Prof. Vivica Ingrid Kraak

Vivica I. Kraak is an Associate Professor of Food and Nutrition Policy at the Department of Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise, Virginia Polytechnic Institute (Virginia Tech), where she has worked since 2014. She has over thirty years of professional experience working in academic settings and non-governmental organizations. She earned a BS in Nutritional Sciences from Cornell University (1986), an MS in Nutritional Sciences from Case Western Reserve University (1989), and a PhD in Population Health from Deakin University (2014). Over 30 years, Vivica's interdisciplinary research has used mixed methodologies to design, implement, monitor and evaluate policies, systems and environmental change strategies to create sustainable diets and food systems for a healthy population and planet. Dr. Kraak's research and teaching focus on: food systems governance to promote sustainable diets and food systems; digital technologies to support sustainable healthy diets and food systems; integrated marketing communications that encourage healthy and environmentally sustainable diets and lifestyles; food-based dietary guidelines to support sustainable diets and food systems; business and government engagement, policy impact, and accountability to reduce obesity and diet-related non-communicable diseases; and strengthening child-rights governance to restrict the marketing of unhealthy food and beverage products to children and adolescents.