University of Arizona Professor Douglas L. Taren, Ph.D., will be part of the external resource group for the World Health Organization Monitoring and Evaluation subgroup of the Nutrition Guidance Expert Advisory Group. Taren will serve as a resource on the clinical assessment of vitamin A.

Taren is the associate dean for Academic Affairs at the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health. Over the past 20 years his research and academic endeavors have focused on women’s health and the prevention of preterm infants, the development of educational programs, the improvement of dietary assessment methods, and child nutrition. His international work on nutrition has centered on vitamin A.

Taren will travel to Panama this month to attend the first meeting of the Monitoring and Evaluation subgroup to develop guidelines for the assessment of vitamin A and iron status in populations. While there, Taren will present his research on the “Historical and Practical Uses for Assessing Night Blindness as an Indicator for Vitamin A Status.”

The official meeting of the WHO Nutrition Guidance Expert Advisory Group, Monitoring and Evaluation subgroup is Sept. 15-17, 2010 in Panama City.