Sarah Nájera Espinosa (Sarah) is a Research Fellow at the app of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. By academic training and educational background, Sarah has a Bachelor’s in environmental studies from Alma College and Master’s in food security from the University of Edinburgh.
Before coming to LSHTM, Sarah worked for the UN and the private sector. At the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Sarah worked for ~5 years. During this period, she worked across different divisions in various food-related topics including food composition, pesticides maximum residue limits, the role of pesticides and microplastics in the human gut microbiome, and the effects of climate change on nutrition and biodiversity.
Affiliations
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Teaching
Sarah started teaching at LSHTM in March 2023 as a part-time distance learning tutor for the MSc Global Health Policy at LSHTM. Sarah teaches in the MSc module 'Nutrition-Related Chronic Diseases', moderates some sessions for the distance learning MSc module in 'Environmental change and global health policy' and fascilites on a module for the MSc module ‘Epidemiology of Non-Communicable Diseases.’
Sarah developed the course materials and teaches a lecture on Novel Foods, focusing on their impact on nutrition and the environment. This lecture has recenlty being added as part of the MSc Global Nutrition course on Nutrition-Related Chronic Diseases. Sarah also serves as an MSc project supervisor for MSc Nutrition for Global Health, MSc Climate Change & Planetary Health and the MSc Global Health Policy (distance learning); and a tutor for the MSc Climate Change & Planetary Health.
Prior to joining LSHTM, Sarah worked for a short period as a lecturer at the Universidad Internacional del Ecuador (UIDE) in Quito, Ecuador, where she taught three undergraduate courses: Andean crop systems, Organic and hydroponic crop systems, and Technologies in plant propagation. In her role at UIDE, Sarah not only delivered these courses but also played a pivotal role in developing the course syllabus and overseeing all teaching and evaluation activities.
Research
Sarah's PhD research focused on the role of novel plant-based foods (plant-based foods that try to mimic and replace animal products) to transitioning towards more nutritious, affordable, and sustainable diets in the UK. I'm passionate about exploring the connections between climate change and food systems, especially understanding how we can drive behavior change toward more plant-forward diets.
Selected Publications
