Dr Vanessa Garcia Larsen currently serves as the Unit Chief for Risk Factors and Nutrition, at the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)World Health Organization (WHO), in Washington DC, since 2024. In this role, she leads PAHO/WHO's mission to support the Member States of the Region of the Americas to improve food systems, nutrition and the promotion of healthy environments for the prevention and management of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), including obesity. Prior to joining PAHO, Dr Garcia Larsen was Associate Professor in Human Nutrition at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and was an Associate Researcher at Imperial College London. Her research programme on the role of diet on respiratory and autoimmune diseases has informed international infant feeding guidelines for the prevention of allergies. She served as an Academic Expert to the WHO for several years, and was one of the co-authors of the European Regional Obesity Report in 2022.
Dr Garcia Larsen holds a Bachelor's Degree in Nutrition & Dietetics and a MSc in Biological Sciences with Mention in Nutrition from the University of Chile, a PhD in Public Health from King's College London, and a Master's in Medical Education from Imperial College London.