GODAN took part in the recent nutrition-focused International Summit hosted by Need for Nutrition Education/Innovation Programme (NNEdPro) at Wolfson College, Cambridge University in June.

Attended by representatives of the academic community and supported by the private sector, GODAN took part in the discussion which spoke to NNedPro’s mission to establish nutrition as a core requirement for training in the medical professions.

GODAN attended the event to bring the concept of open data into the context of this scientific environment and was successful in articulating the need for open data. The response from the participants from the Summit was a great agreement that the need for data in these fields was a given, after the following case studies were discussed:

Executive Director Andre Laperriere introduced attendees to GODAN's partner network and recent activities, and also facilitated an engaging panel discussion between five speakers, including:

Elizabeth Dodsworth, Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International, who presented on Evidence-based decision making: managing nutrition information and data

Veronica Tuffrey, Independent Public Health Nutritionist, who presented on: Nutrition surveillance in low-income countries – time to refocus?

Patrizia Fracassi, Senior Nutrition Analyst for Scaling Up Nutrition, who presented on Data use for decision making: walking the talk

Sylvia Szabo, Save the Children, who presented on Accountability for action: filling evidence gaps to ensure well-being of children and advance Sustainable Development Goals [SDG2])

Daniela Beltrame, Biodiversity International, who presented on Bridging the gap: Building capacities and networks to analyze and use nutrient data on edible biodiversity in Brazil

Click here further details about the NNedPro International Summit.

Background:

"The Need for Nutrition Education/Innovation Programme (NNEdPro) is an award-winning and independently incorporated collaborative group for knowledge generation, translation and evaluation. NNEdPro originally arose from the work of the British Medical Association representative within the Council of Europe Alliance (UK) on Hospital Food and Nutritional Care (2005-07) leading to the launch of the ‘Ten Key Characteristics of Good Nutritional Care’ and the Department of Health Action Plan (2007) which recommended the formation of NNEdPro.

This was further made possible by funding awarded (2008) to start NNEdPro in Cambridge. Since its inception, NNEdPro has evolved from a single project, into a multi-faceted programme (led by Ray, Douglas, Rajput-Ray and Del Rio) with a broad knowledge management remit across clinical and public health nutrition. NNEdPro’s Global Centre for Nutrition and Health is based in Cambridge and works across several countries worldwide.

Partnerships

NNEdPro represents a strategic partnership between doctors, dietitians, nutritionists and other healthcare professionals, as well as educators and researchers. It is composed of several partner organisations including the British Dietetic Association, UK Medical Research Council’s Elsie Widdowson Laboratory (incorporating the UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey), Society for Nutrition Education and Behaviour, Ulster University School of Biomedical Sciences, Wolfson College in Cambridge and Cambridge University Health Partners (including Cambridge University Hospitals and the School of Clinical Medicine). 

The University of Cambridge houses a world class Medical School, whilst Ulster University is home to leading Health Professions Schools, including Pharmacy. In Ulster, NNEdPro members deliver Nutrition Education to students and practitioners, particularly in the Allied Health Professions. In Cambridge, NNEdPro is responsible for the delivery of Nutrition Education to medical students as well as other students/professionals without a formal background in Nutrition. In particular, NNEdPro has affiliations with Cambridge University Health Partners (recognised ‘CUHP Associate’) and Wolfson College, University of Cambridge. 

Aims

NNEdPro undertakes continuing nutrition education needs assessment relating to medicine/healthcare to develop, deliver and evaluate a range of innovative education and training interventions/packages with particular emphasis on effective delivery methods and healthcare impact. Overall, the inter-related aims of NNEdPro activity are:

• Delivery of Medical/Healthcare Nutrition Education
• Research into Medical/Healthcare Nutrition Education
• Nutrition Research for Translation to Medical/Healthcare Education
• Building Capacity and Policy Impact in Medical/Healthcare Nutrition for Practitioners, Researchers and Educators

In order to remain at the cutting edge of current knowledge, NNEdPro instigates primary research or evidence synthesis (e.g. via its linkedNutrition and Vascular Studies [NVS] platform in Cambridge) and also promotes capacity building as well as ‘Good Research Practice’ to enhance the translation potential of emerging evidence. NNEdPro uses a range of approaches in line with the ‘Knowledge-to-Action Framework‘, to address key nutritional problems of clinical and public health importance in the UK as well as internationally [NNEdPro Global]. For current work and key themes/projects of NNEdPro click here."

Source: http://www.nnedpro.org.uk/