Dr. Irene Ogada, PhD, RD

Assistant Professor
Evaristus 315
irene.ogada1@msvu.ca
Phone: 902-457-6273

 

Dr. Ogada is an educator with more than a decade of global experience. Her goal is to contribute to the advancement of sustainable nutrition, health, and wellbeing of communities.

Current Teaching Areas:

GAHN 6609: Nutrition and Population Health Assessment

GAHN 6414/ NUTR 4414: Nutrition Education in the Community

NUTR 3326: Ecological Perspectives of Food

NUTR 2324: Nutrition During the Life Cycle

Research Interests:

Dr. Ogada is committed to community-led inquiry, action, and transformation. She applies intersectionality and socio-ecological lenses in understanding communities’ experiences, as well as factors that are facilitators and barriers. Through multi-disciplinary collaborations, she works with diverse stakeholders to:

1) Co-develop a participatory platform for equity-seeking communities to articulate their experiences and needs, regarding nutrition, health, and wellbeing.

2) Co-develop culturally safe resources and processes in nutrition and health programs

3) Co-facilitate collaborative actions that foster sustainable and equitable communities.

4) Enhance the capacity of student researchers/ mentees to contribute to sustainable and equitable communities.

 

This is an exciting time as Dr. Ogada’s global research program is growing. She is working with Newcomer communities in Canada, as well as communities in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs). In these setting, her research has the following inter-linked overarching themes:

a.      Maternal and Child Nutrition (MCN): in this theme, she investigates nutrition in pregnancy, breastfeeding, and early school years.

b.      Advancing nutrition and health equity: in this theme, she works with under-served communities (Newcomers, women, socio-economically disadvantaged, adolescents) to explore the connections between equity, intersectionality, and nutrition.

c.      Sustainable Nutrition: this theme explores the connections between the environment, nutrition, and wellbeing. Land-based learning and inquiry has been instrumental in nurturing these connections among learners in schools and MSVU. Additionally, she has examined the connections between environmental changes and Maternal and Child Nutrition (MCN) and wellbeing.

Dr. Ogada uses mixed methods (Quantitative and Qualitative) in her research, integrating physiological evidence to objectively demonstrate the impact of identified factors and/or interventions. She is culturally humble in all her work. For instance, when engaging with communities of African descent, her approaches are anchored in Afrocentric perspectives and experiences.

Dr. Ogada continues to collaborate with researchers in countries such as Kenya, Zambia, Nigeria, South Africa, Finland, and Canada, for enriching experiences and contributions to society.

Recent Publications:

Please see recent publications at: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Irene-Ogada