Title: Measuring international progress in pregnancy planning and preconception health

When: Thursday, February 19, 08:00 EST 

Presenter: Danielle Schoenaker, BSc MSc FHEA PhD, Senior Research Fellow | NIHR Advanced Fellow, Human Development and Health | Faculty of Medicine | University of Southampton

Brief Description: Interventions and policies to optimise preconception health are expanding globally. Evaluating their effectiveness requires robust population-level surveillance systems to monitor progress and inform future, targeted investment. However, there is currently no internationally agreed set of preconception health indicators suitable for global surveillance. This webinar will present an overview of the work of the International Core Indicators for Preconception Health and Equity (iCIPHE) Alliance, which seeks to address this gap. The talk will describe the development of an international consensus study to prioritise a core set of indicators applicable across low-, middle-, and high-income countries for monitoring progress in pregnancy planning and preconception health. Initial findings from the study will be shared, alongside opportunities for international collaboration.

Title: Early years matter: Contextual factors shaping caregiving and child development in urban poor neighbourhoods of Bangalore, India

When: Tuesday, March 17, 08:00 EDT 

Presenter: Dr. Eunice Lobo, Senior Research Associate at PHFI; Secretary & Strategic Partnerships Lead for the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) India Regional Society

Brief Description: This talk examines how caregiving perceptions and practices, home environments, and community conditions shape development among children in urban poor neighbourhoods of Bangalore, India. Drawing on mixed-methods research, it highlights how everyday caregiver–child interactions and contextual constraints influence development, and discusses implications for designing equitable, scalable interventions in low-resource urban settings.

Title: TBD

When: TBD

Presenter: Cindy-Lee Dennis, PhD, Professor at University of Toronto and Colleagues

Brief Description: Influence of paternal precondeption health on perinatal outcomes

Title: Knowledge Translation

When: TBD

Presenter: Dan Sellen, PhD, Professor at University of Toronto and Jenna Hickey, Lead Research Coordinator

Brief Description: On the topic of knowledge translation / mobilization some work one of my teams has been doing with CANWACH on gender transformation of nutrition programs using Global Affairs Canada’s feminist development agenda translated through the “GTFN” framework adopted by Scaling Up Nutrition and a range of NGO’s may be relevant. Methodological highlights include c-creative approaches to MNCHN-program transformative tool design and testing.