Thalia Sparling
Designation: Research Fellow, Innovative Methods and Metrics for Agriculture and Nutrition Actions
Thalia completed her PhD at the University of Heidelberg’s Institute of Public Health in the Epidemiology and Biostatistics unit. Under the supervision of Dr. Sabine Gabrysch, Thalia worked on the Food and Agricultural Approaches to Reducing Malnutrition (FAARM), a clustered randomized field trial investigating the impact of Helen Keller International’s Homestead Food Production program in rural Bangladesh. Her dissertation examined the association of food access, diet and nutrition with depression in women of reproductive age, particularly in Bangladesh. Prior to joining the Heidelberg Public Health team, she worked for two years in South Sudan as a Technical Advisor to the South Sudan Guinea Worm Eradication Program with the Carter Center. Thalia holds a Master in Public Health from Columbia University, focusing on forced migration and humanitarian assistance, and a Bachelor of Arts from Smith College in anthropology and Spanish.
