Co-founder

 
Dr. Kristin Connor is an Associate Professor of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease in the Department of Health Sciences at Carleton University where she runs an interdisciplinary and translational research programme (www.connorlab.ca). She is passionate about improving and supporting maternal, fetal and child health. Her expertise lies in understanding how early life nutrition, including hidden hunger, and maternal health states influence maternal and pregnancy health, and shape the developmental and health trajectories of the fetus and child. Her research interests focus on novel ways to predict individuals at-risk for adverse pregnancy outcomes, suboptimal development, and later chronic disease, and novel interventions to optimise maternal health and early developmental trajectories to reduce the incidence of adverse pregnancy outcomes, poor child growth, and chronic diseases in later life. Her leadership experience and roles include serving as Vice-chair and member of the Advisory Board for the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Institute for Human Development, Child and Youth Health, Councillor for the Society of Reproductive Investigation, Associate Editor for the Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease, and gradaute of the Corporate Governance Programme at the Wharton Business School. She is funded through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Molly Towell Perinatal Research Foundation, and Lucky Iron Fish Enterprises, amongst others. 

Agro-Economiste, CARE International Benin/Togo

Co-founder

Programs and Impact director at Lucky Iron Life

As an agronomist by training, Abiola holds a Master's degree in Human Nutrition and Food Security from the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences at the University of Abomey-Calavi, Benin. Specializing in analyzing the food and nutritional security of populations through community interventions related to dietary diversity among individuals and households, individual and household eating habits and behaviors, and the nutrition of children, adolescents, and women of childbearing age, I am passionate about nutrition research and food science. I aim to contribute to improving the food and nutritional status of every individual and impact generations to come in terms of food and nutrition.

I have over four years of experience in community interventions, data collection and analysis, and participatory research activities. I have worked as a research assistant on several projects with the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences in collaboration with organizations such as Care Benin/Togo, the World Food Programme (WFP), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and specialized research institutions. I address issues related to dietary diversity within households, individual and household eating habits and behaviors, and how to ensure better food and nutritional security for communities. As a member of the Alliance, I wish to collaborate closely with various stakeholders to implement coordinated and sustainable interventions aimed at improving the nutritional status of the population, particularly with regard to iron.

Connect with me here!

Co-lead and planning committee

Olivia is an PhD graduate student in the Connor Lab at the Department of Health Sciences at Carleton University. Olivia’s background is in interdisciplinary health science, including social and early life determinants of health. As a Zimbabwean with an interest and expertise in global health, Olivia’s research aims to understand the individual, community, and external factors that influence the success and implementation of community-based interventions for the prevention and treatment of iron deficiency in West Africa. Ultimately, her goal is to inform intervention design and provide evidence for adapting and scaling interventions that tackle hidden hunger to suit local and population needs.

Co-lead and planning committee

Ange-Marie Nicodème Esse, de nationalité béninoise, est titulaire d’un Master en Promotion de la Santé. Expert en santé communautaire, il est passionné par la promotion de changements durables à travers des interventions innovantes et un fort engagement communautaire. En tant que co-fondateur et coordonnateur national de Health Access Initiative (HAI) au Bénin, il pilote des projets et programmes d’impact visant à réduire les inégalités en matière de santé et à aborder les déterminants sociaux de la santé, avec un accent particulier sur la nutrition, la santé reproductive et la santé environnementale. Sous sa direction, HAI a mis en œuvre plusieurs initiatives transformatrices, notamment la vulgarisation de l’innovation Lucky Iron Fish dans les zones rurales et périurbaines du Bénin pour lutter contre la carence en fer chez les femmes et les filles en âge de procréer. Ange-Marie dispose d’une solide expérience dans la gestion et le suivi-évaluation de projets, la recherche-action participative et le plaidoyer. Son leadership remarquable lui a permis d’implémenter des initiatives qui autonomisent les couches vulnérables à travers l’éducation, le plaidoyer et l’influence des politiques, pour un accès équitable aux services de santé.