Dr. Andrade's long term goal is to develop sustainable strategies that can be used to deliver adequate nutrition, especially micronutrients, to residents of developing countries and thereby help to promote human health and economic development. His research interests are focused on food fortification, point-of-care technologies for assessment of micronutrient deficiencies, quality of food aid products, and service, experiential learning education programs. Dr. Andrade's current research efforts have focused on the problem of micronutrient malnutrition, assessment of prevalent deficiencies and delivery of fortified foods. Current evidence supports the use of low-cost, simple technologies as a sustainable approach to improve health in rural areas. In one research area, his team is applying photonic crystal technology to build low-cost, diagnostic devices for the assessment of micronutrient deficiencies in populations living in low-income areas. Technologies are robust enough to test for iron deficiency anemia by health care assistants with little training. Furthermore, he is researching stealth nutrition as a strategy to provide micronutrients to at risk populations living in rural areas. Technologies are low-cost, use local foods and rely on the participation of school teachers and parents. Some products under investigation are rice, tortillas and milk as carrier foods. Furthermore, Dr. Andrade is using these international projects as an innovative educational platform to train college students in food science and human nutrition.
