London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

Job title: Associate Professor

Organization: Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro (UNIRIO)

Location: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Email address: [email protected]; [email protected]

Tell us about your current role.

I coordinate the Research Project on School Food and Nutrition (PESANE) and the School Meals and Nutrition Laboratory (LANE) at UNIRIO. I am a professor in the postgraduate programme in Food and Nutritional Security and my research, teaching and outreach projects focus on the ​​Brazilian School Meals Program, known as PNAE.

What’s something exciting that you’ve worked on recently?

Recently, we have been organizing a network of researchers in Brazil who focus on school meal research. The professors are affiliated with postgraduate programmes of different universities in all five regions of Brazil. We are working on the conceptualization of the network and soon, hopefully, we'll have a website to share more about us.

What did school meals look like when you were growing up?

At key stage 1 (age ~5-7), I studied in a public school and I have great memories of school, especially of fish with rice and pirão (a type of Brazilian porridge). After that, I studied at a private school where mostly ultra-processed foods were served, which demonstrated to me the importance of public school feeding policies for providing adequate nutrition.

What impact do you hope your work will have?

Locally, we hope that our research can be used in practice to promote quality, sustainable school meals. Nationally, we want to support the improvement of PNAE public policy and, globally, to strengthen international cooperation for the exchange of experiences.

How can people get involved or stay up to date with your work?

Soon we'll share our website, but for now, you can contact us by email: [email protected] and [email protected]. You can also follow us on LinkedIn at Pesane Unirio and on Instagram @pesaneunirio.