About Us
The International Society for Diet and Activity Methods (ISDAM) supports the advancement of diet and physical activity assessment methods by providing opportunities for sharing the latest research, as well as capacity building and networking, within the international community.
Our Vision
The vision of ISDAM is the wide availability and use of robust methods for the assessment of diet and physical activity across contexts, settings, and populations.
Our Mission
ISDAM builds on the rich history of the International Conference on Diet and Activity Methods to:
- strengthen the international community of researchers and practitioners with a focus on diet and physical activity assessment;
- build capacity in developing, evaluating, and using diet and physical activity methods;
- provide forums for sharing and critiquing diet and physical activity methods;
- stimulate robust research to advance diet and physical activity methods.
History
Since the first conference in 1992 in St. Paul, Minnesota, the International Conference on Diet and Activity Methods (ICDAM) has been the only international conference solely devoted to improving methods and measures for both diet and physical activity. Originally, ICDAM was known as the International Conference on Dietary Assessment Methods. Because two key concerns in dietary research—obesity and energy balance—also relate to physical activity, assessing measures of physical activity was a theme of the 2006 conference. Afterward, the planning committee decided to continue to include physical activity as a focus for future conferences, modifying the name to the International Conference on Diet and Activity Methods.
We are pleased to be launching ISDAM to improve continuity between conferences and to strengthen the international community.
Board
The Society’s inaugural board comprises the following leaders. Over the next few years, elections will be held to increase the size of the board and to support the natural renewal of our leadership.
Janet Cade
University of Leeds
Megan Deitchler
Intake Center for Dietary Assessment
Edith Feskens
Wageningen University and Research
Paul Hibbing
University of Illinois at Chicago
Sharon Kirkpatrick
Board President
University of Waterloo
Benoît Lamarche
Université Laval
Tracy McCaffrey
Board Treasurer
Monash University
Jill Reedy
U.S. National Cancer Institute
Pedro Saint-Maurice
Board Vice President
Champalimaud Foundation
Committees
2025 ICDAM International Scientific Committee
Sharon Kirkpatrick, University of Waterloo, Canada (Conference Chair)
Carolina Batis, Instituto Nacional de Salud Publica, Mexico
Kathryn Beck, Massey University, New Zealand
Andrew Hills, University of Tasmania, Australia
Sarah Keadle, Cal Poly, US
Megan McCrory, Boston University, US
Rebecca Leech, Deakin University, Australia
Kentaro Murakami, University of Tokyo, Japan
Marga Ocké, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Netherlands
Marji McCullough, American Cancer Society, US
Polly Page, University of Cambridge, UK
Erika Rees-Punia, American Cancer Society, US