ABOUT US

<p>India faces a dual burden of nutrition-related diseases, with high levels of maternal and child mortality and morbidity directly related to undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies, and infectious diseases paired with a growing incidence of non-communicable diseases. Nutrition plays a critical role in promoting and maintaining optimal health throughout the life cycle. There is a need for professionals in India and developing countries with appropriate skills, knowledge and trans-disciplinary collaborative abilities to influence policy making at the national and global level. Adequate opportunities for training are limited. Keeping this training gap in mind, the BBNC was established in 2009 to focus primarily to achieve 3 objectives – to conduct an annual short course in Nutrition Research Methods, to identify promising students for summer internship program at Boston and to develop distance learning modules. BBNC has been built on a history of over three decades of collaboration between St. John’s Research Institute, Harvard T. S. Chan School of Public Health and Tufts University. The two week International Nutrition Research Methods Course introduces students to public health research topics through critical evaluation of scientific literature and exploration of a variety of demographic, epidemiological, biological and social factors that affect nutritional status. In addition to completing a core curriculum, students get an opportunity to explore selected research areas in-depth through development of a research presentation and collaboration with faculty members from three institutions.</p>