Mary L'Abbe, Geoffrey Cannon, Patricia Jaime, Zulfiqar Bhutta, Patti Rundall, Werner Schultink: six more leading participant-speakers at Rio2012

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The participant-speakers profiled

Mary L'Abbé is a Canadian citizen. She is professor and chair, department of nutritional sciences, University of Toronto. She is a member of the Pan American Health Organization regional expert group on cardiovascular disease prevention through dietary salt reduction, and of the WHO-convened NUGAG (Nutrition Guidance Expert Advisory Group). She has served as Canadian head of delegation to the Codex Alimentarius committees on nutrition and on food labelling.

Geoffrey Cannon is a UK citizen, domiciled in Brazil. He is an Association Council member, its publications secretary, and editor of this website and of World Nutrition. He was chief editor of the 2007 and 2009 World Cancer Research Fund/ American Institute for Cancer Research reports on food, nutrition, physical activity and the prevention of cancer, and on policy implications. He is a senior visiting research fellow at the school of public health, University of São Paulo. With Claus Leitzmann, he is the originator of the New Nutrition Science project. He has written a regular column first for Public Health Nutrition, and now for this website, since 2003.

Patricia Constante Jaime is a Brazilian citizen. In 2011 she was appointed co-ordinator of the food and nutrition department (CGAN) within the Brazilian federal Ministry of Health in Brasília. Previously she was professor at the school of public health at the University of São Paulo.

Zulfiqar Bhutta is a Pakistani citizen. He is professor and founding chair of the division of women and child health, Aga Khan University, Pakistan. He is chair of the national research ethics committee of the government of Pakistan. He has served as a member of the global advisory committee for health research for the World Health Organization, the board of child health and nutrition initiative of the Global Forum for Health Research, and the steering committees of the International Zinc and Vitamin A nutrition consultative groups.

Patti Rundall is a UK citizen. She is policy director for Baby Milk Action. She has 30 years' experience working within the International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN). Her work has helped bring about significant improvements in World Health Assembly resolutions and recommendations, WHO/FAO Codex food standards, European Union directives and rules, and most recently the political declaration of the UN high-level meeting on the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases. She represents IBFAN on the European Commission's platform for action on diet and physical activity. She leads the 20-country consumer boycott of the world's largest food company, Nestlé. In 2010 she gained the Caroline Walker Trust Award for improving public health through good food.

Werner Schultink is a Dutch citizen. He joined the UN Childrens' Fund (UNICEF) in April 1999 and has held a number of positions at headquarters in New York, and in the India country office, where he led the child development and nutrition section. He was appointed Chief of the nutrition section at UNICEF's programme division in New York in 2007.

We will feature the final line-up of speaker-participants in our next issue, the month of Rio2012. For the full list of confirmed speakers, click here. Stay tuned for more information on Facebook and Twitter!