Photo of group learning session on child nutrition

Education

Knowledge for Health Professionals, Learners and Researchers

Poor diet plays a role in one in five deaths globally. That finding comes from the 2017 Global Burden of Disease Study, the largest effort ever to measure life expectancy, and causes and risk factors for death and disease. Nutrition education is essential for solving this global health crisis.

At the same time, opportunities to limit disease and improve health through nutrition are better than ever, and a growing number of practitioners are turning to food as a front-line medicine.

Professors and staff in the Lawson Centre are updating nutrition and lifestyle content in the MD Program at the University of Toronto, creating professional development material for established practitioners, and training graduate students in basic, translational and implementation sciences.

Virtual learning sessions that provide physicians and health-care practitioners with an up-to-date overview of child nutrition.

Annual full day symposium for health-care professionals to address the knowledge-gap in the role nutrition in patient care.

Bringing nutrition education into the medical school curriculum to improve patient care.

Annual research lectures on the microbiome, for scientists and research trainees.

Immersive one-day workshop for physicians to learn effective strategies to facilitate therapeutic dietary patterns into their patients lifestyle. 

Dec 1, 2023
The 2023 Food as Medicine Update, recently hosted by the University of Toronto and Unity Health Toronto, drew 300 health-care professionals, researchers and learners interested in the pivotal role of nutrition in patient care.
Apr 14, 2023
Most of us have a reasonable understanding that the foods we eat can impact our health. Yet, consistently choosing the foods that can maximize our wellbeing can feel more difficult than ever.
Mar 30, 2023
Early results from a student-led analysis at the University of Toronto are highlighting the perceptions of parents and caregivers around school food programs, and suggesting ways a national school food program could better meet the nutrition needs of children.
Apr 11, 2022
The Lawson Centre for Child Nutrition will tap neonatologist and researcher Christopher Tomlinson to bring more nutrition training to practising doctors, health professionals and medical students.
Apr 5, 2022
A stem cell biologist and a global health researcher, both at the University of Toronto, have been honoured with 2022 Canada Gairdner Awards — the country’s most prestigious awards for medical and health science.
Dec 8, 2021
Researchers at the Lawson Centre for Child Nutrition have begun a nationwide study of school-based meal programs, to better understand which programs work well and how they have functioned during the COVID-19 pandemic — and whether a long-discussed national program could improve child nutrition broadly.