Patrick Webb

Patrick Webb (born 10 March 1959) is Dean for Academic Affairs of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University.^[1]

Biography

He is also Alexander McFarlane Professor of Nurition at the Friedman School, and holds appointments at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University,^[2] and the University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany.^[3] Webb was previously Chief of Nutrition for the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) from 2003 to 2005,^[4] and a Research Fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute from 1989 through 1994.^[5] With Robin Kanarak (who took over as interim dean from Eileen Kennedy in 2011),^[6] Webb manages the only self-governing graduate school of nutrition in the United States.^[7]

Webb, a British citizen, holds an undergraduate degree in geography from Sussex University,^[8] a master’s degree from the Centre for West Africa Studies at the University of Birmingham,^[9] and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in geography from the University of Birmingham.^[10] He was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society in 1984. He attended The Blue School, Wells in Somerset from 1971 to 1979.^[11]

Webb is considered to be one of the world’s influential voices in the field of international nutrition,^[12] particularly as it relates to the domain of humanitarian intervention.^[13] He is also a widely-known authority on food security, food and nutrition policies, and food assistance. He led the United States Agency for International Development’s review of food aid quality from 2009 to 2011,^[14] served on the United Nations’ Hunger Task Force from 2003 through 2005,^[15] and is currently the Program Director for the USAID-supported Nutrition Collaborative Research Support Program (CRSP), 2010–2015.^[16] Webb is a member of the Board of the Nevin Scrimshaw International Nutrition Foundation,^[17] member of the editorial advisory board of the Quarterly Journal of International Agriculture,^[18] member of the Scientific Advisory Council of Biodiversity International,^[19] member of the Undernutrition steering committee of the Sackler Institute of Nutrition Science Research at the New York Academy of Sciences, member of the Advisory Group on Agriculture and Nutrition for the Millennium Villages Project, and on the editorial board of Food Security.^[20] He was in North Korea for the 2004 survey of nutrition, health and mortality,^[21] on the ground in Aceh after the 2004 tsunami,^[22] as well as in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake.^[23]

Publications

Webb has authored more than 60 peer-reviewed journal articles, as well as multiple books and book chapters.^[24] His 1994 book on Famine and Food Security in Ethiopia: Lessons for Africa.^[25] Chichester: John Wiley, co-authored with Joachim von Braun,^[26] was reviewed in the New Scientist^[27] under the title,“A hard row to hoe” by Michael Cross on 24 September 1994. The reviewer wrote that “not many academic books can move a reviewer to tears. This one did.”

Webb’s subsequent book from 1999 on Famine in Africa: Causes, Responses and Prevention. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press^[28] was reviewed as “among the best of primers on current knowledge on famine prevention, market integration and malfunction, and household food security“by the Humanitarian Times, 17 Feb 1999.^[29] He has also pursued published research on broader public health issues, including tobacco use,^[30] HIV/AIDS^[31] ,^[32] and child caring practices.^[33]

Recent noteworthy publications include:

1.Lapping, K., E. Frongillo, L. Studdert, P. Menon, J. Coates and P. Webb. 2012. Prospective Analysis of the Development of the National Nutrition Agenda in Vietnam from 2006 to 2008. Health Policy and Planning. 27:32–41.^[34]

2.Kadiyala, S., B. Rogers, A. Quisumbing and P. Webb. 2011. The effect of prime adult mortality on household composition and consumption in rural Ethiopia. Food Policy. 36 (5): 646–54.^[35]

3.Kennedy ET, Webb P, Walker P, Saltzman E, Maxwell DG, Nelson ME, et al. The Evolving Food and Nutrition Agenda: Policy and Research Priorities for the Coming Decade. Food and Nutrition Bulletin. 2011;32(1):60-8.^[36]

4.Webb P and S Block. Support for agriculture during economic transformation: Impacts on poverty and undernutrition. Proceedings of the National Academies of Science. 2010:1–6.^[37]

5.Maxwell DG, Webb P, Coates J, Wirth J. Fit for purpose? Rethinking food security responses in protracted humanitarian crises. Food Policy. 2010;35:91-7.^[38]

6.Webb P. Medium-to long-run implications of high food prices for global nutrition. The Journal of Nutrition. 2010;140:143S.^[39]

7.Ivers, L. K. Cullen, K. Freedberg, S. Block, J. Coates and P. Webb. HIV/AIDS,Undernutrition and Food Insecurity. Clinical Infectious Diseases.2009. 49 (10): 1061–8.^[40]

Select Op-Eds/Interviews

• "Feeding 9 Billion", About Harvest, 14 February 2012
• "Somali Famine Crisis", Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, 25 July 2011
• "How far have we come on nutrition?", World Food Programme, 17 June 2011
• "Reducing Poverty Stresses Food Systems", Deutsche Welle, 11 May 2011
• "US to Supply Healthier Food to World's Hungry.", Voice of America, 21 April 2011
• "Cyclone: Q & A on international aid", The Boston Globe, 6 May 2008
• "How a Volcano Eruption Wiped Away Summer", National Public Radio, 27 October 2007
• "Loss of an egg can be tipping point for the malnourished", The Financial Times, 13 March 2006
• "The Invisible Crisis in Niger", The Globe and Mail, 26 August 2005
• "Lifeline profile", The Lancet, 15 May 2004

Video presentations/webcasts

• "Food Security in Latin America – Trends and Prospects", Council of the Americas, New York City, December 2011.
• "Haiti's Food and Nutrition Situation", Tufts University seminar, October 2011.
• Panel Discussion hosted by Doctors Without Borders at Boston Public Library, November 2010. Webcast online.
• "Policy Support for Agriculture, Nutrition and Health" Presentation on Food Insecurity, the Growing Burden of Over- and Under- Nutrition and Food Safety, 2nd International Roadmap Development Workshop, McGill University, Montreal, September 2010.
• "Implications of the World Food Price Crisis on Nutrition", 14th International Congress of Nutrition, Bangkok, October 2009.
• Panel Discussion on Policies and Strategies to Address Child Malnutrition, Starved for Attention conference, Columbia University, New York City, June 2008. Webcast online.

References