The Danone International Prize for Alimentation

In 2022, Danone Institute International has opened the 3^rd Edition of the Danone International Prize for Alimentation (DIPA).  The Call for applications is now closed and 20 Experts from all over the World applied to this 3^rd Edition of the DIPA.

The DIPA Selection Committee gathered in December to decide the final list of preselected applications that will be presented to an international Jury panel in 2023. We are now able to present the 8 finalists of the 3rd edition of the Danone International Prize for Alimentation and the jury that will gather and select the new laureate for this edition.

[March 1st, 2023]  – Download the press release

3rd edition of DIPA – the Jury

The members of the jury of the 3rd edition of DIPA are :

• Chair: Prof Michael Prelip, DPA, MPH, Professor of Community Health Sciences at the University of Los Angeles, California, USA
• Prof Suzanne Higgs, PhD, Professor in the Psychobiology of Appetite at the University of Birmingham, UK
• Prof Naima Amrani, PhD, MD, Past President and Chair of Nominations at World Gastroenterology Organisation (WGO), Emeritus Professor of Medicine at the Mohammed V University, Rabat, Morocco
• Christiani Jeyakumar Henry, PhD, Professor at National University of Singapore, Director of Clinical Nutritional Sciences, Singapore Institute of Clinical Sciences, A*STAR
• Jean Pierre Poulain, PhD, Professor of Sociology at the University of Toulouse, France
• Emma Haycraft, PhD, Professor of Psychology and Public Health at the University of Loughborough, UK

They are analysing the 8 final applications and will gather in April 2023 to announce the laureate of the 3rd edition of the Danone International Prize for Alimentation.

3rd edition of DIPA – the final applications

The finalists for the 3rd Edition of the DIPA are (by alphabetical order):

• Prof. Stephanie ANZMAN-FRASCA (Buffalo University, USA)
• Prof Vicky DRAPEAU (Laval University, Canada)
• Prof. Heather EICHER-MILLER (Purdue University, USA)
• Prof. Montserrat FITO-COLOMER (Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute, Spain)
• Prof. Misty HAWKINS (Indiana University, USA)
• Prof Julie LUMENG (Michigan University, USA)
• Prof. Afework MULUGETA (School of Public Health, Mekelle University, Ethiopia)
• Prof. Kitti SRANACHAROENPONG (Institute of Nutrition, Mahidol University, Thailand)

Learn more about their research project on our dedicated page.

The Danone International Prize for Alimentation (DIPA)

Since the first edition in 2017, the Danone International Prize for Alimentation (“DIPA”) has evolved from the former Danone International Prize for Nutrition (“DIPN”) created in 1996.  The name change is in recognition of the need for innovative and collaborative approaches that consider the diverse influences on people’s food choices and eating habits – including economic, social, psychological and cultural factors – collectively known as “Alimentation”.

The DIPA is open to mid-career emerging leaders in the field, and rewards pioneering research that spans multiple disciplines and represents a major advance in Alimentation.

The DIPA is sponsored by Danone Institute International Association and the French Medical Research Foundation, the Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale.

DIPA Purpose

The purpose of the DIPA is to encourage and support cutting edge, innovative and multidisciplinary scientific research in Alimentation.

“Alimentation” is the umbrella term for sustainable eating and drinking practices that contribute to the health of individuals, including food choice, purchase, preparation, cooking and meal organization, and their determinants. The DIPA is intended to raise the profile of a mid-career researcher and accelerate his or her career, as well as help develop knowledge on the topic and inspire junior researchers.

The DIPA will recognize the work of a single researcher, or a representative of a research team who is leading and pioneering a collaborative approach in Alimentation.

The DIPA is open to mid-career research scientists from a variety of scientific disciplines within Alimentation, including behavioral science, sociology, anthropology, psychology, environmental science, economics, and cultural studies.

To summarize, the DIPA aims to:

• advance understanding of Alimentation through cutting edge research;
• encourage and inspire pioneering advances that integrate lifestyle, cultural, socio-economic and environmental approaches into research on sustainable diets;
• boost collaboration between the different disciplines affecting nutrition, from psychology to economics; and
• support talented and highly motivated mid-career researchers whose work contributes to scientific excellence in the field of Alimentation.

Associated keywords: alimentation, healthy eating behaviors, public health, sustainable diets, societal, behavioral, socio-anthropological approaches to food and nutrition, innovative, collaborative and multidisciplinary, practices relating to food and their determinants.

Learn more about the Danone International Prize for Alimentation 3rd edition and download below the press release and the rules  :

Application process

The application process is a two-stage process. All applications have to be in English and the publications related to the research should be published in the public domain, in English.

All detailed informations are available in the DIPA Rules and Regulations.

The “first short application” includes:

• a cover page,
• a curriculum vitae (CV) of the scientific career (max. 4-pages in pdf format, describing the main achievements in education, appointments, membership of committees and associations, PhD tutoring, scientific management and a 10-year track record),
• an overview of the research work (max. 3-pages in pdf format, including a summary of work in progress, a brief description of future planned projects, a proposal of related key words for the submitted work and a paragraph describing the scientific rationale for the application)
• A one-page letter explaining how their current research and future research plans fit with the purpose of the DIPA, including a description of how the research represents a major advance in the topic and pointing out the multidisciplinary and collaborative aspects of the approach used and its potential impact
• A list of ten to fifteen publications documenting the applicant’s past research, including the most recent publications.

The Call for applications is now closed.  The DIPA Selection Committee gathered in December to decide the final list of preselected applications. After pre-selection by the Prize Committee, the short-listed applicants were invited to submit a full proposal (cf. rules) before January 30^th 2023.

The  finalists’ files will now be analyzed by a dedicated Jury to define the name of the Laureate of the  Danone International Prize for Alimentation.

2nd edition of DIPA Awardee: Dr Jess Haines

Dr Jess Haines, Associate Professor at the University of Guelph, Canada,  won the 2nd Edition of the DIPA in 2021 for her groundbreaking research into “Promoting sustainable healthy eating among families, through novel, interdisciplinary research and knowledge mobilization”.

Learn more about Dr Haines’ research work on her dedicated page.

Learn more also about the finalists of the 2nd edition of DIPA.

1st edition of DIPA Awardee: Dr Sophie Nicklaus

Dr Sophie Nicklaus was the winner of the 1st Edition of the DIPA, receiving this prestigious award  in recognition of her outstanding research into “ Nurturing health through pleasure of eating – the right choices from the start”

Learn more about Dr Nicklaus’ research work on on her dedicated page.

Why this Prize on “Alimentation”?

The Danone International Prize for Alimentation (DIPA) replaces the long-standing Danone International Prize for Nutrition. The DII and the FRM created in 1997 the Danone International Prize for Nutrition (DIPN) in a joint bid to raise the profile of nutrition sciences. Some 20 years on, nutrition has become firmly established as a vital area of research interest that has a profound impact on human health.

The next step was to explore avenues of research to develop effective healthy eating strategies. The DII and the FRM believe the most promising routes are those that stretch beyond messages identifying healthy foods.

Strategies need to take on board the fact that food does far more than merely fulfil a biological need. It also forms the basis of our identity and social interaction.

Hence the launch of the DIPA is in recognition of the need for novel and collaborative approaches. Those approaches should consider the diverse influences on people’s food choices and eating habits: economic, social, psychological, environmental and cultural factors. Unravelling the relationships between these Alimentation factors and how they impact on individuals and planet health requires researchers to build bridges between nutrition science and other disciplines.

The Danone International Prize for Alimentation is organized by the Danone Institute International in collaboration with the Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale.