Dr. Judy McLean is a global health educator from the University of British Columbia and researcher whose work on behalf of the nutritional health of infants and young children in Africa is un-matched.

As a nutrition advisor to United Nations agencies and Ministries of Health, Dr. McLean has been at the centre of implementing nutrition programs in sub-Saharan Africa.

She has been instrumental in initiating and supporting the distribution and use of ‘Sprinkles’, a powdered micronutrient supplement designed to prevent vitamin and mineral deficiencies in infants and young children.

Notably in Rwanda her work included designing an implementation strategy, developing communications materials and training programs for community health workers and caregivers, conducting training sessions at the national and district levels, and ultimately, overseeing the national scale-up of a program targeting the specific needs of children aged 6-23 months. Through this work, Rwanda has become the first country in Africa to have a national home-based fortification program that reaches the majority of at-risk children with the vitamins and minerals they need for growth and development.

Dr. McLean’s impact is based on her cultural sensitivities and her ability to build research and technology partnerships with the people of Africa and South East Asia so that that they can claim ownership and share responsibility for their success.

She equally earns the trust of colleagues and collaborators, and everyone from senior government officials to volunteers in rural orphanages. Her passion is infectious and she’s quick to dispense with formalities and creature comforts.

She sets a strong example for her students who have gone on to study and work abroad after taking her University of British Columbia courses and the pioneering program she created in international nutrition.