Message-ID: <2.2.32.19980914160144.006bfaa4@pop.ben2.ucla.edu> Date: Mon, 14 Sep 1998 09:01:44 -0700 From: Leda Nemer <mailto:lnemer@UCLA.EDU> Subject: Public Health Nutritionist To: mailto:DEVEL-L@AMERICAN.EDU
I am writing to introduce myself to other members of this listserve.
My name is Leda Nemer and I have a Masters in Public Health from UCLA with a
concentration in international health and nutrition. I am presently looking
for an opportunity to work on a field- or domestic-based international
health project for a short- or long-term period, preferably in Latin America
or in Mozambique. I am fluent in both Portuguese and am available to begin
working early this fall.
I am looking for a postion that will allow me to apply my
international health skills as well as gain more experience. My areas of
focus within the field of public health have been child survival, maternal
and child health and nutrition, particularly micronutrient malnutrition.
Recently, I have been involved in survey research work, particularly
related to nutrition issues. I also have work experience in the development
of programmatic approaches for public health issues, significant nutrition
survey work experience, as well as proposal writing, program design and
evaluation skills.
In 1997, I worked in Nicaragua with the USAID-funded OMNI project as a
nutrition consultant. I designed a study that looked at the feasibility of
fortifying cooking with vitamin A and wheat flour with iron. As field
coordinator for this feasibility study, I developed and conducted household,
shop and bakery-based interviews to collect primary data for the levels of
consumption of the possible vehicles for fortification: the cooking fats and
wheat flour.
Part of my role in Nicaragua also involved acting as a liaison
between OMNI and the local Ministry of Health and other NGOs in Nicaragua,
the training of interviewers at the local level in each region, the
day-to-day coordination of logistics field visits and the conducting of
focus groups as part of the data collection process. At the end the survey,
I wrote the progress report and presented our results to members of the
Ministries of Health and Social Welfare in Managua, one of which showed that
in the majority of households interviewed, wheat flour-based products, such
as bread, were consumed at least once daily, especially by children under
the age of five. Our results confirmed that wheat flour was a vehicle for
fortification with iron that would reach the entire population regardless of
income level and age. Recently, I have been informed by my Nicaraguan
colleagues that wheat flour fortification process has been initiated and
this has given a wonderful sense of closure to a project I am so proud to
have been able to participate in.
I have also worked locally in the area of urban food security at UCLA,
starting up a nutrition survey of primary school children in the Los Angeles
area. In this project, I have been responsible for managing the data
collection and day-to-day project activities as well as the supervision of
the staff.
I would very much welcome the employment advice of those of you with more
experience in the field of development, relating to international health. I
would also ask any of you to feel free to contact me or request my most
recent C.V. in the event that you hear of any job positions that I might be
qualified to apply for.
I can be reached at (818) 562-1939 or by email at mailto:Lnemer@ucla.edu