Public health nutrition, early childhood development and long term health: Professor Corinna Walsh

We are inviting Dr Corinna Walsh, Professor of Nutrition and Dietetics at the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Free State in Bloemfontein, Republic of South Africa, to visit the Department of Public Health Sciences at Stockholm University (SU).

Professor Walsh will spend a total of eight weeks working in Sweden, and maintain contact with Swedish researchers and students during the project period from December 2024 till November 2025.

The Department of Public Health Sciences at Stockholm University can offer high level of expertise in life course and social epidemiology, including analytical tools and advanced epidemiological methods. Further partners in the project include colleagues from Karolinska Institutet and Umeå University in Sweden.

Our shared interest in health equity research and early life determinants of health and ready access to unique materials from different societal contexts, with some possibilities for comparative work on e.g. infant body composition, will enrich the research infrastructures at our institutions and contribute to training and capacity building.Main goal of our project is to expand, further develop and sustain our collaboration around capacity building and research infrastructures for public health nutrition and health equity research.

We shall perform collaborative data analyses exploring equity impact of policies and interventions, design and pilot a new intervention study in South Africa, modelled on interventions previously tested in Sweden (so called “HealthyMoms” and “MINISTOP” studies), and engage in capacity building through seminars, lectures and courses in public health nutrition aimed at advanced level and postgraduate students in both countries.

The project is of high societal relevance in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals as it addresses global health challenges in improving maternal and child health, reducing health disparities, and enhancing nutritional outcomes in diverse populations.