The Centre for Dietetics Studies, Faculty of Health Sciences, UiTM Puncak Alam Campus has successfully organized the 1st International Conference on Food, Nutrition, and Health, ICFNH 2023 virtually from September 19th to 20th, 2023, with the theme “Curating Health through Nutrition: A Shared Responsibility”. The conference was contingent upon the support and collaboration of co-organizers from Universiti Muhammadiyah Surakarta (UMS), IPB Bogor University Indonesia and Universitas ‘Aisyiah Yogyakarta (UNISA), Indonesia. ICFNH2023 successfully brought together a diverse group of committed participants from different regions—Malaysia, Indonesia, China and Bangladesh—including researchers, academics, healthcare professionals, students, and industry representatives. There were 256 attendees at this conference.
Dr Mohd Ramadan Ab Hamid, the conference chair, remarked that the conference serves as a knowledge-sharing platform that enables participants to share their latest research, knowledge, ideas, recommendations, and goals while providing a variety of interactive platforms in the fields of food, nutrition, and health. In addition, this conference provides numerous networking and publication opportunities for the participants.
The two-day conference included three keynote lectures and 15 plenary lectures delivered by prominent speakers, both local and international. The keynote lectures were delivered by Dr. Hanisah Rosli from Cyberjaya University, Dr Michael Netzel from the University of Queensland, and Dr. Abeer M. Aljaadi from Umm Al-Qura University. Plenary lectures were delivered by lecturers from UiTM, UMS, UNISA and IPB and covered a wide range of topics, including clinical nutrition, community and public health, food science, nutrigenomics, innovation in food and nutrition, entrepreneurship, and leadership. A total of 18 lectures were presented, which sets ICFNH apart from other conferences in this field. In addition, this conference also collaborates with the Jurnal Gizi dan Pangan (JGP), which serves as a platform for publications. The event was honoured with a prize-giving ceremony where prizes were awarded for the most outstanding oral and poster presentations. This sort of recognition has the potential to enhance personal development among attendees and foster a sense of accomplishment.
The conference was a remarkable success and has elevated the Centre for Dietetics Studies within the Faculty of Health Sciences and UiTM to a higher level. Congratulations!