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Writer's pictureNNEdPro Global Institute

Celebrating 4 Years of Collaboration: NNEdPro and Swiss Re Institute

Updated: Dec 14, 2023


The partnership between NNEdPro and the Swiss Re Institute (SRI) started in October 2019. After four years of fruitful exchanges, it's a moment to reflect on the milestones and achievements as this collaboration comes to an end.


Unravelling the Complexity of Nutrition and Cardiovascular Diseases through Data Science Cardiovascular diseases (CVD), such as heart attacks and strokes, claim millions of lives every year across the globe (1). In the fight against CVD, timely screening for risk factors is paramount. In this collaborative effort, NNEdPro and SRI have interrogated available large datasets such as the National Survey of Health and Development (NSHD) and UK Biobank, through traditional regression models and innovative causal inference analysis to disentangle the relative contributions of clinical and behavioural risk factors in CVD onset, thus paving the way for more targeted and effective prevention strategies. This study has the potential to offer guidance to healthcare professionals and policymakers on the combinatorial use of CVD risk factors with the aim of reducing morbidity and mortality.


The International Summits


NNEdPro International Summits on Nutrition and Health are annual scientific events organised by NNEdPro, BMJ Nutrition Prevention and Health and the International Academy of Nutrition Educators. They bring together experts, change-makers, and thought leaders from across the globe and offer a platform for sharing expertise and experiences whilst offering practical insights and real-world applications to current and emerging nutrition and health problems. These Summits are a testament to the multidisciplinary nature of NNEdPro’s work. SRI has previously supported and actively participated in the events by featuring guest speakers from their company. In 2022 Dr Adam Strange spoke on the topic of ‘Building a holistic view of health: a deep dive into diabetes in Asia’, and in 2021, Dr Christoph Nabholz presented ‘A holistic view on health resilience, from environment to nutrition’. This involvement offers opportunities for the meaningful exchange of insights. It adds a practical dimension to the academic discussions, thus bridging the gap between research and tangible applications in the insurance and healthcare sectors.


iKANN: A Beacon of Knowledge


Another achievement of this partnership is the development and growth of iKANN, the open-access online portal of the International Academy of Nutrition Educators (IANE). Under the collaboration between Swiss Re and NNEdPro, iKANN has launched two remarkable initiatives:


1. Nutrition and COVID-19 Evidence Synthesis


The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated a concerted effort to collect and disseminate relevant information to mitigate the impacts of the pandemic on diet, nutrition and health. The collection assesses the direct effects of COVID-19 but also explores the critical issues of food and nutrition security that have emerged during the pandemic.


Note: The work continuously undertaken over 3 1/2 years by a dedicated Nutrition and COVID-19, Taskforce was presented at the International Union of Nutritional Sciences in December 2022, and compiled into an audiobook released in 2023. Check it out.


2. Nutrition, Cardiometabolic, and Vascular Health


The iKANN Nutrition, Cardiometabolic, and Vascular Evidence Collection includes a compilation of guidance from a variety of international, national and regional representative bodies on CVD prevention and management. The collection also serves as a repository for published research in this field. This evidence tracker represents a living collection of published original research and reviews which underpin research related to cardiometabolic and vascular health organised around known pathways linking the two, to diet. This collection aims to inform the public, identify developing research, and stimulate discussion around the role of nutrition in cardiometabolic and vascular health.


Concluding remarks


Over the past four years, NNEdPro and Swiss Re Institute fostered meaningful discussions and made significant strides in nutrition, health, and data science through the International Summits, the iKANN, which is an open-access knowledge hub. As our formal collaboration concluded at the end of October 2023, we extend our gratitude to the dedicated teams and individuals who contributed to these remarkable achievements. The impact of our joint efforts, from informing public health policies to addressing the multifaceted challenges posed by global crises like COVID-19, resonates as a legacy of our shared commitment to building a healthier, more resilient future.



Note: We will continue to publish a series of outputs, including peer reviewed papers from the above work over 2024/25.






References


1. Fitzmaurice C, Allen C, Barber RM, Barregard L, Bhutta ZA, Brenner H, Dicker DJ, Chimed-Orchir O, Dandona R, Dandona L, Fleming T. Global, regional, and national cancer incidence, mortality, years of life lost, years lived with disability, and disability-adjusted life-years for 32 cancer groups, 1990 to 2015: a systematic analysis for the global burden of disease study. JAMA oncology. 2017 Apr 1;3(4):524-48.



Members Acknowledgements


Swiss Re sponsors

Jeff Bohn

Christoph Nabholz

Natalie Kelly

Jolee Crosby

Amanda Hosken


Project management

Edelweiss Choi

Louise Haines

Sobia Hamid

Kai Zhang


Project team/experts

Adam Strange

Doug Rix

Daniel Meier

John Schoonbee

Prachi Patkee

Michael Ducker


Data Science Team

Prof Sumantra Ray

Dr Rajna Golubic

Dr Christine Delon

Dr Federica Amati

Dr Claudia Tramontt

Dr Marjorie Lima do Vale

Sarah Armes

Xunhan Liu

Mayara de Paula

Ravi Mohan Lal

Ramya Rajaram

University of California Berkeley (Dr Saad Mouti, Dr Jeffrey Bohn, Nate Jansen)

2022 International Summit

Dr Breanna Lepre

Dr Celia Laur

Claudia Mitrofan

Dominic Crocombe

Jorgen Johnsen

Kai Sento Kargbo

Dr Kathy Martyn

Kannan Raman

Dr Marjorie Lima do Vale

Prof Martin Kohlmeier

Matheus Abrantes

Matija Mitak

Mei Yen Chan

Mercedes Zorilla Tejeda

Sarah Anderson

Sarah Armes

Sonigitu Ekpe

Sucheta Mitra

Prof Sumantra Ray

Xunhan Li

2021 International Summit

Ananya (Ria) Roy

Dr Celia Laur

Elaine MacAninch RD

Prof Eleanor Beck

Helena Trigueiro

James Bradfield RD

Kai Sento Kargbo

Dr Kathy Martyn

Dr Luke Buckner

Prof Martin Kohlmeier

Matheus Abrantes

Mercedes Tejeda

Nikhita Raja

Mayara de Paula

Melissa Adamski

Pauline Douglas RD

Shane McAuliffe RD

Sucheta Mitra

Prof Sumantra Ray

iKANN

Breanna Lepre

James Bryant

Jeffrey Bohn

Jorgen Johnsen

Lauren Ball

Marjorie Lima do Vale

Matheus Abrantes

Sally Ayyad

Sarah Armes

Selvarani Elahi

Shane McAuliffe

Sucheta Mitra

Prof Sumantra Ray

Xunhan Li




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