Stakeholder Group

Dr. Angela Carriedo's research focuses on food policy analysis, nutrition programs' design, implementation, evaluation, public health nutrition governance, and ultra-processed foods and plastics environmental damage, mainly in Latin America. She has a PhD in Public Health and Policy at the LSHTM, where she also obtained her master's degree. She worked at the National Institute of Public Health in Mexico for more than ten years, conducting extensive research on childhood obesity, maternal and child nutrition national programs, and food policy implementation (e.g. soda taxation and food labelling). She has worked with interdisciplinary teams of researchers, civil society members, activists, legislators, and advocates. She has taught Health Policy Process and Power at the LSHTM and Food Politics at Universidad Iberoamerican in Mexico City and Aston University, UK. She has been an independent consultant for several years, collaborating with World Cancer Research Fund International, El Poder del Consumidor, INSP, UNICEF, WHO and Corporate Accountability, and University of Bath, among other organizations. She is Associate Editor of Public Health Nutrition, the World Public Health Nutrition Association's Policy Secretary, and is part of the GECI-Network's organizing committee.

Dr. Mohamed Abdi Farah is a health and nutrition policy specialist, currently advising the Prime Minister of the Federal Government of Somalia on social sector reform. He is also the SUN focal point for Somalia and has worked as the Director General of the Ministry of Health at the federal level.

As Executive Director, Greg oversees all aspects of the Access to Nutrition Initiative (ATNI) and is a member of ATNI's Board (ex officio). Over the past two decades, Greg has established several private-public partnerships that improve health and nutrition in emerging markets. Most recently, he served on the Global Executive Team of Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) engaging over two dozen pharmaceutical companies in partnership to develop medicines for neglected patients. Before this, he led strategy and business development at ThinkWell, a global health organization. From 2011 until 2019, Greg held several leadership roles at the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) including Director of Policy & Financing and Director of Food Fortification. During this time, he oversaw a food fortification program that reached approximately one billion people and led the design and establishment of a multimillion-dollar impact investment facility. Since joining ATNI as ED in 2022 he has established a new five-year strategy, new initiatives in policy, and corporate engagement to drive market change for healthy foods. He holds a BA and an MSc (Distinction) from the University of Bath.

Laurence Grummer-Strawn is the Unit Head of the Food and Nutrition Actions in Health Systems unit at the World Health Organization. He coordinates WHO work on infant and young child nutrition, acute malnutrition, micronutrients, and maternal nutrition. Having earned his PhD from Princeton University, he served as chief of the Nutrition Branch at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for almost 25 years until 2014.  He is an epidemiologist who has published over 180 scientific publications. He is recognized internationally for his work on vitamin and mineral deficiencies, breastfeeding policy, and development of both the CDC and the WHO Growth Charts. He chaired the Iodine Global Network, co-chaired the National Fruit and Vegetable Alliance, and served on the Executive Management Team of the Flour Fortification Initiative. At WHO, he leads the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative, the Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes, the Global Breastfeeding Collective, and the Global Complementary Feeding Collective.

Ateca Kama is the Chief Dietitian and Nutritionist at the Ministry of Health and Medical Services in Fiji. She has been a government civil servant for the past thirty years and is responsible for the formulation of policies, regulations, and guidelines on dietetics and nutrition, and food and nutrition security. She also advises the Permanent Secretary for Health and Medical Services through the Head of Wellness on all matters relating to dietetics and nutrition in Fiji and manages and supervises an effective and efficient delivery of evidence-based and innovative dietetics and nutrition services that is responsive to actual and emerging nutrition threats in Fiji. She champions breastfeeding, and advocates and coordinates optimal food and nutrition security through cross-sectoral collaboration within government, civil society organizations, and development partners. Mrs Ateca Kama is also the Sub-Cluster lead for Nutrition in the Health and Nutrition Cluster for nutrition preparedness and response during disasters and emergencies; and is the Nutrition focal point for the National Codex Committee in Fiji.

Sonia Panzani is a systems strengthening professional with 15 years in-country experience of scaling up innovative approaches for health and nutrition, namely through digital solutions in Sub Saharan Africa. She joined the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement in 2020 as a Policy Specialist directly supporting 11 countries in Francophone Africa. She has been the Head of the Country Action team of the SUN Movement Secretariat (SMS) since 2022. In this role, she oversees the support to the SUN countries through the regional Hubs. She is the SMS focal point for the Nutrition for Growth (N4G) Summits and is co-facilitating the N4G Outreach Group with UNN.

Dr. Bharati Kulkarni currently heads the Division of Reproductive and Child Health and Nutrition at the Indian Council of Medical Research, New Delhi, India. Before this, as a scientist at ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad, India for more than two decades, she conducted research on important public health nutrition problems in India and other LMICs. She has published extensively with more than 110 peer-reviewed publications in high-impact journals. Additionally, she has contributed to several book chapters and policy documents. She has served as a member of committees constituted by different ministries of the Government of India and has actively contributed to the nutrition policy development. She has advocated integrated holistic interventions promoting healthy diets at various forums as an invited speaker/resource person to various international conferences. She has also organized several international meetings including the Indo-UK workshop, the local convener of Agriculture Nutrition and Health Academy Week 2019. She has published popular articles on nutrition in local newspapers and has participated as a panelist on television.

Mercy Lung'aho is a food science and nutrition research scientist with expertise in nutrition-sensitive agricultural programming. With more than a decade of experience across 33 countries in Africa, she is a strategist who advocates for realigning food systems with nutrition and strengthening the intersection of food and health systems in Africa in the context of poly-crisis including climate change and shocks.

Mercy received her Ph.D. in Food Science and International Nutrition from Cornell University. She is a founding Steering Committee member of the Micronutrient Data Innovation Alliance, hosted by the Micronutrient Forum. She is a member of the American Society for Nutrition, the African Nutrition Society, the Institute of Food Technologists, and a registered nutritionist with the Kenya Nutrition and Dietetics Institute, among others.

Dr Neufeld began her career in an academic position at the National Institute of Public Health in Mexico where she led a variety of implementation research and impact evaluation studies to improve the impact potential of social protection programs in Mexico and the region. She then brought her passion improving the generation and utilization of evidence in program design and delivery to non-governmental organizations, most recently the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, before joining FAO as Director of the Food and Nutrition Division in early 2022. Dr Neufeld is incoming President of the International Union of Nutrition Scientists (IUNS), Past-Chair of the Micronutrient Forum Steering Committee, former Board member of the American Society of Nutrition, and has been member of several WHO and other technical advisory groups. She has published over 150 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters and holds a Master’s and PhD in International Nutrition from Cornell University.

Dr. Tuan Nguyen is a dedicated medical epidemiologist with nearly 30 years of experience in international health, making a positive impact on global communities. His research spans a wide range of areas, including maternal and child health, communicable and non-communicable diseases, health disparities, gender, nutrition policy, health system strengthening, food systems, climate change, and gender equity.

He has provided technical support and conducted studies in over 20 countries, co-authoring more than 90 peer-reviewed publications, guidelines, and reports. A former faculty member at Hanoi Medical University and Technical Advisor for Alive & Thrive at FHI 360 Global Nutrition, Dr. Nguyen currently serves as a guest lecturer at the University of Southern California and as an Associate Editor of the International Breastfeeding Journal. He is also an active member of various consultative groups focused on nutrition and health in Southeast Asia and beyond.

Marika Nomura joined JICA as an advisor on nutrition in 2018, supporting technical cooperation in project formation, monitoring and evaluation, and capacity building related to nutrition and health. Prior to joining JICA, she worked at the Japanese medical college, JICA technical cooperation project in Yemen, Harvard School of Public Health, and the National Institute of Public Health. She specializes in nutrition policy. She is particularly knowledgeable and experienced on school meals management program in LMICs, sustainable and healthy diets, Primary Health Care, drawing on Japan's experience in improving nutrition.

John Otieno Otieno is a perceptive researcher, policy, advocacy, and evidence-based advocate who is a tenacious champion. He has more than 14 years of practical experience working in the Horn and East Africa in development and humanitarian contexts. His work experience includes climate-fragile and conflict-affected contexts and bridging the gaps between policy advocacy, influence, program delivery, research and decision-making.

To accomplish advocacy goals, he encourages attempts to shape practices and policies and cultivates connections with the government and decision-makers. He takes charge of the creation and execution of regional advocacy strategies and ensures appropriate engagement and coordination. Otieno is a certified PMD Pro and TOT on budget and policy analysis; Qualitative and quantitative research he is a strong proponent for youth empowerment in advocacy and accountability as change drivers.

Yashodhara Rana, PhD is a global health and nutrition leader with more than 14 years of experience advancing nutrition policy, accountability, and investment across Africa and Asia. She is President of Programs at the Eleanor Crook Foundation, where she serves on the senior executive team and leads a multi-million-dollar grant portfolio focused on improving maternal and child nutrition.

Yashodhara bridges evidence and action by partnering with governments, donors, and multilateral institutions to translate research into scalable solutions that strengthen nutrition and health systems. Previously, she was Associate Director at Results for Development (R4D), where she led the nutrition team’s data and learning practice. She serves on the Power of Nutrition Technical Advisory Panel and the Editorial Board of Maternal & Child Nutrition. Yashodhara holds a PhD from the Pardee School and a BA (Honors) from Dartmouth College.

Mireya Vilar is a Senior Nutrition Specialist at the World Bank, leading the agenda on financing and governance in nutrition and advancing data-driven, multisectoral solutions in low- and middle-income countries. She authored the World Bank’s flagship Investment Framework for Nutrition and leads high-quality analytical work to produce global nutrition estimates and models, adapting them for regional and country products supporting public investments. Within the World Bank’s nutrition team, Mireya also leads nutrition data, knowledge, and learning solutions, driving the integration of data into policy and operations, and shaping the team’s knowledge and learning agenda. She also supports the development of bankable services and operational solutions for nutrition-related non-communicable chronic diseases (NCDs). She represents the nutrition team across cross-sectoral initiatives and international groups, such as the SDG 2 Advocacy Hub, the Joint Malnutrition Estimates, and the Global Nutrition Report. Prior to joining the World Bank, Mireya held academic positions as a tenured professor and researcher at Montclair State University, Yale School of Public Health, and EQUIDE in Mexico. A published author of 100+ peer-reviewed papers and leader of 30+ grants and consultancy projects, she brings deep expertise in implementation science, economic evaluation, and applied analytics to support stakeholder engagement, program design, scale-up, and monitoring. Mireya holds a PhD and MPhil in Health Policy from New York University and an MSc in Policy and Development from the University of York.