Baker Lecture looks at food and nutrition

BOWLING GREEN, O.—“A Growing Hunger: The Nation’s Demand for Food Safety and Nutrition Information” is the focus for the 11th annual Ned E. Baker Lecture in Public Health on April 8.

Three speakers will address the topic from 4-5:30 p.m. in 228 Bowen-Thompson Student Union at Bowling Green State University. Questions for the panelists may be emailed to baker@bgsu.edu.

In addition, a reception and public health symposium, from 6-8 p.m. in 201 Union, will follow the lecture. The symposium will be a panel discussion on “Issues Related to Managing People and Developing Policies in Large, Multi-location Organizations.”

Dr. Bruce D. Dart, president of the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), is the panel moderator for the lecture. Panelists include Dr. Claudine J. Kavanaugh, an interdisciplinary scientist with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA); Keith Krinn, administrator of the Environmental Health Division of Columbus (Ohio) Public Health, and Dr. Margo Wootan, director of nutrition policy at the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI).

In addition to his position with NACCHO, Dart is director of the Lincoln-Lancaster County (Neb.) Health Department, where he is responsible for the health of 275,000 Nebraskans. Previously, he served as the director of the Independence (Mo.) Health Department and Grand Island/Hall County (Neb.) Health Department.

Kavanaugh’s work at the FDA, in the Office of Foods in the commissioner’s office, involves nutrition and food safety policy issues. She has also been a pediatric dietitian for the state of South Carolina and a Cancer Prevention Fellow at the National Cancer Institute.

Prior to his position at Columbus Public Health, Krinn was chief of Environmental Health Field Activities with the Oakland County (Mich.) Health Division. He also is president-elect of the National Environmental Health Association.

At CSPI, Wootan is involved in one of the leading health advocacy organizations specializing in food, nutrition and obesity prevention. She co-founded and coordinates the activities of the National Alliance for Nutrition and Activity (NANA), a coalition of more than 275 national, state and local organizations.

Kavanaugh and Wootan will lead the symposium discussion. To register for the symposium, contact Jennifer Wagner at baker@bgsu.edu or 419-372-7773.

Sponsors of the symposium are the BGSU College of Health and Human Services and the BGSU Center of Excellence fin Health and Wellness Across the Lifespan.

Sponsoring the lecture are BGSU’s College of Health and Human Services and the Northwest Ohio Consortium for Public Health in partnership with the National Association of Local Boards of Health (NALBOH). It also receives funding from the Cove Charitable Trust of Boston and the Wood County Hospital Foundation.

NALBOH was founded by Ned Baker, a Bowling Green resident who served on the Wood County Board of Health for 12 years, including two terms as president. He is a BGSU graduate and recent recipient of an honorary doctorate of science in public health.


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(Posted April 02, 2010 )