Dr Lynnette M. Neufeld strives to accomplish a professional goal of mobilizing intellectual resources to improve the health and nutrition of populations, using strategic research to inform better program design and implementation. She is currently Director of Knowledge Leadership (KL) at the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) and member GAINs Senior Management Team. The KL team leads all research and evaluation at GAIN, using evidence to guide improved program design and implementation, and filling critical gaps in the global evidence base and works with program and country teams to mobilize evidence for programs. As a member of the Strategic Management Team at GAIN, Dr Neufeld helps guide the strategic direction and effective operation of the organization. Dr Neufeld is actively involved in the global nutrition and academic community, serving on several boards and technical advisory groups.

Dr Neufeld is President-elect of the International Union of Nutritional Sciences, and from 2010 to 2017 was Chair of the Steering Committee of the Micronutrient Forum. Before joining GAIN in 2013, Dr Neufeld led the Micronutrient Initiative’s efforts to identify, develop and support strategic research related to diverse aspects of nutrition programs. From 1998 to 2009, Dr. Neufeld was Director of the Division of Nutritional Epidemiology at the National Institute of Public Health (INSP) in Mexico where her research focused on improving the effectiveness of interventions to promote the health, growth, and development of children from disadvantaged populations in Mexico and Latin America, including principal investigator of the nutrition evaluation of the Oportunidades (now Prospera) conditional cash transfer program in Mexico.

She currently leads the impact evaluation of nutrition programs in Indonesia and India and has active research projects in Mozambique and Pakistan. She continues an active role in research, teaching, and student advising through on-going collaborations with Emory (Adjunct Professor) and Cornell Universities and INSP in Mexico (Visiting Professor), among others and has over 100 publications in peer-reviewed journals and book chapters. Dr Neufeld has a Doctoral and Master’s Degrees in International Nutrition from Cornell University and a Bachelor of Applied Human Nutrition from Guelph University in Guelph, Canada.