Institute of Nutrition of Central American and Panama (INCAP)

Fellowship Site Directors:
Reynaldo Martorell, PhD, MPH, Emory University
Aryeh Stein, MPH, PhD, Emory University 
Manuel Ramirez, MD PhD, INCAP Guatemala  

Site Contact: 
Mark Hutcheson

Site Specialties:

• Nutrition
• Maternal and Child Health
• Non-communicable Diseases

Site Description

Founded in 1949, the Institute of Nutrition of Central America and Panama’s (INCAP) mission is to support efforts of its Member States to achieve and maintain Food and Nutrition Security (FNS) of their populations. INCAP is based in Guatemala City, and Member States include Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, and the Dominican Republic. FNS is currently defined in Central America as a key strategy for sustainable development and reduction of malnutrition and poverty in the Central American region. INCAP works to maintain FNS through research, information and communication, technical assistance, training and mobilization of human resources, and mobilization of financial and non-financial resources. INCAP has established an internationally recognized track record in research, capacity building, and advocacy in several nutrition and health areas, and, in the past 20 years, particularly in epidemiology and prevention of nutrition-related non-communicable diseases. INCAP has a number of funded, multi-year projects, including a study to evaluate the impacts of improved early-life nutrition on cardiometabolic disease risk.