Sophia Zoungas is Professional Research Fellow at The George Institute and Head of Clinical Research and Diabetes Research Program within the School of Public Health, Monash University. She holds an National Heart Foundation CDA Fellowship and is a practising endocrinologist with clinical appointments at the RPAH Medical Centre, NSW and the Southern Health Care Network, Victoria. Sophia’s research focuses on the management of Type 2 diabetes and its complications. Sophia is the international coordinator of the ADVANCE-ON study, a global long-term post-trial follow up study of the ADVANCE cohort that seeks to examine the legacy effects of intensive glucose control and routine blood pressure lowering in people with type 2 diabetes.
Dr Kristy Law is a Research Fellow and Accredited Practicing Dietitian at The George Institute for Global Health, Sydney, Australia. Her research focuses on advancing Food Is Medicine (FIM) approaches to address diet-related chronic disease and food insecurity through rigorous clinical research and implementation science.
Kristy's PhD examined the feasibility, acceptability, and efficacy of Food Is Medicine interventions in Australia, with a particular focus on medically tailored meals. As part of her doctoral work, she co-led Australia's first Medically Tailored Meals randomised controlled trial for adults with type 2 diabetes (n=230), in partnership with Professor Jason Wu. This landmark trial generated critical evidence to inform the design, scalability, and future evaluation of Food Is Medicine interventions in the Australian healthcare context.
Dr Law has experience in developing and implementing nutrition and dietetic services with food‑insecure populations, including women and families in Perth, Australia; at‑risk youth in New Jersey, USA; and rural and remote communities in Western Australia. She has also contributed to public health nutrition initiatives supporting government policies focused on food environments and obesity prevention.
Kristy's background informs her focus on supporting localised implementation and uptake of FIM programs. Her research centres on building multisectoral collaborations to understand how FIM programs can be designed and implemented in ways that respond to community needs and health system contexts. Drawing on real‑world experience, she aims to translate research findings into practical strategies to improve population health and support equitable prevention and management of chronic disease.