09/23/2025
Dr Prabu Nadaraja, PhD student in Health Information Science, is exploring how social media food trends influence the health, perceptions of well-being and sense of belonging among immigrant communities.
What we eat is shaped by more than just hunger, but by the digital food environment.
Prabu Nadaraja, PhD student in Health Information Science, is exploring how social media food trends influence the health, perceptions of well-being and sense of belonging among immigrant communities.
With a background spanning medical training in Sri Lanka and a Master of Public Health from the University of Malaya, Prabu brings extensive experience in public health. He co-founded SUVADI, a social enterprise in Northern Sri Lanka, and spent over a decade leading community health initiatives to address the intergenerational malnutrition, persistent after the region’s ethnic conflict.
Through this work, Prabu recognized that the real solution to public health challenges such as malnutrition lie within the socio-political system rather than simply in public health. This realization ultimately led him to the doctoral program at Western, where he studies how social media foodscapes impact the health of immigrants in Ontario, drawing on expertise from both FIMS and Health Studies.
"Online communities are already reshaping our economic and political systems, making it essential to study their impact on public health,” he says.
Beyond academia, Prabu volunteers with Slow Food International and supports immigrant communities through various initiatives. He aspires to bridge research, policy, and practice as a public health system planner, aiming to contribute to a healthier and more equitable future.
Discover more about Prabu’s research and journey: https://www.fims.uwo.ca/news/2025/student_profile_prabu_nadaraja.html
