Nutrition and maternal and child health experts from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation visited the Epidemiological Research Center of the Federal University of Pelotas (CPE-UFPel) on 30 and 31 August to attend a series of meetings with the research group led by epidemiologist Cesar Victora.

Sindura Ganapathi is a project analyst at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, where she manages funding projects in the area of maternal and child health with a focus on solutions to health problems in gestation and early childhood in developing countries.

Parul Christian is dedicated to research on how nutrition can influence maternal and child health and the survival and development of children in low-income countries. The main interest of these studies is the impact of micronutrient deficiency on fetal growth and the health, growth and development of the newborn.

The researchers talked about challenges in the area of pregnant and child health in low and middle-income countries, a topic of interest to both institutions, in order to advance the partnership of the Center for Epidemiological Research with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The American group recently approved a project funding that has as its main researcher Professor Aluisio Barros, from the International Center for Equity in Health of UFPel.