13TH Annual Chanchlani Global Health Research Award Lecture

The Chanchlani Global Health Research Award was created by the Chanchlani Family and McMaster University, Canada in 2012, to recognize a leading scholar in the area of Global Health. Each year a Scholar within the broad Global Health domain (i.e. Determinants of Health, Policy Development, and Innovative Solutions) is chosen from nominations we receive from inside and outside of McMaster University, and an internal review committee selects the awardee. In previous years, we have had the pleasure of hosting leading scholars including Dr. Camara Phyllis Jones former President of American Public Health Association (Racism in society and healthcare), the late Hans Rosling from Sweden (GAP MINDER), Prof Vikram Patel from India (Depression), Prof John Ioannidis, from Stanford University (Biostatistics research), Prof Dariush Mozzafarian from Tufts (Nutrition and Health), Dr. Jonathan Patz from University of Wisconsin (Climate Change and Health), Dr. Nadine Caron from University of British Columbia (Indigenous Health), Professor Dean Karlan from Northwestern University (Economics), Professor Michelle Williams (Perinatal) and most recently Drs. Salim and Quarraisha Abdool Karim (HIV). https://fhs.mcmaster.ca/chanchlani

This year's awardee is Dr. Renata Micha.

Dr. Renata Micha, RDN, PhD, FAHA is an award-winning nutrition scientist and epidemiologist whose work advances global evidence and action to improve diet, prevent disease, and reduce health inequities. She is anAssociate Professor of Human Nutrition at the University of Thessaly (Greece) and an Adjunct Associate Professor at Tufts University.

She earned her degree in Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics in Greece, completed her PhD in Public Health Nutrition at King’s College London (UK), and undertook postdoctoral training in epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (US). She has led and contributed to major international initiatives in global dietary surveillance, nutrition policy evaluation and implementation, and the development of evidence-translation tools that support decision-making. She served as Chair of the Independent Expert Group for the Global Nutrition Report (2019–2023), spearheading the development of the Nutrition Accountability Framework to track commitments and progress.

Dr. Micha has built a career that bridges disciplines and sectors—linking data and methods with policy and practice. Her work has helped elevate nutrition from a peripheral concern to a core global health priority by quantifying diet as a leading driver of disease burden and translating evidence into scalable strategies that improve population health. Her contributions span global and national nutrition strategies, policy evaluation and modeling, “Food is Medicine” approaches, and innovations that help institutions and communities act on nutrition science.

Dr. Micha has authored more than 150 peer-reviewed publications, with over 165,000 citations, and has been named to Clarivate’s Highly Cited Researchers list for four consecutive years, placing her among the world’s most influential scientists. Beyond metrics, her work is distinguished by real-world impact—advancing accountability in global nutrition, guiding decision-makers, strengthening clinical and public health practice, and building practical tools to accelerate progress.

From Data to Decisions: Global Nutrition Evidence for Cardiometabolic Health and Equity

Cardiometabolic diseases remain the world’s leading causes of premature death and disability, and diet is a major—and modifiable—driver. Yet for decades, nutrition policy has often operated with limited, non-comparable, or incomplete dietary evidence. In this award lecture, Dr. Renata Micha will trace how advances in global dietary surveillance and estimation have transformed what we can measure, what we now know about diet-related cardiometabolic burden and inequities, and how this evidence can be translated into effective, feasible, and equitable action. The talk will highlight the evolution from fragmented data to decision-grade global estimates; the role of cutting-edge nutritional epidemiology in clarifying priority targets; and practical pathways for turning evidence into policy portfolios, including evaluation and modeling approaches. The lecture will also emphasize accountability—how tracking commitments and progress accelerates change—and close with a forward-looking view of the next decade, including scalable, trustworthy translation of nutrition science for clinicians, policymakers, and the public.

By the end of this lecture, participants will be able to:

1. Explain why robust, comparable dietary surveillance is foundational for effective cardiometabolic prevention and equity-focused policy.
2. Describe how global estimation and modern nutritional epidemiology have reshaped understanding of priority dietary risks and population disparities.
3. Identify key evidence-informed policy and program levers (across health and food systems) that can improve diet and reduce inequities.
4. Discuss how policy evaluation/modeling and accountability frameworks can support smarter implementation and sustained progress.
5. Recognize emerging opportunities and challenges for accelerating impact—including implementation at scale and trustworthy digital translation of nutrition evidence.

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