Harriet’ s research interests are mainly in the area of maternal and child nutrition with specific interests in micronutrient interventions to improve nutrition in low income settings; infant and young child feeding practices and their impact on child growth and risk of overweight. She is also interested in examining how the environment interacts with human activities to impact nutrition and health. Currently, at Cornell, Harriet is working to assess the relationships between environmental change and livelihood, patterns of fish consumption and related nutrition outcomes among fishing communities in Kenya and Cambodia.
EDUCATION
2018 PhD. (Nutritional Biology, Designated Emphasis in International and Community Nutrition), University of California, Davis, CA
2009 MSc. (Human Nutrition), McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
2004 BSc. (Nutrition & Food Science), University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana
PUBLICATIONS
Okronipa H, Arimond M, Young RR, Arnold CD, Adu-Afarwuah S, Tamakloe SM, Bentil HJ, Ocansey ME, Kumordzie SM, Oaks BM, Dewey KG. Exposure to a slightly sweet lipid-based nutrient supplement during early life does not increase the preference for or consumption of sweet foods and beverages by 4 to 6 y old Ghanaian preschool children: a follow-up of a randomized controlled trial. J Nutr. 2019 March; 149(3):532-541. https://doi.org/10.1093/jn/nxy293
Okronipa H, Arimond M, Young RR, Arnold CD, Adu-Afarwuah S, Tamakloe SM, Bentil HJ, Ocansey ME, Kumordzie SM, Oaks BM, Dewey KG. Exposure to a slightly sweet lipid-based nutrient supplement during early life does not increase the level of sweet taste most preferred among 4 to 6-year-old Ghanaian children: follow-up of a randomized controlled trial. Am J Clin Nutr. 2019 April; 109(4):1224-1232. https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/nqy352
Okronipa HE, Marquis GS, Lartey A, Brakohiapa L, Perez-Escamilla R, Mazur RE. Postnatal Depression Symptoms are Associated with Increased Diarrhea among infants of HIV positive Ghanaian Mothers. AIDS Behav. 2012 Nov; 16(8): 2216-25
Okronipa H, Adu-Afarwuah S, Lartey A, Ashorn P, Vosti SA, Young RR, Dewey, KG. Maternal supplementation with small quantity Lipid-based Nutrient Supplements during pregnancy and lactation does not reduce depressive symptoms at 6 months post-partum in Ghanaian women: A randomized controlled trial. Arch Womens Ment Health (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-017-0752-7
Kumordzie SM, Okronipa H, Arimond M, Adu-Afarwuah S, Ocansey ME, Young RR, Bentil HJ, Tamakloe SM, Oaks BM, Dewey KG. Maternal and child factors associated with child body fatness in a Ghanaian cohort. Public Health Nutr. 2019 Jul 25;1-10.
Adams, Katherine P., Harriet Okronipa, Seth Adu-Afarwuah, Mary Arimond, Sika Kumordzie, Brietta M. Oaks, Maku E. Ocansey, Rebecca R. Young, Stephen A. Vosti, and Kathryn G. Dewey. 2018. “Ghanaian Parents’ Perceptions of Pre- and Post-Natal Nutrient Supplements and their Effects.”. Matern Child Nutr. 2018 Apr 15:e12608. doi: 10.1111/mcn.12608.
Adu-Afarwuah S, Lartey A, Okronipa H, et al. Small-quantity, lipid-based nutrient supplements provided to women during pregnancy and 6 mo postpartum and to their infants from 6 mo of age increase the mean attained length of 18-mo-old children in semi-urban Ghana: a randomized controlled trial. Am J Clin Nutr. 2016;104(3):797-808
Ocansey ME, Adu-Afarwuah S, Kumordzie SM, Okronipa H, Young RR, Tamakloe SM, Oaks BM, Dewey KG, Prado EL. Prenatal and postnatal lipid-based nutrient supplementation and cognitive, social-emotional and motor function in preschool-aged children in Ghana: A follow-up of a randomized controlled trial. Am J Clin Nutr. 2019 February; 109(2):322-334. https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/nqy303
Ocansey ME, Adu-Afarwuah S, Kumordzie SM, Okronipa H, Young RR, Tamakloe SM, Oaks BM, Arimond M, Dewey KG, Prado EL. The Association of Early Linear Growth and Hemoglobin Concentration with Later Cognitive, Motor and Social-emotional Development at Preschool Age in Ghana. Matern Child Nutr. 2019 May 1:e12834. doi: 10.1111/mcn.12834. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 31042813
Kumordzie SM, Adu-Afarwuah S, Arimond M, Young RR, Adom T, Boatin R, Ocansey ME, Okronipa H, Prado EL, Oaks BM, Dewey KG. Maternal and Infant Lipid-Based Nutritional Supplementation Increases Height of Ghanaian Children at 4-6 Years Only if the Mother Was Not Overweight Before Conception. J Nutr. 2019 May 1;149(5):847-855.
AWARDS AND RECOGNITION
2007 – 2009 RIING Project Fellowship for MSc degree (McGill University)
2014 – 2016 Fogarty International Training Grant for Doctoral Training (University of California, Davis)
2016 Kevin Knox Fellowship Award, (University of California, Davis)
2016 – 2018 Travel Awards: (University of California, Davis; Sight & Life)
2018 Marie Weldon Taubeneck Research Award for best paper in the field of pregnancy or early childhood nutrition (University of California, Davis)
2018 Clinical Emerging Leader Awardee Finalist, American Society for Nutrition
CV
Fiorella Research Group 