Professor Sumantra Ray

Executive Director & Chief Scientist @ NNEdPro Global Institute for Food, Nutrition & Health in Cambridge | Medical Doctor & Registered Nutritionist | University Professor in Global Nutrition & Population Health

Cambridge, England, United Kingdom

About

As a UK-licensed medical doctor and registered public health nutritionist, I have over 25 years of interdisciplinary experience at the intersection of clinical medicine, public health, and nutrition. My career has been driven by a commitment to improving global food and nutrition security, cardiovascular disease prevention, and health systems education. Over the years, I have secured over £28M in grant funding and published over 200 peer-reviewed outputs, co-authoring key textbooks, including the Oxford Handbook of Clinical & Healthcare Research and Elsevier's Essentials of Nutrition in Medicine. I serve as the Founding Chair and Executive Director of the NNEdPro Global Institute for Food, Nutrition and Health, an international think-tank established in Cambridge in 2008, focusing on education, research, and policy in nutrition. I co-lead various global initiatives, including the Mobile Teaching Kitchen (MTK), aimed at tackling malnutrition through hands-on education and developing international networks for nutrition research and education across six continents. In addition to my work with NNEdPro, I hold key academic roles, including Professor of Global Nutrition, Health, and Disease at Ulster University and Visiting Professor at Kings College London (formerly Visiting Professor at Imperial for a decade). I also serve as the founder and co-chair of BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health and have collaborated with institutions such as the World Health Organization on nutrition education programmes. Driven by a passion for evidence-based practice, my work spans from leading human intervention studies to influencing public health policy, always seeking to bridge the gap between research and real-world impact.

Experience

  • Founding Chair | Chief Scientist | Executive Director at NNEdPro Global Institute for Food Nutrition and Health
    Aug 2008 - Present · 18 yrs

    Clinical & Public Health Nutrition

  • Ulster University (Coleraine, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom)
    • Professor of Global Nutrition (Health & Disease) - NICHE
      Jan 2019 - Present · 7 yrs 7 mos

    • Academic Lead for International & Sustainable Development - School of Biomedical Sciences
      Nov 2025 - Present · 9 mos

    • Visiting Professor
      Dec 2016 - Dec 2018 · 2 yrs 1 mo

      Honorary Visiting Professor appointed to the Strategic Advisory Board for Food and Health at Ulster

  • Co-Founder and Co-Chair of BMJ Nutrition, Prevention and Health at BMJ
    Jul 2018 - Present · 8 yrs 1 mo

    Clinical & Public Health Nutrition

  • Honorary Visiting Professor at King's College London
    Jan 2025 - Present · 1 yr 7 mos

    Population Health Sciences

  • Honorary Fellow [Research] at The Rowett Institute
    Nov 2025 - Present · 9 mos