Amos Laar
MPH, MA, PhD
Dr. Laar has academic training in Nutrition, Public Health, and Bioethics. In his independent scholarship, he draws on theoretical, conceptual, and methodological perspectives from the social sciences, bioethics, and public health to understand how physical environment, social environment, as well as structural forces affect health. Currently, his research focuses on two distinct, yet related areas of public health – bioethics (ethics & public health; health & human rights, food ethics, & nutrition rights); public health nutrition (food literacy, nutrition-related non-communicable diseases, and the nexus between food environment and health).
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Research & Scholarly Works
Dr. Laar wites for both academic and non-academic audiences. His scholarly works include 70 scientific publications (one book, five book chapters, 64 peer-reviewed journal articles; 50 of which are indexed in PubMed or Scopus). His work for non-academic audiences include 17 OpEds, feature articles, and commentaries in print electronic media.
Teaching & Mentoring
Mentoring is core to Dr. Laar's work. He has nearly a decade of teaching and mentoring experience at the University level. He has experience developing programs, courses, teaching and mentored students. He has supervised over 70 graduate and undergraduate students from the University of Ghana and others from Africa, North America, and Europe.
Consultanships
Dr. Laar has expertise in several areas including Research Methods, Evaluations, and Policy Analysis; in Bioethics, Public Health, Public Health Nutrition, Food Systems and Food Environment. He has served as lead Consultant to various United Nations agencies NGOs/International Organisations and national governments.
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Grants & Research Projects
Dr. Laar has been a PI/Co-I of over 20 successful research grants at the University of Ghana. He is the PI of an IDRC-funded project, the MEALS4NCDs Project, which aims at providing Measurement Evaluation, Accountability and Leadership Support (MEALS) for NCDs prevention in Ghana and beyond; and Co-PI and Ghana Lead of an NIH-funded project which will establish a master programme in Bioethics at the University of Ghana. Read more »
Recognitions, Media & Presentations
On countless number of times, Dr. Laar has served as Invited Speaker, Keynote Speaker, National Expert, etc. He was an invited participant of the 66th Session of the UN-General Assembly Meeting in New York, 2011. He was recently recognized in the Lancet, for his efforts at combating NR-NCDs in Ghana: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/landia/article/PIIS2213-8587(19)30216-5/fulltext. Read more »
Other Initiatives
Aside his demonstrated acvitity in research and scholarly work, Dr. Laar has also been very active in other initiatives. He is a mentoring enthusiast. He founded the House of Mentoring & Research Resources (HM2R), a not for profit global research and capacity building think tank. He is a founding Trustee of the Africa Mentoring Association Read more »
"Knowledge, unlike a loaf of bread, does not diminish when shared" ~ Amos Laar
Blog
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Predatory marketing of unhealthy foods to children is unethical, should be made illegal in Ghana
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Why should the Ghanaian youth be interested in the implementation of the sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) tax?
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Ghana needs to prioritize food environments and make them healthier
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Accra-based retailers call the food they sell “Junk”. A recent academic report
video/other info here