Dr Kathy Trieu
Program Lead
- Associate Professor Kathy Trieu
- Director World Health Collaborating Centre – Population Salt Reduction
- Conjoint Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Medicine UNSW
- PhD, MPH, BAppSc (Nutr&ExSpSc)
Associate Professor Kathy Trieu is a leading expert in global food policy and sodium reduction, and Director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre on Population Salt Reduction at The George Institute for Global Health. Her work focuses on developing and implementing evidence-based nutrition policies and programs to reduce diet-related disease and improve health outcomes globally, particularly for disadvantaged populations.
Associate Professor Trieu holds a PhD in Medicine from The University of Sydney, Australia and has been awarded prestigious fellowships, including the NHMRC Early Career Fellowship, a National Heart Foundation Australia Postdoctoral Fellowship and a Heart Foundation Catalyst Partnership Grant Award.
As Program Lead for Nutrition Implementation Research Associate Professor Trieu plays a pivotal role in shaping effective food policies and innovative nutrition programs. Her work focuses on the practical application and implementation of evidence-based nutrition approaches. This includes leading a program of work to change the world’s salt supply from regular to potassium-enriched salt as a strategy to reduce cardiovascular diseases. As well as developing and adapting Food is Medicine programs for disadvantaged communities in Australia. Her expertise extends internationally, providing guidance and support to many low- and middle-income countries in implementing evidence-based strategies for better health outcomes.
Dr Katrina Kissock
RESEARCH FELLOW
- Conjoint Lecturer, Faculty of Medicine and Health, UNSW
- PhD, BNutrDiet(Hons)(DeansSchol), APD
Dr Kissock is a distinguished researcher and academic specialising in nutrition, dietetics and public health. She currently holds the position of Research Fellow at The George Institute for Global Health and serves as a Conjoint Lecturer at the University of New South Wales.
Dr Kissock holds a PhD in Health Sciences from the University of Wollongong, Australia focusing on how different definitions of whole-grain foods impact health outcomes in research and public health promotion strategies. Her research in this area has been influential, with publications in leading journals, policy citations and adaption of methods by other research teams.
Dr Kissock addresses critical global health issues at The George Institute, notably through her research on the implementation of switching to potassium-enriched salt as a strategy to reduce cardiovascular disease risk and research on sodium reduction in China and Nigeria. She currently leads a program of work to harness the power of healthcare professionals and influence clinical practice to recommend a switch to potassium-enriched salt and avert thousands of strokes and heart attacks in Australia each year.
Dr Kissock currently serves as co-chair of The George Institute Early- to Mid-Career Researcher group, Global Alliance for Chronic Disease (GACD) Scale Up Programme, and UNSW Cardiac Vascular and Metabolic Medicine Early-Career Researcher Committee. She has presented her findings at major international and domestic conferences, and her efforts have garnered significant grants and multiple awards, reflecting her impact in the field.
Dr Mary-Anne Land
Senior Program and Engagement Advisor
- GAICD, PhD, MPH
Dr Mary-Anne Land is a Senior Program and Engagement Advisor at The George Institute for Global Health, where she leads global initiatives to transition the world’s salt supply to potassium-enriched salt to reduce cardiovascular disease at scale. Her work brings together governments, international agencies, researchers, civil society and industry partners to translate evidence into practical policy and implementation action.
In parallel with her role at The George Institute, Mary-Anne consults for the World Health Organization (WHO) across a range of global health initiatives. This work contributes to broader health system strengthening priorities by advancing disease prevention and control through primary health care systems, including improving immunization coverage and equitable access to essential health services.
Previously, Mary-Anne held advisory and program leadership roles within WHO, including supporting the development and implementation of the global cervical cancer elimination initiative. She played a key role in advancing the program from strategy to implementation through country engagement, partnership development, and mobilisation of political and technical support.
With experience spanning country-level implementation, global policy, stakeholder engagement, and strategic partnerships, Mary-Anne has a strong track record of translating evidence into high-impact public health action worldwide.
Dr Liping (Polly) Huang
Senior Data Analyst / Research Fellow
- PhD, MPhil, BA
Dr Liping (Polly) Huang holds a Master by Research and a PhD from the University of Sydney. She is currently a Senior Data Analyst and Research Fellow in the Food Policy Division at the George Institute for Global Health.
Dr Huang’s research focuses on population sodium reduction, with a particular interest in potassium-enriched salt as a practical and scalable public health strategy. She is a recipient of Australian NHMRC Emerging Leader (EL1) Investigator Grant, through which she leads cost-effectiveness evaluations of population-level salt substitution strategies across diverse settings.
With strong expertise in statistical analysis and modelling, Dr Huang leads the analytical components of several “Food is Medicine” projects.
Monica Hu
PHD CANDIDATE
- PhD in Medicine – in progress
- Master of Public Health in Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology
- BSc in Molecular Biology
Monica Hu is a PhD Candidate within The George Institute for Global Health’s Food Policy Division and the University of New South Wales. She is supported by the University International Postgraduate Award scholarship. Her research focuses on the implementation and evaluation of nutrition reformulation policies, with a particular interest in population salt reduction, food reformulation, and the use of large-scale food composition data to inform public health policy.
Monica’s research interests include sodium reduction, food reformulation, potassium-enriched salt, nutrition policy evaluation, epidemiology, implementation science, data analysis, and cardiovascular disease prevention.
Timothy Low-Wah
RESEARCH ASSOCIATE
Christine Smith
Research Assistant
- BHSc, MHumNutr
Christine Smith is a Research Assistant in the Food Policy Division at The George Institute for Global Health. With a background spanning research operations, project management and public health nutrition, she is particularly interested in how research can be translated into practical policies and programs that improve population health.
Her work focuses on global salt reduction and supporting the scale-up of potassium-enriched salt through research, implementation and stakeholder engagement activities. She contributes to initiatives that help countries adopt evidence-based nutrition policies and interventions to reduce cardiovascular disease worldwide.
- Dr Katrin Engelhardt, World Health Organization, Headquarters
Dr Xi Yin, World Health Organization, Western Pacific Region