One of Australia's leading universities will hold a special graduation ceremony in collaboration with the University of Khon Kaen, Thailand for master of community nutrition (MCN) graduates on Thursday, April 24 at 1pm.
University of Queensland Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Academic) Professor Malcolm Thomis will present 10 students from Bangladesh, Mozambique, Tanzania, Kenya, Laos and Australia with MCN degrees at the ceremony.
Other University representatives at the ceremony will be head of the Nutrition Program Dr Geoff Marks and senior lecturer Dr Phil Harvey.
The year-long MCN course is co-ordinated by the University of Queensland's Nutrition Program in collaboration with three universities: Mahidol University and Khon Kaen University in Thailand and Universiti Kebangsaan, Malaysia.
Candidates spend the first eight months in Brisbane on course work and completing a library research project. They are then sent in teams to each collaborating institution in south-east Asia to complete field research projects under supervision from staff of those universities.
Graduation ceremonies are held on a rotational basis between all four collaborating institutions. The next ceremony in Brisbane will coincide with the Olympic Games in 2000.
The MCN program was established in 1979 after an Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) request for help with training nutrition policy and program-makers.
The program serves the public health needs of countries in the African, Asian and Pacific regions, as well as training Australians who work in international health.
Candidates to graduate at the ceremony are Abu Zafar Amanatullah and Dr Md Mushfiqur Rahmann (Bangladesh); Armanda Gani and Carina Ismael (Mozambique); Monica Ngonyani (Tanzania); Helen Munyendo (Kenya); Sivilay Naphayvong (Laos); and Leisa McCarthy, Sophie Dunn and Jessie Kanhutu (Australia).
For further information, contact Lynn Houselander at the Nutrition Program, telephone 61 7 3365 5400.
