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JoAnne Arcand
PhD, RD

Associate Professor and Ontario Tech Research Excellence Chair in Food, Nutrition & Health

Faculty of Health Sciences

As an applied public health researcher, Dr. Arcand’s research program seeks to advance population health by improving the translation of nutrition science into policy and practice. It centres on the development, implementation, and evaluation of scalable interventions, including digital and behavioral strategies, to promote healthy eating and mitigate the burden of chronic disease. Using behavioural and implementation science theory and frameworks, alongside mixed research methodologies (quantitative and qualitative approaches), her work generates applied evidence that strengthens nutrition policies and interventions in the real-world. Dr. Arcand has extensive research leadership in dietary sodium reduction in Canada and internationally, with a research focus on food reformulation, food procurement and consumer behaviours. However, her program addresses a broad spectrum of public health nutrition challenges across the lifespan, including food industry use of industrial trans fats, food literacy levels of Canadians, and the growing influence of nutrition mis-/dis-information. She also applies interdisciplinary and translational perspectives to investigate how the public, practitioners and policymakers engage with and implement nutrition guidance considering diverse public health, educational and clinical settings. Her research has a strong focus on populations at risk for or living with hypertension and cardiovascular disease, with a focus on enhancing patient self-management and the overall implementation and effectiveness of clinical nutrition interventions. Meanwhile, her research on strengthening nutrition education in elementary schools reflects the understanding that early food literacy interventions are a key strategy for promoting lifelong healthy eating and reducing long term chronic disease risk. Some of the digital interventions Dr. Arcand’s team has co-designed and evaluated include the Sodium Calculator, Sodium 101, Sodium Navigator-HF, and Foodbot Factory. Dr. Arcand is Director of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Preventative Nutrition & Technology. She holds an Ontario Tech Research Excellence Chair in Food, Nutrition & Health, is appointed as a Scientist at the World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centre for Nutrition Policy for Chronic Disease Prevention, and holds a status appointment in the Department of Nutritional Sciences, Temetry Faculty of Medicine, at the University of Toronto. As of 2025, Dr. Arcand has over 100 peer review publications and has acquired over $2.7 million in research funding as Principial Investigator. Her scholarship has been recognized by numerous research distinctions such as a Notable Achievement Award from the World Hypertension Leage, Jacques de Champlain New Investigator Award from Hypertension Canada, a Canadian Institutes of Health Research/Canadian Nutrition Society New Investigator Prize, and a National New Investigator Award from the Heart & Stroke Foundation.

Contact information

Shawenjigewining Hall - Room 445
North Oshawa
2000 Simcoe Street North
Oshawa, ON L1G 0C5

905.721.8668 ext. 3796

joanne.arcand@ontariotechu.ca

Research topics

  • public health nutrition
  • clinical nutrition
  • dietetics
  • food policy (food supply, public knowledge attitudes behaviours)
  • chronic disease prevention and management
  • cardiovascular disease (hypertension, heart failure)
  • program and policy evaluation
  • patient oriented research
  • implementation science
  • dietary sodium
  • dietary assessment
  • knowledge translation

Research and expertise

  • Background and interests

    Dr. Arcand has expertise in clinical and population health aspects of cardiovascular disease prevention and management. She was recently awarded a National New Investigator Award from the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, and was the recipient of the 2017 CIHR-INMD-Canadian Nutrition Society New Investigator Prize. Her research program is funded by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research, the Heart and Stroke Foundation and the International Development Research Centre. Her current research program:

    • Examines the implementation of nutrition recommendations in primary care.
    • Evaluates novel tools for the dietary management and prevention of hypertension and heart failure.
    • Designs and develops mobile nutrition education apps for school age children in Ontario.
    • Evaluates policies to reduce population sodium intakes both nationally and in Latin America.

    She is also actively involved in the international Science of Salt research group, affiliated with the World Hypertension League and World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Salt Reduction, and chairs a subcommittee that conducts regular systematic reviews of studies published on dietary sodium and health outcomes. Dr. Arcand is also involved in numerous knowledge translation activities, including the development of novel tools to translate scientific information to the public, patients and clinicians. She volunteers her time to several committees with the Hypertension Canada, Canadian Nutrition Society and Dietitians of Canada. Dr. Arcand’s work has been published in high profile journals and presented to a variety of stakeholder groups including clinicians, academics, food industry and government. She was awarded a Notable Achievement Award from the World Hypertension League for her significant contributions in dietary sodium reduction.

    Dr. Arcand developed the Sodium Calculator, an innovative dietary assessment tool to assist the public and clinicians in rapidly determining the amount and sources of sodium in the diet.

    To keep clinicians, researchers and policymakers informed about the latest salt/sodium research, the Science of Salt research group frequently publishes systematic reviews of new research. Identified articles are also summarized weekly as part of a weekly Science of Salt newsletter.

  • Education
    • PhD Nutritional Sciences, University of Toronto, 2011
    • MSc Nutritional Sciences, University of Toronto, 2006
    • BSc Human Ecology (Food and Nutrition), University of Western Ontario, 2001
  • Courses taught

    Courses taught (past and present) at the undergraduate level:

    • Nutrition and Health
    • Nutrition for Nursing Practice
    • International and Community Nutrition (University of Toronto)
  • Publications

    For a comprehensive list of publications, please visit PubMed.

     

  • Grants

    Dr. Arcand has been awarded research funding from numerous organizations such as the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR), Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), the Heart & Stroke Foundation, the International Development Research Centres, Ontario Centres for Innovation, the Government of Ontario, and Manulife.