Venue: Rixos Tersane İstanbul, Türkiye & Online (Hybrid format)

Global Experts Convene in Istanbul to Address Childhood Nutrition Across Health, Education, and Policy at the S İstanbul Science Summit 2026

The Sabri Ülker Food Research Institute Foundation, in partnership with The Nutrition Society, has announced the first edition of the Sabri Ülker The Sabri Ülker Food Research Institute Foundation İstanbul Science Summit 2026, taking place on 19–20 October 2026 at the Rixos Tersane İstanbul, Türkiye. Bringing together leading international nutrition scientists, pediatricians, public health officials, educators, and policymakers, the hybrid event will focus on the theme “Childhood Nutrition: Education, Health and Security: A Global Perspective”.

Registration for the summit is free for both in-person delegates and virtual participants globally.

The scientific programme will focus on three themes: Developmental Origins, Nutrition Education, and Public Health Approaches, including plenary lectures, thematic sessions, panel discussions, workshops, selected oral presentations, and digital ePoster displays. The Summit aims to establish itself as an internationally recognised scientific platform, bringing together leading researchers, healthcare professionals, educators and policymakers to translate scientific evidence into practical solutions for childhood nutrition and public health.

Expanding the Lifespan Approach: From the First 1,000 Days to the Next 7,000 Days

While health and nutrition during the first 1,000 days of life remain fundamental for early development, plenary speaker Professor Donald Bundy (London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine) will present evidence advocating for sustained nutrition investments across the “next 7,000 days” spanning middle childhood and adolescence. Globally, approximately 500 million children receive school meals through initiatives supported by the 113-country School Meals Coalition, demonstrating how school feeding programs serve as vital platforms for building human capital, cultivating long-term healthy habits, and fostering sustainable food systems.

Complementing this lifespan perspective within the Developmental Origins theme:
• Professor Amy Brown (Swansea University, UK) will outline the physiological, psychological, and multi-billion-dollar economic benefits of supporting breastfeeding families.
• Dr. Julia L. Finkelstein (Cornell University, US) will evaluate population-based survey and clinical trial data on periconceptional micronutrients, including vitamin B12, in maternal and child outcomes.
• Professor Elif N. Özmert (Hacettepe University, Türkiye) will address how early environmental exposures and epigenetic mechanisms shape lifelong health through developmental programming.

Transforming School Food Environments and Strengthening Food Literacy

Under the Nutrition Education theme, sessions will focus on actionable strategies to improve dietary quality and literacy among children, families, and clinicians:
• Frances Meek (British Nutrition Foundation, UK) will showcase the UK’s Food – a fact of life education program and its adaptation in Türkiye as the Balanced Nutrition Education Programme, which has reached over 2.5 million students, teachers, and parents since 2011.
• Professor Kentaro Murakami (University of Tokyo, Japan) will share insights on Japan’s universal school lunch system as an effective social equalizer for child nutrient intake across socioeconomic groups.
• Professor F. Nur Baran Aksakal (Gazi University, Türkiye) will highlight the necessity of mandatory, evidence-based nutrition education for pediatricians and primary healthcare providers.

Systemic Public Health Policy, Food Insecurity, and Crisis Response

Sessions dedicated to Public Health Approaches will examine broader environmental, political, and humanitarian drivers of child health:
• Greg Fell OBE (President of the Association of Directors of Public Health, UK) will address commercial determinants of health, arguing for structural policy levers—such as advertising restrictions, taxation, and food-system leadership—over individual lifestyle narratives to combat childhood obesity.
• Professor Sigrun Henjum (Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway) will present global evidence on nutrition-sensitive interventions, including “Cash-Plus” initiatives and school meals, to protect the 181 million young children worldwide living in severe food poverty.
• Dr. Kavita Sethuraman (Institute for Global Health at University College London, UK) will discuss strategies for maintaining holistic, continuum-of-care nutrition interventions in complex, multi-year humanitarian crises.
• Professor Bernard Corfe (Newcastle University, UK) will conduct interactive workshops guiding early-career researchers through scientific publishing ethics, peer review, and manuscript preparation.