) is the Director of the Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology (INTA), University of Chile, and is a pediatrician with a Ph.D. in Nutritional Biochemistry and Metabolism from MIT. He is an expert on protein and amino acids requirements and metabolism, but has a breadth of interest embracing food and nutrition policies, nutrition surveillance, and food science. His current research focuses on the influence of essential fatty acids (EFA) on brain development - especially EFA present in human milk.
Email: uauy@abello.seci.uchile.cl
Ruth Oniang'o (AGN Vice Chair) is a Professor of Food Science and Nutrition at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Kenya. She holds an M.Sc. in Nutrition from Washington State University, USA, and a Ph.D. in Food Science and Nutrition from the University of Nairobi. She has nearly 20 years experience of university teaching. Her research interests include maternal and child nutrition and food security and policy. She is also interested in linking research and new technologies with rural communities in Africa.
Email: oniango@form-net.com
Sadia Chowdhury is Director of the Women's Health and Development Programme, BRAC (Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee), one of the largest and most successful national NGOs in the world. Her main professional areas are family planning, public health, women's health and development. She is a surgeon by training and also has an MPH in International Health from Harvard, USA.
Email: hpd@bdmail.net
Lawrence Haddad joined the AGN in July 1997. He has been the Director of the Food Consumption and Nutrition Division at IFPRI since 1994, joining the institute as a Research Fellow in 1990. He is responsible for multi-country research and outreach programmes covering urban food insecurity and malnutrition, the role of micro-credit in securing food security, the design of anti-poverty interventions and gender intrahousehold aspects of food security and nutrition (including care). He has a Ph.D. in Food Research from Stanford University, USA.
Email: l.haddad@cgnet.com
Jak Jervell is a Professor of Medicine at the National Hospital, University of Oslo, Norway, and is the immediate past president of the International Diabetes Federation. He has a medical doctorate (from the University of Oslo), specializing in endocrinology. His primary clinical and research interests are prevention and improvement of health care for diabetes and other non-communicable diseases. Prof. Jervell will leave the AGN after six years of service in March 1998.
Fax: 47 22 86 83 03
Eileen Kennedy was very recently appointed Acting Deputy Under Secretary for research, education, and economics for the USDA. Prior to this, she served as the Executive Director of the USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion. She has an M.S. in Nutrition and a D.Sc. in Nutrition Policy and Planning from the Harvard School of Public Health, USA. She has worked as Technical Director for Food and Nutrition Monitoring at IFPRI where she had first hand experience in the design and implementation of programmes to enhance food security, and the nutritional effects of agricultural policies on human nutrition.
Email: eileen.kennedy@usda.gov
Lilian Tendayi Marovatsanga is the Director of the Institute of Food and Nutrition and Family Sciences of the University of Zimbabwe. She obtained a Ph.D. from Reading University, UK, in 1986. She has been involved in training programmes on food and nutrition for many years in southern and eastern Africa, ranging from short courses to degree-level programmes.
Email: lmebe@aol.com
Kraisid Tontisirin is Director of the Institute of Nutrition at Mahidol University in Thailand, where he has expanded its applied research, education and training, and food and nutrition policy activities. He is a pediatrician with a Ph.D. in Nutrition from MIT and a professional interest in public health nutrition planning.
Email: directnu@mahidol.ac.th
