Conference on Agriculture for Health
Influential thought leaders lay critical groundwork for better aligning agriculture and food systems.
Priority Setting to Solve the Ultimate Grand Challenge
This Conference is jointly hosted by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and Texas A&M AgriLife Institute for Advancing Health Through Agriculture (IHA). The Conference will lay critical groundwork on how agriculture and food systems can be better aligned to support outcomes around human health, environmental health, and economic vitality. Highlighting the importance of a systems-based approach to address challenges around reducing chronic disease, supporting a healthy environment, while ensuring profitability for producers, the conference will serve as a focal point for convening influential thought leaders. People from academia, government, private and nonprofit sectors are gathering together to kickoff conversations that will help to solve the ultimate grand challenge of balancing human health, environmental health, and economic vitality.
Event Schedule
| Time | Agenda |
|---|---|
| 8:30 am CT | Doors open; check-in and registration |
| 9:15 am | Welcome; livestream begins |
| 9:20 am | Opening remarks: Solving the ultimate grand challenge |
| 9:45 am | Panel: Identifying research priorities to solve the ultimate grand challenge |
| 11:45 am | Break; transition to lunch |
| 12:00 pm | Lunch keynote: Addressing food security and diet-related diseases through precision nutrition and responsive ag research |
| 1:00 pm | Livestream ends; closed session begins for in-person attendees |
Welcome Speakers
Distinguished Fellow, Global Food and Agriculture
Catherine Bertini served as executive director of the UN World Food Program, the world’s largest international humanitarian agency, from 1992 to 2002 prior to joining the Council. She was named the World Food Prize laureate in 2003 for her groundbreaking leadership there.
Director, Texas A&M AgriLife IHA
Patrick Stover is the director of the Institute for Advancing Health Through Agriculture at Texas A&M AgriLife. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Peggy Tsai Yih
Former Managing Director, Center on Global Food and Agriculture
Peggy Tsai Yih led the Council’s continued work on global food and nutrition security and in advancing a more sustainable and resilient food system. She has 20 years of experience in food, agriculture, and natural resource policy, with nearly 15 years at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in Washington, DC.
Keynote Speaker
Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics, USDA
Chavonda Jacobs-Young serves as the Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics (REE), and as USDA’s Chief Scientist. Before being appointed by President Biden as the REE Under Secretary, Dr. Jacobs-Young was Administrator for ARS.
Panel Speakers
Bloomberg Distinguished Professor of Global Food Policy and Ethics, Johns Hopkins University
Jessica Fanzo is the Bloomberg Distinguished Associate Professor of Global Food and Agriculture Policy and Ethics at the Berman Institute of Bioethics at Johns Hopkins University. She also works with the Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).
Daniel Gustafson
Special Representative, FAO
Dr. Daniel Gustafson is Special Representative of FAO's Director-General. Prior to this role, he was the Deputy Director-General for FAO, where he oversaw the work of the Organization to ensure that it contributes to its Members’ Sustainable Development Goals.
Professor and Tata-Cornell Institute Founding Director, Cornell University
Prabhu Pingali is a professor in the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management at Cornell University, with a joint appointment in the Division of Nutritional Sciences and the Department of Global Development. He is the founding director of the Tata-Cornell Institute for Agriculture and Nutrition (TCI).
President, Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
Ellen Shanley is the president of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. She also works as the dietetics director of the Department of Allied Health Sciences at the University of Connecticut's College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources.