Dr Elisa Pineda is an expert in food systems, public health nutrition, and spatial epidemiology. She currently holds an Imperial College Research Fellowship at the George Institute for Global Health, where she leads interdisciplinary research at the intersection of nutrition, health policy, and climate change. Her work focuses on transforming food environments to promote healthy and sustainable diets, reduce diet-related non-communicable diseases (NCDs), and mitigate environmental impact.
She is Principal Investigator of the SASS (Salt Substitutes to Address Sodium-Related Disease in the UK) project, which investigates the potential of potassium-enriched salt to prevent hypertension and cardiovascular disease. She also leads research on food environment interventions and their effects on dietary behaviour and planetary health.
Dr Pineda is Chair of the Food Environment Group at Imperial College London and an affiliated research fellow at the Centre for Health Economics and Policy Innovation (CHEPI). She also holds an honorary fellowship at the School of Public Health, where she contributes to academic collaborations on sustainable diets and nutrition policy.
She has a PhD in Epidemiology and Public Health Nutrition from University College London (UCL), an MSc in Nutritional Science from the Food and Development Research Centre (CIAD) in Mexico, and a BSc in Chemical-Biology with a specialisation in Food Technology from the University of Sonora, Mexico.
Dr Pineda has held international roles in both research and policy. She served as a consultant to the World Health Organization, contributing to the Global Database on the Implementation of Nutrition Action (GINA) and providing technical support for global nutrition policy analysis. She has also contributed to obesity forecasting in Europe with the UK Health Forum, and led research on food environments and obesity in low- and middle-income countries, as well as on dietary patterns and breast cancer risk.
She has taught extensively at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. At Imperial College London, she has delivered courses in the School of Public Health and the Imperial College Business School, and previously taught public health nutrition, community nutrition, and sustainable food systems in Mexico and the UK, including at University College London and the Global Centre for Healthy Food Environments (Sprink).
Dr Pineda is an active member of international networks, including the UK NCD Working Group and INFORMAS (the International Network for Food and Obesity/NCDs Research, Monitoring and Action Support), contributing to global advocacy and evidence-based policymaking to improve nutrition environments.
She is currently accepting PhD students interested in food systems, food environments, sustainable diets, and the prevention of non-communicable diseases.
Recent media features include an interview covering health taxes in the European Union and a conversation on BBC World Service's What in the World programme exploring why some sugary drinks are getting more expensive.
