Jan Low (born 1955[1]) is an American food scientist. She is known for her work helping develop the biofortified orange-fleshed sweet potato at the CGIAR International Potato Center, for which she was a co-recipient of the 2016 World Food Prize[2] alongside Maria Andrade, Robert Mwanga, and Howarth Bouis.[3]
Early life and education
editLow was born in 1955 in Denver, Colorado.[1] She attended Pomona College and spent four years in Zaire with the Peace Corps before earning a doctorate in agricultural economics at Cornell University in 1994.[2][1]
Career
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After Cornell, Low began working at the Nairobi office of the CGIAR International Potato Center, a research center based in Lima, Peru.[1] She helped develop the biofortified orange-fleshed sweet potato, which contains more vitamin A than the dominant variant, and can therefore be used to help alleviate the vitamin A deficiency common among children in the region.[2]
Recognition
edit- 2016 World Food Prize (co-recipient)[3]
References
edit- ^ a b c d "2016: Andrade, Bouis, Low and Mwanga". World Food Prize. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
- ^ a b c Kitterman, Sam (2016-08-23). "Dr. Jan Low Fights Global Malnutrition With Sweet Potatoes". The Cornell Daily Sun. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
- ^ a b Kinver, Mark (2016-10-13). "Sweet potato Vitamin A research wins World Food Prize". BBC News. Retrieved 1 June 2021.