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ABOUT ME

Bianca Carducci, MSc, PhD is a nutrition scientist, at Columbia Climate School, Columbia University, specializing in the linkage between public health and planetary health as it relates to food and nutrition security in a changing climate. With a PhD in Nutritional Sciences and a Collaborative Specialization in Global Health from the University of Toronto, Bianca's dissertation research has enhanced the understanding of how food environments shape diet-related health outcomes among children and adolescents in low- and middle-income countries, with a particular focus on Pakistan as a case study. She also holds a Master of Science in Nutritional Sciences from the University of Guelph. Before embarking on her doctoral journey, Bianca worked at the SickKids Centre for Global Child Health and gained experience working in Africa and Asia, advancing global health and public health nutrition capacity-building initiatives with the International Pediatric Association. She also led high-impact, evidence-based syntheses on nutrition interventions for vulnerable populations. Most recently, Bianca was a prestigious Canadian Institutes of Health Research Banting Postdoctoral Fellow at the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University. At Columbia, Bianca spearheads a dynamic and interdisciplinary research program that is advancing the climate-nutrition evidence base and catalyzing system transformations through actionable, evidence-based policies and innovative solutions that safeguard food security and nutrition on local, national, and global scales while promoting sustainability. Her work spans various high-profile projects, including implementation research on strengthening climate information services to improve nutrition interventions in Ethiopia and Indonesia, the development of food system targets for tracking progress towards sustainable diets and nutrition (Food Systems Countdown Initiative), examining just transformations for healthy food systems (EAT-Lancet 2.0 Commission), and modeling the effects of climate variability on dietary diversity (US State Department-funded Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils). In addition to her academic work, Bianca provides strategic guidance to several global organizations, holding advisory roles with USAID and UNICEF to shape policy and programs aimed at improving global diet quality and nutrition.

EDUCATION

2018-2022

Doctor of Philosophy

Nutritional Sciences
University of Toronto

Thesis: The Relationship Between Food Environments and Nutritional Status in School-aged Children and Adolescents in Low- and Middle- Income Countries: Evidence from Sindh, Pakistan
 

Collaborative Specialization in Global Health

2012-2013

Master of Science

Human Health and Nutrition

University of Guelph

Research on the inter-modal reliability and usability of a nutrition risk screen tool for preschoolers, Nutri-eSTEP, the online NutriSTEP® in collaboration with Dietitians of Canada

2007-2011

Bachelor of Science

University of Toronto

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

POSTDOCTORAL SCIENTIST

July 2023 - Present

 

Columbia Climate School, Columbia University

CIHR BANTING POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW

September 2022 - June 2023

Bloomberg School of Public Health and Berman Institute of Bioethics, Johns Hopkins University

RESEARCH ANALYST

April 2021 - May 2022

Centre for Global Child Health, Hospital for Sick Children

RESEARCH COORDINATOR

January 2016 - March 2021

Centre for Global Child Health, Hospital for Sick Children

Centre for Global Child Health, Hospital for Sick Children

RESEARCH ASSISTANT

September 2014 - December 2015

AWARDS

2022        Canadian Institutes of Health Research Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship

2021        International Development Research Centre, Research Ideas Award on Sustainable and Healthy Food Systems

2021       University of Toronto, Student Engagement Award

2020       Ontario Graduate Scholarship

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