Nutrition evidence for promoting health and environmental sustainability: implications for policy - Young Investigator Award Lecture
Date: Thursday, May 29, 2025
Time: 12:00 - 13:00 ET (12:00pm - 1:00pm ET)
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Speaker: Vasanti Malik, MSc, ScD - Assistant Professor, University of Toronto
Webinar description: This talk will highlight some of the diverse research my team has been conducting to generate evidence that can inform dietary guidance, public health policies and community-based programs to prevent chronic diseases in different populations and life stages and to promote more sustainable food systems. It will discuss the methodological approaches used including the development of a comprehensive database of environmental impacts of foods consumed in Canada, strategies for estimating and monitoring the diet quality of school food programs and establishing partnerships with interest-holders to co-create feasible solutions for chronic disease prevention. It will also discuss how my past research has played a role in shaping my current program and future research directions, acknowledging the strong mentorship I have had throughout my career.
Learning Objectives:
- Review evidence on diet quality and chronic disease prevention that supports national dietary recommendations, public health policies and clinical practice guidelines.
- Describe the relationship between diet quality, health and environmental sustainability, and implications for dietary guidance and polices.
- Discuss the importance of building partnerships to co-create solutions for chronic disease prevention.
Moderator: Deborah O'Connor, PhD, RD - University of Toronto
About the Speaker:
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Vasanti Malik is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Toronto (U of T) and an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (HSPH). She holds a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Nutrition and Chronic Disease Prevention. Dr. Malik earned an MSc from the Department of Nutritional Sciences at U of T and dual doctorate in nutrition and epidemiology from HSPH. Her research focuses on generating evidence that can inform dietary guidance, community-based programs and public health policies to prevent chronic diseases and promote sustainable food systems. She uses epidemiological studies, clinical trials and evidence synthesis to study dietary and modifiable risk factors for obesity and cardiometabolic diseases in different populations at different life stages. Her work draws on implementation science and mixed methods to gather rich insights into dietary behaviors in diverse settings. As part of her CIHR-funded research, Dr. Malik is developing a database of environmental impacts of foods in Canada that will provide empirical evidence to help consumers make healthful and sustainable food choices. Over the course of her career, Dr. Malik has published over 130 articles with an H-index of 49. She leads an active research program inclusive of trainees across all levels and teaches an undergraduate course on international and community nutrition. Dr. Malik currently serves on the Advisory Board for the CIHR Institute of Nutrition, Metabolism and Diabetes and is an Associate Editor for the Nutrition Journal.
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