Florence Tushemerirwe

Florence Basiimwa Tushemerirwe holds a Master’s degree in Public Health Nutrition from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. She has a bachelor’s degree in Food Science and Technology, and she has been researching the prevention of malnutrition during the first thousand days—a critical window of opportunity. Florence’s research interests lie in the food environment, food systems, non-communicable diseases, and health policy. For her doctoral degree (PhD), she will analyze public policy to regulate food advertising and prevent non-communicable diseases among children in Uganda. Her findings will directly contribute to a healthier food environment through improvements in food, nutrition, and health policy for the public good. Previously, Florence was the principal investigator for Grand Challenges Canada Rising Stars in Global Health seed grant, which funded a feasibility study to prevent malnutrition among mothers and children aged 0–2 years in rural eastern Uganda. One outcome is the packaged “Grand Nutrition” supplementary food product and nutrition education. A documentary can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbX5gJSxT7I. Current projects: - Co-principal investigator for “The Extent and Nature of Food Advertising Targeted to Children and Adolescents (5–18 years) in Uganda,” funded by the Government of Uganda through Makerere University Research and Innovations Fund Round 2 (2020). - Principal investigator for “The Integrated Model to Prevent Malnutrition among Mothers and Children Aged 0–2 years in Uganda,” funded by USAID through the Resilient Africa Network (RAN) project.