Maria van der Merwe

Registered as dietitian and nutritionist in South Africa, Maria completed a B.Dietetics degree (UP) in 1996 and M.Nutrition (cum laude) in 2012 (SU). She started her career as dietitian in a rural public hospital in 1997 and gained progressive work experience in the private and public health sectors up to the level of provincial nutrition program manager. At the end of 2018, following more than two decades in public service, she pursued an independent career as public health and nutrition consultant with a special interest in health policy and systems research. She also provides technical inputs on public health, food and nutrition programs to government structures and other organisations and is a co-investigator in a multi-national research project aimed at addressing exclusion from access to health systems through a participatory approach. Maria is an Honorary Researcher at the Aberdeen Centre for Health Data Science, University of Aberdeen, Scotland, United Kingdom; and Honorary Senior Researcher at the MRC / Wits Rural Public Health and Health Transitions Research Unit (Agincourt), School of Public Health, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.