In the couple of months since the end of summer newsletter we have had a plethora of activity within the realms of the NNEdPro Global Centre particularly in September, followed by a phase of consolidation in October and here we are in the last couple of months of this very unusual pandemic year of 2020. It seems like a moment ago that the world was going into lockdown in March and now 8 months later we are in lockdown again, at least from where I write, in Cambridge. But between these two goalposts we have all done some major pivoting in our transformation to a truly digital and virtual organisation!
This was epitomised with the successful completion of our Summer events, which were held virtually for the first time - the 5th Annual Summer School and 6th International Summit on Medical and Public Health Nutrition and Research – spanning the globe and between them involving well over a hundred people from over 30 countries. At this year's summit, we recognised members of our Global Innovation Panel, including volunteers, for their continued dedication and outstanding contribution to the work we do. Furthermore, we announced our new junior ambassadors and winners of the NNEdPro-Nutritank Kids’ Kitchen Club Challenge. A vibrant Global Strategy day, saw members of the NNEdPro Virtual Core and Strategic Advisory Committee assembled online to shape the implementation of our refreshed strategic plan for 2021-2025. We also launched our new initiative: The International Knowledge Application Network hub in Nutrition 2025 (I-KANN-25). The International Academy for Nutrition Educators has also been thriving in its first full year since pilot and now has over 130 subscribing members and over 2020 will have run a series of 12 webinars and online journal clubs linked with key topical themes.
Whilst much of our research attention has been focused on the work of the dedicated Nutrition and COVID19 Taskforce over the past months we have simultaneously driven new research with Ulster University and the Swiss Re institute in Nutrition and Cardiometabolic Risk whilst continuing our efforts in Global Challenges research with the University of Cambridge especially in India and areas of international development. This autumn we have strengthened our pre-existing relationship with Imperial College London School of Public Health in 'living epidemiology' work based on the South London Cohort. On the education side our University relationships with Parma for the summer school, Monash for IANE and Wollongong for medical nutrition education continue to thrive. Looking back over the year, we have increased our digital connectivity across the consortium of collaborators and partners that enable our academic work as well as its application.
Finally, over the past 10 weeks we have also had a series of very productive regional network steering meetings culminating in the Brighton Showcase hosted by ERimNN/BSMS rounding up inspiring case studies of work from across the stakeholders of our UK and Ireland Regional Network which also hosts the Nutrition Implementation Coalition enabling us to move forward as a vanguard of four organisations – NNEdPro, ERimNN, Culinary Medicine and Nutritank – with a common voice especially on nutrition capacity building in health systems.
I hope you enjoy the round up in this issue of our newsletter particularly encrusted with a number of gems from our partner journal BMJ Nutrition, Prevention and Health, as we work together to synthesise and apply nutrition knowledge relevant not only to the pandemic but more widely towards our mission of tackling food and nutrition insecurity in multiple forms!
By Professor Sumantra Ray RNutr
Founding Chair and Executive Director
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