Dr. Shakuntala Haraksingh Thilsted is a Researcher and Scientist, who is known for her critical insights, and landmark innovations in developing holistic, nutrition-sensitive approaches to aquaculture and food systems. Dr. Thilsted was the first to examine the nutritional composition of small native fish species commonly found and consumed in Bangladesh and Cambodia. Her research demonstrated that the high levels of multiple essential micronutrients and fatty acids in these affordable and locally available foods offered life-changing benefits for children’s cognitive development in their first 1000 days of life and the nutrition and health of their mothers. This scientific achievement enabled her to secure livelihoods for millions of vulnerable people in Asia and Africa. Early in her career in her country of birth, Trinidad & Tobago, Dr. Thilsted was the first woman to serve as an agricultural officer in the Ministry of Agriculture Lands and Fisheries on the island of Tobago. Currently, she is the global lead for Nutrition and Public Health at WorldFish, One CGIAR, an international, non-profit research and innovation organization reducing hunger, malnutrition and poverty across Africa, Asia, and the Pacific, headquartered in Penang Malaysia.