Dr. Laar has been Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator of over 20 successful research grants at the University of Ghana. He is the Principal Investigator (PI) of the IDRC-funded ‘MEALS4NCDs Project’ which is providing Measurements, Evaluation, Accountability and Leadership Support for NCDs prevention in Ghana. He is the PI of the IDRC/Rockefeller Foundation-funded ‘Healthier Diets for Healthy Lives (HD4HL) Project’, which is supporting the Ghanaian Ministry of Health to develop a Nutrient Profiling Model to underpin a bundle of double-duty food-based policies. He is the PI of the Advocating for Health (A4H) Project which aims to create a favorable environment and stakeholder buy-in for food-related fiscal policies especially Sugar-Sweetened Beverages (SSB) tax in Ghana. Dr. Laar is also a Co-PI of the NYU-UG Research Integrity Training Programme that has facilitated the establishment of the first-ever MSc Programme in Bioethics in Ghana – at the University of Ghana.
IDRC/Rockefeller Foundation (Grant # 109864) (PI, Laar) 02/1/2022-01/31/2025
Developing evidence and action toward a double-duty food-based policy bundle to assure healthier diets in Ghana.
TFK/GHAI, USA (Grant # GHANA-IOA-13) (PI, Laar) 02/1/2022-07/31/2023
Creating a favorable environment and stakeholder buy-in for food-related fiscal policies in Ghana
IDRC, Canada (Grant #108983) (PI, Laar) 03/1/2019-02/28/2022
Measuring the healthiness of Ghanaian children’s food environments to prevent obesity and non-communicable diseases.
NIH R25 TW010886 (MPI Caplan/Ogedegbe/Laar) 4/2018-3/2023
New York University-University of Ghana Research Integrity Training Program.
IDRC, Canada (Grant # 109132) (PI, Asiki) 04/2020 – 3/2023
Developing a package of effective regulatory interventions for healthier food environments in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda
GCRF (Grant # MR/P025153/1) (PI, Holdsworth) 04/2017-03/2019
Dietary transitions in African cities: leveraging evidence for interventions and policy to prevent diet-related non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Africa.
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation/UKAID (Grant # OPP1110043) (PI, Holdsworth) 01/2017-10/2018
Dietary transitions in Ghanaian cities: leveraging evidence for interventions and policy to prevent diet-related non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Ghana.