Our Work

Global Initiatives & Activities

Food Fortification Initiative (FFI)
The Food Fortification Initiative (FFI) advocates for and supports fortification of industrially milled cereal grains by collaborating with multi-sector partners. The FFI vision is for people worldwide to be smarter, stronger and healthier through improved vitamin and mineral nutrition. IMMPaCt provides both financial and technical support to FFI, and is a key member of FFI’s Executive Management Team.

Home Fortification Technical Advisory Group (HF-TAG)
HF-TAG is a community of stakeholders involved in home fortification. IMMPaCt is a member of the executive committee and has played a significant role in the development and publication of various global documents.

Micronutrient Forum
IMMPaCt and the Micronutrient Initiative co-lead the Micronutrient Forum, a global forum bridging scientific advances with policies and programs across multiple sectors to ensure micronutrient adequacy for survival and optimal health throughout the life cycle.

International Council for Control of Iodine Deficiency Disorders (ICCIDD) Global Network
ICCIDD is a global network working towards sustainable elimination of iodine deficiency worldwide. IMMPaCt holds the Board chair position and participates in various technical workgroups.

Biomarkers for Nutrition and Development (BOND)
IMMPaCt provides technical assistance and subject matter expertise to this NIH Program as well as sits on the steering committee. The goal is to harmonize the decision-making process for determining which nutrition biomarkers are best for use in research, program development and evaluation, and generation of evidence-based policy.

World Health Organization (WHO)
IMMPaCt has a cooperative agreement with WHO’s Department of Nutrition for Health and Development to design and develop various global-level nutrition projects, including global guidelines, the Vitamin and Mineral Nutrition Information System, online resources, manuals, and symposia.

UNICEF
IMMPaCt has a cooperative agreement with UNICEF’s Nutrition Section to carry out global, regional and country level activities, such as global frameworks, manuals, workshops, symposia and many of IMMPaCt’s in-country projects.

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Country Projects

IMMPaCt’s country projects include providing technical assistance, training, and/or funding for 8-10 countries at a time. IMMPaCt works with several global partners on these projects including UNICEF, WHO, FFI, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Micronutrient Initiative (MI), Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), and others.

• Democratic Republic of the Congo - Integrated infant and young child nutrition and lipid-based nutrient supplement program
• Iraq – National Micronutrient Survey
• Ethiopia - National Micronutrient Survey
• Guam - Iodine assessment in school aged children and pregnant women
• Guatemala - Integrated Nutrition, Maternal and Child Health Surveillance System
• Kazakhstan - Regional Iodine Reference Laboratory
• Kyrgyzstan - Micronutrient Powder and Complementary Feeding Project
• Nepal - Integrated Infant Young Child Feeding, Micronutrient Powder, and Early Childhood Development Program
• Malawi - National Micronutrient Survey

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Laboratory Activities

IMMPaCt’s laboratory activities include working closely with CDC’s Nutritional Biomarkers Lab and the Inorganic Toxicology Lab, which provide technical assistance, laboratory analyses of various micronutrients, and quality control for IMMPaCt’s projects and programs.

Research Activities
IMMPaCt’s research activities are oriented to enhance the evidence base to improve micronutrient program effectiveness and to develop technical resources of wide impact.

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Domestic Projects Activities

IMMPaCt participates in and supports select projects and activities with a focus on the U.S. population. Using team strengths in M and E, research and micronutrient assessments and interventions, IMMPaCt lends its skills to domestic projects including:

• Monitoring and research on iodine status in order to ensure iodine sufficiency among women and children in the U.S.
• Developing optimal mass food fortification models for various food vehicles that can be applied to U.S. food fortification policies and practice.
• Providing technical assistance to research and practice related to iron intake and status of the U.S. population, such as the NHANES study.

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