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Alessandro R Demaio

Medical Doctor; Co-Founded NCDFREE and festival21; Associate Researcher, University of Copenhagen

Dr Demaio trained and worked as a medical doctor at The Alfred Hospital in Australia. While practising as a doctor he completed a Masters in Public Health including fieldwork in Cambodia to develop and evaluate a community-based, culturally appropriate health intervention for noncommunicable diseases, particularly diabetes.

In 2010, Alessandro relocated to Denmark where he completed a PhD with the University of Copenhagen, focusing on noncommunicable diseases. His doctoral research was based in Mongolia, working with the Ministry of Health. He designed, led and reported a national epidemiological survey, sampling more than 3500 households to better understand national knowledge, attitudes and practices on noncommunicable diseases and risk factors and provide policy recommendations to address them.

Alessandro held a Postdoctoral Fellowship at Harvard Medical School from 2013 to 2015, and was assistant professor and course director in global health at the Copenhagen School of Global Health, in Denmark. He has established and led the PLOS blog Translational Global Health, and has served on the Advisory Board of the EAT Initiative: the global, multi-stakeholder platform for food, health and environmental sustainability. To date, he has authored over 20 scientific publications and more than 80 blog articles.

In his pro bono work, Dr Demaio co-founded NCDFREE, a global social movement against noncommunicable diseases using social media, short film and leadership events – reaching more than 2.5 million people in its first 18 months. Then, in 2015, he founded festival21, assembling and leading a team of knowledge leaders in staging a massive and unprecedented, free celebration of community, food, culture and future in his hometown Melbourne.

In November 2015, Alessandro joined the Department of Nutrition for Health and Development at the World Health Organization (Geneva), as Medical Officer for noncommunicable conditions and nutrition.

While a staff member of the World Health Organization, Alessandro alone is responsible for the views expressed in this column, and they do not necessarily represent the decisions or policies of the World Health Organization.

Seven essential tips to breaking up with sugar

Dec 07, 2016 23:23 pm UTC| Health

As we come to the end of 2016, many of us start to look back and reflect. The year has been defining even redefining in many ways. Politics, technology and culture have all seen major leaps and in some cases, hurdles....

Three important wins for addressing obesity

Nov 24, 2016 01:00 am UTC| Insights & Views Health

When it comes to obesity in Australia, the statistics are alarming - and generally getting worse. The national prevalence of obesity has increased significantly over the past few decades. Roughly three in ten...

When it comes to food, could 'reactive' sometimes be best?

Oct 06, 2016 14:35 pm UTC| Health

True for almost all situations in life, being proactive is best. And this has been a formative lesson in my time so far: whether reaching out to a potential mentor that inspired me and making time for a coffee and a chat,...

Why obesity is not a 'left versus right' issue

Aug 26, 2016 08:46 am UTC| Health

Alessandro R Demaio, Medical Doctor; Co-Founded NCDFREE and festival21; Associate Researcher, University of Copenhagen Left or right, we should all be urging action on obesity. libertarianism...

Six reasons why food is a really big deal

Jun 09, 2016 08:18 am UTC| Insights & Views Health

Its easy to forget the power of what is on our dinner plate. Between the instagram post, or the quick fix meal, the snack at our desk or the breakfast on the run - its not a surprise we might overlook the incredible...

Economy

Trump Opens Tax-Exempt Dyed Diesel Access as Fuel Prices Surge

U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday expanding access to tax-exempt dyed diesel as soaring fuel prices and global oil supply disruptions put pressure on American consumers and businesses. Under...

Australia Consumer Confidence Plunges as RBA Rate Hike Hits Households

Australian consumer confidence fell sharply in October as households grew increasingly worried about rising living costs, higher interest rates, personal finances and the jobs outlook, according to data released Tuesday by...

Samsung, SK Hynix Shares Fall Ahead of Q3 Earnings

Shares of South Korean chip giants Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix declined on Tuesday as investors turned cautious ahead of their third-quarter earnings reports, despite broader strength across the global semiconductor...

Asian Currencies Steady as Dollar Holds Near 18-Month High

Asian currencies traded mostly flat on Tuesday as the U.S. dollar remained close to an 18-month high, supported by elevated Treasury yields and persistent inflation concerns. The euro stayed under pressure near a 17-month...

Asian Stocks Rise as Nasdaq Record Offsets Bond Yield Pressure

Asian stocks traded mostly higher on Tuesday, supported by a record close on the Nasdaq, although surging U.S. Treasury yields and elevated oil prices kept investors cautious. Wall Street provided a positive lead after the...

Politics

Trump Envoy Meets Sudan Army Chief in Egypt

A senior envoy for U.S. President Donald Trump attended an event in Egypt alongside Sudanese army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan as Washington continues efforts to find a political solution to Sudans devastating civil war....

France Student Protests Intensify Nationwide

France faced widespread high-school blockades and union-backed demonstrations on Tuesday as students stepped up pressure on President Emmanuel Macrons government over teacher shortages, deteriorating school buildings and...

Flavio Bolsonaro Surges as Family Scores Brazil Election Comeback

Brazils election delivered a dramatic political comeback for the Bolsonaro family, even though former President Jair Bolsonaro was not on the ballot. Bolsonaro, 71, is under house arrest while serving a 27-year sentence...

Trump Gaza Peace Plan Stalls as Israel Retains Control

US President Donald Trumps Gaza peace plan remains stalled a year after its launch, with Israel retaining control over roughly two-thirds of the enclave and continuing near-daily strikes despite an October 2025 ceasefire....

Trump Orders Firing Squad Execution for Fort Hood Gunman

President Donald Trump has approved the execution by firing squad of former U.S. Army Major Nidal Hasan, who was sentenced to death for killing 13 people in the 2009 Fort Hood shooting in Texas. Pentagon spokesperson Sean...

Science

Blue Origin New Glenn Explosion Could Delay Launch Operations Until 2028

Blue Origin is facing a significant setback after a dramatic explosion involving its New Glenn rocket severely damaged a launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida. According to NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, repairs to the...

Blue Origin New Glenn Rocket Explodes During Launch Pad Test, Delaying Space Ambitions

Blue Origin suffered a major setback after its uncrewed New Glenn rocket exploded during a launch pad test in Florida on Thursday, raising new challenges for Jeff Bezos space company as it competes with Elon Musks SpaceX...

SpaceX Delays Starship V3 Launch Ahead of Potential Record IPO

SpaceX on Thursday postponed the highly anticipated launch of its 12th Starship rocket test from Texas after technical issues interrupted the final countdown. The company now plans to attempt the Starship V3 launch again...

Trump Administration Releases New UFO Files and Apollo Mission Records

The U.S. Defense Department has released dozens of previously classified UFO-related files following an order from President Donald Trump, sparking renewed debate over unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) and government...

China vs. NASA: The New Moon Race and What's at Stake by 2030

The space race is back and this time, its a direct competition between the United States and China for dominance on the lunar surface. NASAs Artemis II mission recently made history when four astronauts flew farther into...

Technology

Zcash Prepares for NU7 Upgrade as Zebra Gets Key Security Fixes

The Zcash network is moving closer to its NU7 upgrade following a series of Zebra releases focused on security, performance and network stability. According to an engineering update from the official Zcash Foundation X...

OpenAI, Anthropic Back Mandatory AI Breach Reporting in Australia

OpenAI and Anthropic said they would support Australian laws requiring artificial intelligence companies to report data breaches caused by AI agents, as lawmakers consider tougher AI regulation following several security...

DeepSeek Seeks $12 Billion Funding Round Backed by Tencent, CATL

Chinese artificial intelligence powerhouse DeepSeek is preparing to raise at least 80 billion yuan ($12 billion) in a major funding round backed by Tencent and battery giant CATL, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday. DeepSeek...

Nvidia-Backed Reflection AI Launches Beam Open-Weight Model

Nvidia-backed startup Reflection AI has launched Beam, its first open-weight artificial intelligence model, as the U.S. company looks to challenge lower-cost Chinese AI models in coding and agentic tasks. Reflection AI...

Meta and Microsoft Cut Internal Claude AI Use

Meta Platforms and Microsoft are reducing their internal reliance on Anthropics Claude AI models as both technology giants encourage employees to adopt proprietary artificial intelligence tools, according to a report from...