Dr. Vanessa Garcia-Larsen is an international Public Health Nutrition Specialist with extensive expertise in epidemiological studies investigating the role of lifestyle-related risk factors for noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). She has participated as lead/co-investigator or collaborator in international observational population-based surveys in high-, low-, and middle-income countries, spanning over 30 countries. She has served as Expert Advisor on Nutrition and NCD Prevention to the World Health Organization (WHO) and is the author or co- author of over 150 peer-reviewed publications and specialist technical reports.

Since 2024, Dr. Garcia-Larsen serves as Chief of the Risk Factors and Nutrition Unit at the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO). The Unit leads PAHO's regional work on risk factors for non- communicable diseases (NCDs), with special focus on tobacco control, physical activity, and malnutrition in all its forms.

Prior to this appointment, she was Associate Professor in Human Nutrition at the Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, and held a research position at Imperial College. She was conferred Excellence Awards from both institutions in recognition of her role in postgraduate teaching and student mentoring.

Her evidence-based work on maternal and infant diet and prospective risk of respiratory and autoimmune diseases has directly informed international infant feeding guidelines for the prevention of allergies