Matilda Laar

Dr. Matilda Essandoh Laar’s recent experience is in teaching, professional public health practice,  and research in nutritional sciences in Canada and internationally (sub-Saharan Africa). She received her Ph.D. in Human Nutrition (concentration in community and international nutrition) at McGill University, Quebec in 2015 and her masters in public health at the University of Minnesota, USA in 2010. Dr. Laar’s postdoctoral fellowship (2015-2016) was with the Innovations in Metrics and Methods for Agriculture and Nutrition Action (IMMANA) fellowship, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University, USA where she reviewed monitoring and evaluation tools in a school feeding program to understand their effectiveness in strengthening agriculture, nutrition, and health linkages in a developing setting. She was an early career Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee II scholar (2019). Dr. Laar’s research and publications to date focus on the role of the food environment in the food security of mothers and children; the food security of households affected by maternal HIV in rural/ low-resourced populations; maternal and child nutrition education in health systems; and monitoring and evaluation of school-based nutrition interventions. She has collaborated with international non-governmental organizations, including UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, UNICEF, and the World Health Organization, in diverse capacities to contribute to global nutrition for health and development.