NNIA BOARD MEMBER PROFILE: GERDA GERICKE

I am a qualified dietitian by profession. I have served on the NNIA Board as board member since 2010, and from 2017 I am serving in the capacity of vice chair of the NNIA Board. I feel honoured to have served the NNIA over the past years.

In my opinion, the biggest challenge and role for the NNIA is still around getting sound nutrition messages and practices communicated to those who could benefit health wise the most from those messages. This can be achieved through scientific meetings with health care professionals, offering continuous professional development activities for health care professionals and funding of relevant research projects in nutrition.

I acted as head of the Division of Dietetics at the University of Pretoria (1994-2000) and as head of the Department of Human Nutrition at the same University (2000-2014; 2016 - 2019). I also served a five-year term on the then Professional Board for Dietetics. I retired from the University of Pretoria in that position at the end of December 2019.

Though I am now retired, I still have a passion to share knowledge and understanding of human nutrition with individuals and communities. I taught the science of nutrition to students in dietetics and medicine for very many years; always to realise how important nutrition is for optimal health on the one hand, and on the other hand for recovery during illness.