Recent projects

A selection of recent research projects I have led or contributed to.

Display of various flavors of Lay's potato chips in colorful bags on store shelves.

The political economy of ultra-processed foods in Aotearoa, New Zealand

Diagram illustrating multiple sectors involved in delivering healthy schools meals, including education, health, environment, food systems, social development and community strategies, with objectives like sustainability, equity, and wellbeing.

Three-year Research Fellowship, funded by the New Zealand Heart Foundation. 2024 - 2027

Conceptualized, carried out and published a series of studies on the political economy of the ultra-processed foods ‘system’, including barriers and levers for policy change, translating findings into media articles and interviews.

Nourishing Hawke’s Bay: the Ka Ora, Ka Ako | Healthy school lunches programme.

Principal investigator, National Science Challenge subcontract. August 2022 - October 2024

Led a global evidence review mapping the policy pathways of benefit; writing of report for NZ Ministry of Education to inform the Budget 2024

A globe showing Africa, Europe, and parts of Asia and the Middle East, placed on a surface with blurred background.

International collaboration on healthier international investment policy (Health-IIA)

Consultant, NHMRC Ideas Grant. November 2022 - March 2025

As part of a larger collection of international case studies, I led a case study (media review, policy analysis and qualitative interviews) on the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement, Sustainable Food Systems Chapter.

Diagram illustrating the process of product development and marketing and their links back to increased sales, including stages such as product design, marketing, and product metrics, with interconnected arrows and labels in green and black.

Project manager and supervisor. September 2023 - August 2024

Initiated and coordinated an international research collaboration on the ‘Ultra Processed Food System’. I brought together a team with complementary skills and expertise, including researchers in systems science, food science, marketing, public health nutrition, and political economy, from New Zealand, Australia, France and the UK. Based on literature review and expert consultation, we developed a set of complex systems maps (causal loop diagrams) showing how, and why, ultra-processed foods remain so dominant in the global food system.

Mapping the ultra-processed food ‘system’: product design, marketing, supply chain and political economy

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