THILSTED Shakuntala Haraksingh

CGIAR, Malaysia

• Shakuntala Haraksingh Thilsted is a specialist in nutrition-sensitive approaches to aquatic food systems. She is the Global Lead for Nutrition and Public Health at WorldFish, which is a global CGIAR research centre in Malaysia.
• Thilsted previously worked in Bangladesh and Cambodia where she examined the nutritional composition of small native fish species. She later worked as an agricultural officer in Tobago, where she was the first and only woman in the ministry of agriculture.
• Thilsted is also involved with the Global Action Network in mobilizing activities for the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030) and UN Decade of Action on Nutrition (2016-2025).
• She holds a PhD in Physiology of Nutrition from the Danish Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University.
• In 2021, Thilsted was the recipient of the World Food Prize.

Recent publications: 

1. Rockström J, Thilsted SH, Willett WC, et al. The EAT-Lancet Commission on healthy, sustainable, and just food systems. Lancet. 2025 Oct 11;406(10512):1625-1700.
2. Saha M, Ng H, Odjidja EN, Saha M, Olivier P, McCaffrey TA, Thilsted SH. Small Fish Big Impact: Improving Nutrition during Pregnancy and Lactation, and Empowerment for Marginalized Women. Nutrients. 2024 Jun 11;16(12):1829.
3. Ignowski L, Belton B, Ali H, Thilsted SH. Integrated aquatic and terrestrial food production enhances micronutrient and economic productivity for nutrition-sensitive food systems. Nat Food. 2023 Oct;4(10):866-873.
4. Fleming LE, et al. Enhancing Human Health and Wellbeing through Sustainably and Equitably Unlocking a Healthy Ocean’s Potential. Ann Glob Health. 2024 Jul 9;90(1):41.
5. Akter MS, et al. Diet quality and associations with motivation and ability to consume a healthy diet among adolescents from urban low-income households in Bangladesh. Appetite. 2024 Sep 1;200:107563.