Dr. Ruel has been the Director of the Poverty, Health and Nutrition Division at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) since 2004. She has worked for more than 35 years on policies and programs to alleviate poverty, food insecurity and malnutrition in low- and middle-income countries. She has published extensively on topics related to maternal and child nutrition, urban food security and nutrition, and on the linkages between agriculture, nutrition, and health. Her recent research focuses on the evaluation and strengthening of a wide range of integrated, multi-sectoral development programs in the areas of agriculture, social protection, education, and health, and at building the evidence on their role in fostering improvements in maternal and child nutrition globally. Since 2018, she has led the development of a global policy research program on Urban Food Systems for Better Diets, Nutrition, and Health; the principal aim of this program is to identify and evaluate innovative actions to reshape food systems and food environments to support the urban poor in achieving healthy diets and optimal nutrition and health. Dr. Ruel has lived and worked in Haiti, Lesotho, and Guatemala; and has worked in a number of countries of Latin America, Africa, and South Asia. She obtained her PhD in International Nutrition and Epidemiology from Cornell University. She received the American Society for Nutrition Kellogg Prize for lifetime achievement in nutrition in 2019.
