2.2. Workshop

The Precision Nutrition for LMIC Virtual Workshop focused on the insights shared by LMIC nutrition experts who participated in the opinion survey and served as an opportunity to translate these needs into actionable steps. It also provided a platform for discussion with a wider network of opinion leaders in nutrition and technology on the use of precision nutrition approaches to help mitigate nutrition challenges in low-resource settings.

The SFNV Precision Nutrition for LMIC project working group invited thirty-seven opinion leaders by email to the Precision Nutrition for LMIC Virtual Workshop based on suggestions by the experts of the opinion survey and the working group network. Selected opinion leaders worked in nutrition, public health, pediatrics, infectious disease, medicine, epidemiology, business, and technology, and lived or worked in LMIC or were colleagues of the working group and part of the Swiss ecosystem. Twenty-one opinion leaders and ten working group members attended the workshop. Prior to the workshop, all participants completed a short questionnaire to detail their interests and expertise related to precision nutrition and were assigned to brainstorming groups accordingly.

The workshop was organized into three parts: introductory session, brainstorming session, and closing session (Figure S1). The introductory session consisted of the background information on the SFNV Precision Nutrition for LMIC project, expert opinion survey learnings, and short presentations by LMIC nutrition experts on the nutritional challenges and precision nutrition opportunities to mitigate the challenges. All attendees were offered the opportunity to present their ideas.

Next, the brainstorming session facilitated small group reflections, which were moderated by a subject matter expert chosen by the working group based on his or her expertise in the topic and interest in leading the discussion. The topics discussed in each group were based on the precision nutrition approaches that were mentioned during the expert opinion survey and participant interest, as determined through the workshop questionnaire. The brainstorming discussion topics included:

The discussion questions (Table S2) for the brainstorming session aligned with the brainstorming discussion topics above and were developed according to the guiding principles stated previously in methods Section 2.1.2.

Finally, the closing session consisted of each room’s discussion summary and feedback led by the moderators. The working group closed the workshop by providing input on the next steps toward action and impact.

The workshop data was analyzed via Descript and Microsoft Word as described in methods Section 2.1.4. The workshop recording and a post-workshop report were emailed to the attendees.