Faculty of Health Sciences
Ontario Tech University
In this session I will profile research I have led that informs public health and clinical interventions aimed at improving diet quality and preventing chronic disease. It will describe how my research integrates behavioural science, implementation science, and digital health to better understand how individuals, practitioners, and policymakers engage with nutrition guidance and translate it into action. Examples will include studies examining the nutritional quality of the food supply, population-level nutrition behaviours, and the development and evaluation of scalable digital interventions designed to improve food literacy and support dietary behaviour change across the lifespan. Finally, I will reflect on how my earlier work in cardiovascular nutrition and dietary sodium reduction shaped the evolution of my research program and discuss the role of strong mentorship and partnerships strengthen research capacity and impact. This includes how partnerships with governments, health organizations, educators, clinicians, and community interest holders can support the translation of research to improve nutrition policy and practice.
JoAnne Arcand is a Registered Dietitian and Associate Professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Ontario Tech University. Her research evaluates policies, programs, and interventions for chronic disease prevention while also examining behavioural determinants of diet at the individual and population level. Her work also utilizes behavioural science, implementation science, and digital health approaches to translate nutrition evidence into effective clinical and public health interventions. Dr. Arcand is internationally recognized for her leadership in dietary sodium reduction and cardiovascular disease prevention and management. Her research has informed national and international sodium reduction initiatives, contributed to Canada’s ban on industrial trans fats, and supported improvements to food procurement policies in health care settings. She has also held leadership roles in global sodium reduction initiatives with the World Health Organization, the Pan American Health Organization and the World Hypertension League. She has authored over 100 peer-reviewed publications and numerous technical reports for governments and non-governmental organizations. Dr. Arcand is a former Heart & Stroke Foundation National New Investigator, and her research excellence has also been previously recognized by awards from the World Hypertension League, CIHR, Hypertension Canada, and the Government of Ontario.