Demetrius Thamilini Josephkumar

Regional Health & Nutrition Senior Advisor, East Asia

Demetrius Thamilini is the Regional Senior Advisor for Health and Nutrition at World Vision East Asia, where she leads and influences technical programming to strengthen child and maternal health and nutrition outcomes across the region. With a strong foundation in nutrition science and programme leadership, she focuses on improving programme quality, advancing evidence-based approaches, and building the technical capacity of teams and partners to deliver sustainable impact for vulnerable children and communities.

Her work bridges science, policy, and community-based practice, promoting integrated approaches that connect nutrition with health systems, food security, livelihoods, and resilience. Thamilini has played a key role in strengthening integrated health and nutrition programming and advancing practical, context-responsive technical solutions across countries. She is particularly recognised for leading innovative community-based approaches such as the Positive Deviance/Hearth programme during Sri Lanka’s economic crisis, combining nutrition interventions with livelihood support to improve child nutritional outcomes and strengthen household resilience in a highly constrained environment.

Thamilini is an active contributor to regional and global nutrition and health platforms, serving in World Vision’s Overweight and Obesity Framework Development Working Group and Climate and Health Working Group, as well as SUN CSN Asia and national nutrition networks in Sri Lanka. She has contributed to multiple research publications and over 50 scientific conference presentations, and regularly engages with governments, UN agencies, and development partners to promote evidence-based, integrated, and systems-driven approaches to child health and nutrition.

She holds a PhD in Nutrition and brings a strong commitment to advancing equitable, community-driven, and sustainable solutions that address the root causes of malnutrition. Her thought leadership focuses on transforming fragmented nutrition interventions into integrated, people-centred systems that strengthen child well-being, food security, gender equity, and long-term resilience, ensuring that vulnerable children and families not only survive but thrive.

Area of expertise:
Integrated Child & Maternal Health & Nutrition Programming
Evidence-based Programming & Technical Leadership
Community-based Resilience & Adaptive Nutrition Solutions