Research Affiliations

As an international technical agency, HKI, in collaboration with its partners, works to benefit populations worldwide by focusing its technical resources toward developing evidence-based practices. Toward this end, HKI has established close contacts with leading universities, organizations and institutions to enhance our work or to ensure independent review of HKI field research.

A major thrust of this work has involved the field of micronutrient deficiency control and the interpretation of nutrition surveillance findings. HKI’s systems of nutrition surveillance have been internationally recognized as important sources of information and for their potential contribution to global monitoring systems, such as the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization’s Food Insecurity and Vulnerability Information and Mapping System (FIVIMS). In fact, HKI hosted the fourth Inter-Agency Working Group (IAWG) meeting on FIVIMS in early 2000.

As part of the global scientific community working toward the virtual elimination of micronutrient deficiencies, HKI contributes to existing knowledge through research activities built into its technical assistance programs. The scientific program-related research leads to the development of sustainable public health strategies and to the support of national governments in developing their capacity in specific technical areas.

HKI engages in a regular dialogue with scientists in the fields of nutrition and public health. Specifically, HKI collaborates with a number of universities, including:

Cornell University

A close relationship has been established with researchers from Cornell University (Ithaca, New York, USA) for an in-depth analysis of socioeconomic and anthropometric data collected through HKI's nutrition surveillance systems in Bangladesh and Indonesia to contribute to the understanding and assessment of food insecurity.

Johns Hopkins University

HKI-Asia-Pacific has a long-established relationship with Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, Maryland, USA). When HKI started working in Indonesia and provided technical assistance to the Nutritional Blindness Prevention Project in the 1970s, the organization was represented by Dr. Alfred Sommer of JHU. Since then, there has been regular communication between JHU and HKI regarding HKI’s program-related research and surveillance projects, particularly in Indonesia and Bangladesh.

Tufts University

HKI collaborates with scientists from Tufts University (Boston, Massachusetts, USA) in designing the collection and analysis of economic data from nutrition surveillance systems.

Wageningen University

HKI-Asia-Pacific maintains close contacts with Wageningen University (Wageningen, the Netherlands). In the past few years, HKI accommodated students who wanted to gain experience in working in nutrition in developing countries by providing on-the-job training for graduates in nutrition and epidemiology.