Maria Alejandra (“Alex”) Ruani is a Doctoral Researcher in diet-health misinformation at University College London (Institute of Education, Curriculum, Pedagogy & Assessment) and Chief Science Educator at The Health Sciences Academy since 2012, where she heads a team of accomplished science educators and PhDs on large education and publishing projects helping working and aspiring nutrition professionals succeed in their careers.
As a recognised leader in nutrition science education, Alex directs global educational programs in applied nutrition science, impacting over 100,000 health professionals across 170 countries. She has developed curricula for 20+ Professional Certifications and 70+ CPD-CEU continuing education courses, produced 47 educational manuals comprising ~30,000 pages with ~10,000 scientific references, and authored 50+ science reports aimed at debiasing misinformed beliefs on diet and nutrition. She has also led the integration of evidence-based insights in the development of Clinic Toolkit™ – the largest AI-powered, multi-lingual platform for nutrition professionals, featuring 800+ ready-to-use client/patient forms and personalisation tools. Alex has taught 180+ CPD-CEU Seminars since 2020, with a median of 800 delegates per session (some around 2,000), showing nutrition professionals how to critically evaluate research for safer nutrition practice.
An active member of the World Health Organization’s Fides initiative, she contributes to global efforts to combat harmful nutrition-health misinformation. Through her pioneering research and pedagogical leadership, Alex continues to shape the future of nutrition science education while advancing efforts to address health misinformation worldwide. Alex’s work and commentaries are frequently featured in major media outlets such as The Times, BBC, and The Telegraph.
She also teaches nutrition misinformation (detection, debiasing, mitigation) to dietitians, medical and allied health professionals at leading universities and CPD events. A member of the Royal Society of Medicine, a regular Chair at Food Matters Live conferences, and an NBHWC Credentialed Coach trainer, Alex leads the Applied Behavioural Coaching Skills Program, equipping practitioners with the coaching gold standards set by the National Board for Health & Wellness Coaching and the International Coaching Federation (ICF).
Her current research primarily focuses on nutrition misinformation susceptibility, discernment, and impact on eating behaviour change, online and offline information seeking, sources use for dietary advice, their assigned trustworthiness, and influence on dietary choices, alongside the development of educational tools for misinformation debiasing and inoculation to mitigate the risk of health harm. She is also interested in understanding people’s attitudes, views, and intentions surrounding diet and planetary health
