Dr. Patrick Webb is USAID's Chief Nutritionist. Dr. Webb is one of the world’s most influential voices working at the intersection of food policy, climate change, and nutrition, as well as on emergency humanitarian assistance. Dr. Webb most recently held the prestigious endowed McFarlane Chair in the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University. His research has involved humanitarian policy and practice, development policy, micronutrient deficiencies, food system transformation, aflatoxins and food safety, and nutrition in all its forms. He has extensive experience working in developing countries, and spent nine years in Ethiopia, Niger, and The Gambia.
Throughout his career, Dr. Webb has provided thought leadership globally on scientific policy and strategy issues. He led the USAID review of food aid quality from 2009 to 2021 and has been the Director for Feed the Future’s Nutrition Innovation Lab, and the subsequent Feed the Future Food Systems for Nutrition Innovation Lab. From 2003 to 2005, he was Chief of Nutrition for the United Nations' World Food Program (WFP), responsible for strategic oversight of, and technical input to, WFP's many activities focused on tackling malnutrition. He was a member of the Maternal and Child Nutrition Study Group that oversaw the 2013 Lancet Series on nutrition, considered the authoritative analysis for promoting nutrition. His position on the steering committee of the High-Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition (HLPE) of the World Committee on Food Security (CFS) was recently renewed for a second term. He is one of 24 commissioners for EAT-Lancet 2.0, and is involved in the Food Systems Countdown to 2030 Initiative. He was previously a member of the Independent Science and Partnership Council (ISPC) of the Consultative Group on International Agriculture Research (CGIAR), and played a role in the World Economic Forum’s Global Futures Council on Food and Agriculture.
Dr. Webb has authored over 200 peer-reviewed journal articles, as well as multiple books and book chapters. He was made a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society in 1981 and is currently a Scientist Member of the American Society for Nutrition.