Patrick Stover
Patrick J. Stover, Ph.D. is Professor and Director of the Division of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell University and Director of the Cornell Institute for Nutritional Genomics (CING). He graduated from Saint Joseph’s University with a BS degree in Chemistry and was awarded the Molloy Chemistry Award at graduation. He received a PhD degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics from the Medical College of Virginia and performed his postdoctoral studies at the University of California at Berkeley.
The Stover laboratory studies the biochemical, genetic and epigenetic mechanisms that underlie the relationships between folic acid and human pathologies including neural tube defects & other developmental anomalies, cardiovascular disease, cancers. Specific interests include the regulation of folate-mediated one-carbon metabolism and cellular methylation reactions, development of mouse models to elucidate mechanisms of folate-related pathologies, and translational control of gene expression by ferritin. In 1996 he received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers from President Clinton, the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on outstanding scientists and engineers beginning their independent careers. He received the ERL Stokstad Award in Nutritional Biochemistry from the American Society for Nutritional Sciences in 1999 and has been selected as an Outstanding Educator four times by Cornell Merrill Presidential Scholars.
Patrick Stover presented at the “Newer Paradigms In Vitamin B12 Research” conference in Lonavala, India in 2007, is working to establish formal relationships between Cornell University and institutions in India including the Public Health Foundation of India and the Tata Institute for Social Sciences.
Dr. Veena Rao
Ms VEENA S RAO, served in the Indian Administrative Service from the Karnataka Cadre, and retired as Secretary to the Government of India, Ministry for the Development of the North East Region. She is a Post Graduate in Political Science from the University of Jammu and Kashmir, and in Development Studies from the University of Cambridge, U.K.
She has had a distinguished career both in the Government of Karnataka and Government of India, holding several important positions, particularly in the field of development, as Secretary to the Government of Karnataka for the Departments of Food and Civil Supplies, Cooperation, Social Welfare and Labour. She has also worked as Managing Director, Karnataka State Handicrafts Development Corporation, Karnataka Handloom Development Corporation, Karnataka Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation, and Divisional Commissioner, Bangalore Division. In her early years in the Indian Administrative Service, she has worked as Deputy Commisioner of Kodagu and Bellary Districts.
In 1999, she was appointed Joint Secretary in the Department of Women & Child Development, Government of India, (where she got her first exposure to the issue of Malnutrition in India), and after a stint of 5 years went on to head the Tribal Development Marketing Federation (TRIFED) as Managing Director. Smt Veena S Rao has also worked as Additional Secretary in the Department of Space, and as Director General, and ex officio Secretary to Government, Council for Advancement of People's Action and Rural Technology (CAPART) It was during this assignment that she undertook her pioneering initiative in operating a project to combat malnutrition in two chronically malnourished tribal Blocks, Mokhada and Jawhar in Thane District of Maharashtra through the NGO Bharatiya Agro Industries Foundation(BAIF), based on the inter-generational, life cycle approach and bridging the protein calorie micronutrient gap. The results of the Project have been phenomenal and have completely validated her hypothesis of reducing malnutrition and mortality rates through this strategy shift. This strategy was presented at the International Congress on Nutrition, Bangkok, in September 2009.
She is presently Mission Advisor for the Karnataka Nutrition Mission, an initiative spearheaded by her with the Government of Karnataka to address Malnutrition following the above strategy. The Mission is being piloted in 7 chronically malnourished Blocks in Karnataka during 2010-11, and aims to cover all pockets of malnutrition in the State in a phased manner.
In 2009, Ms Veena S Rao through another pioneering initiative introduced the issue of Malnutrition for the first time in the curriculum of the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie for the Officer Trainees of the Indian Administrative Service. This aims to provide exposure and highlight the hidden but huge problem of malnutrition and build capacity of young entrants to the Civil Service of India to seriously work towards finding solutions when they assume responsible positions in Sub Divisions and Districts.
Ms Veena S Rao’s work on Malnutrition and the inter-generational strategy advocated by her has been included in the curriculum for the Post Graduate students of Community Medicine in the All India Institute of Medical Sciences.
Major Publications:
- Malnutrition an Emergency: What it Costs the Nation, 2008 (CAPART Publication, New Delhi)
- Manual for Judicial Officers for Combating Trafficking, 2006 (UNICEF-GOI Publication, New Delhi)
- Rescue and Rehabilitation of Child Victims of Trafficking, 2005 (UNICEF-GOI Publication, New Delhi)
- Manual for Social Workers dealing with Trafficking, 2005 (UNICEF-GOI Publication, New Delhi)
- Manual for Medical Officers dealing with Trafficking, 2005 (UNICEF-GOI Publication, New Delhi)
- Convention on the Rights of the Child - Ist Periodic Report 2003 (Ministry of Women & Child Development Publication, New Delhi)
- The Indian Child: A Profile 2003 (Ministry of Women and Child Development Publication, New Delhi)
- Edited: “North East Region: VISION 2020” 2008 (Ministry of DONER Publication)
- Chaired the Expert Committee of the Coalition for Sustainable Nutrition Security in India for its publication on “Essential Interventions for Reducing Malnutrition in Girls and Women in India” 2009
She has represented Government of India between 2000-2002 in the Preparatory Committee meetings for finalizing the Outcome Document for the UN General Assembly Special Session on Children held in May 2002, where she was solely responsible for including the concept of intergenerational malnutrition in the Outcome Document.
She led the Indian delegation for finalizing the SAARC Social Charter signed at the Twelfth SAARC Summit, Islamabad in 2004 by SAARC Heads of State.
She represented Government of India in 2000-2001 at the negotiations for finalizing the “International Protocol for the Prevention and Suppression of Trafficking in Women and Children” at UN HQs Vienna
She led the Indian delegation in 2004 to present the India Country Report on the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) at UNHRC, Geneva
She represented Government of India between1999-2004 at the Executive Board Meetings of UNICEF, New York 1999-2003, and represented India at the ADB, Manila, for several consultations addressing Malnutrition, Micronutrient Malnutrition and Trafficking of Women and Children.
Dr. B. Sesikeran
Dr Sesikaran, National Institute of Nutrition spoke on the topic of Dietary Factors impacting Nutritional Status, especially among children
RESEARCH AREAS include Nutritional Pathology, Toxicology, Oncology, Diet and cancer, Nutrition and Apoptosis
Publications : 70
Awards /Honours :7
| 1. |
Nutrition Medal - Dept. of Community Medicine, Stanley Medical College. |
.... |
1993 |
| 2. |
Best Paper Award - IAPM XIV Annual Conference |
.... |
1995 |
| 3. |
Best Paper Award - Indian Society of Gastroenterology ESKAYEF. |
.... |
1997 |
| 4. |
Rao Rangayamma Memorial Oration - Department of Oncology, NIMS, Hyderabad. |
.... |
2000 |
| 5. |
Jubilee S Prathap Kumar Endowment Lecture, Indian Dietetic Association Annual Conference, Chennai. |
.... |
2003 |
| 6. |
Dr.K.V.Rao Memorial Oration, Dr.K.V.Rao Scientific Society, Hyderabad |
.... |
2007 |
| 7. |
Fellow – A.P.Akademi of Sciences, Hyderabad |
.... |
2007 |
Dr. Kiran Bedi
India’s first and highest ranking (retired in 2007) woman officer who joined the Indian Police Service in 1972. She has worked with the United Nations as the Police Advisor to the Secretary General, in the Department of Peace Keeping Operations. She has represented India at the United Nations, and in international forums on crime prevention, drug abuse, police and prison reforms and women’s issues. Recipient of the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award (also called the Asian Nobel Prize). She is the founder of two NGOs, Navjyoti India Foundation and India Vision Foundation which reach out to over 12,000 beneficiaries daily.
Ms. Mihoko Tamamura
Ms. Tamamura was appointed as WFP Representative and Country Director for India in July 2008. She works closely with Government and private corporation partners to achieve the goal of a “hunger free India”. Besides her overall responsibility for WFP operations in India, Ms. Tamamura also plays a global role in WFP to mobilize resources from India for WFP operations worldwide. Prior to the current position, Ms. Tamamura served as Director of WFP Japan Relations Office in Yokohama for 6 years, and spearheaded WFP’s partnerships with private corporations in Japan. Before joining WFP in June 2002, she spent 13 years working in other UN agencies, including the UN Department of Peace-keeping Operations (UN/DPKO) in New York, the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS) in Tokyo, the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, and the UN Department of Administration and Management in New York. Ms. Tamamura started her UN career in New York in 1989 after gaining experience of marketing in a private corporation in London.
