Distinguished Professor Paul Moughan is heading to London next week to assist the Gates Foundation. Photo: Kim Sargent.
Distinguished Professor Paul Moughan, Riddet Institute Fellow Laureate, has been invited to advise the Gates Foundation in London on alternative proteins for maternal nutrition on 18-19 April.
A leading protein scientist, Professor Moughan is one of the principal investigators at the Riddet Institute hosted by Massey University in Palmerston North.
Although he is an authority on protein and nutrition, he says the request to attend the two-day workshop came as a surprise.
“The invitation came out of the blue. It was nice that our international standing in the field was recognised and it is great to be able to contribute," he says.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation workshop will focus on the potential of alternative or low-cost proteins as part of the foundation’s maternal nutrition work. A small group of global experts will attend.
Professor Moughan says the meeting is about raising mothers out of poverty and malnutrition.
“It’s to give high-level advice to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. They have a massive influence on the developing world and nutrition. That’s what it’s about – bringing better nutrition to the developing world.”
Professor Moughan says maternal nutrition is the key to improving the lives of families in poor countries.
The workshop’s aim is to reduce undernourishment of pregnant and lactating women across South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa via affordable nutrition options.
Riddet Institute Director Distinguished Professor Harjinder Singh says it is big news that Professor Moughan was invited to the talks.
“The Gates Foundation is a very high-profile organisation, so it is very prestigious for a New Zealand scientist, and the Riddet Institute and Massey University, to be recognised in this way,” Professor Singh says.
Professor Moughan has also been asked to chair the Food and Agriculture Organization-sponsored Dietary Protein for Human Health International Symposium at Utrecht in the Netherlands from 14-16 September.
The Riddet Institute is hosted by Massey University in Palmerston North and focuses on fundamental and advanced food research. The food science research organisation was awarded Centre of Research Excellence (CoRE) status by the Government in 2007.
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