Event Information

Over the past 10 years, the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Nutrition has supported research on the role of neglected biological mechanisms in child growth and nutrition, specifically in Uganda, Nepal, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Timor Leste. As a result of these activities, significant research contributions have been made in understanding mycotoxins, environmental enteric dysfunction (EED), and inflammation. But despite this growing body of evidence, charting the way forward toward mitigating these complex risk factors remains a significant challenge in the health and nutrition fields. This interactive webinar will discuss critical research, policy, and programmatic implications of unpackaging the effects of mycotoxins, EED, and inflammation on child health, growth, and nutrition.

Moderator:

Ahmed Kablan, PharmD, PhD- Dr. Kablan is a Senior Science Advisor in the Center for Nutrition/Food Safety Division/Bureau for Resilience and Food Security/USAID.  He manages several research programs in Nutritious and Safe Foods, including the Nutrition Innovation Lab, Food Safety Innovation Lab, and Post-Harvest Loss Reduction Innovation Lab. Dr. Kablan has a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from Jordan University of Science and Technology (JUST) and a PhD in Cellular and Molecular Biotechnology from the University of Bologna, Italy. He has worked for over 20 years in human nutrition, international development, science policy, and regulatory research, and  is a well-published scientist. In 2012, Dr. Kablan was awarded the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science Policy and Technology fellowship.

Panelists:

Christopher Duggan, M.D., M.P.H. Dr. Duggan is a pediatric gastroenterologist and nutrition physician at Boston Children's Hospital, where he directs the Center for Nutrition. He is also Professor of Pediatrics and Director of the Division of Nutrition at Harvard Medical School, and a Professor in the Departments of Nutrition and Global Health and Population at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health. Dr. Duggan performs clinical trials in the fields of pediatric nutrition, gastroenterology, and global health, and his early work demonstrated the efficacy of oral rehydration solutions for diarrhea management in the US. With colleagues at Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health and Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, Dr. Duggan and colleagues have evaluated the efficacy of micronutrient supplementation in infants and young children born to women with or at risk of HIV infection.

Shibani Ghosh, PhD - Dr. Shibani Ghosh is Research Associate Professor at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy. She is also the associate director for the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Nutrition with experience working in the Middle East, Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Her research interests are in understanding the role of agriculture in improving nutrition while ensuring health, assessing the diet and non-diet determinants of nutritional status of infants and young children, and testing interventions aimed at improving maternal and infant nutrition and growth.

Patrick Webb, PhD—Dr. Webb is the Director of the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Nutrition, the Alexander McFarlane Professor of Nutrition at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, and the Principal Investigator of USAID’s Food Aid Quality Review Project. Until 2005, Professor Webb was the Chief of Nutrition at the United Nations World Food Programme. He has served on numerous task forces and global advisory panels and is currently the senior advisor to the high-level Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition.