Dr Jelena Gudelj Rakic, MD, graduated at the School of Medicine University of Belgrade. She is a specialist of hygiene and medical ecology and holds MSc and PhD in Nutrition. As public health and nutrition expert working at the Institute of Public Health of Serbia, she has been actively involved in public health research primarily related to prevention and health promotion. 

Specific areas of interest include nutrition, diet habits, overweight and obesity, physical activity and sedentary behaviour, health-related behaviour.  She has participated in national and international research projects in the capacity of researcher and coordinator. She worked as a scientific officer in Nutri Unit of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in the area of Dietary reference values for vitamins and minerals for the healthy European population, Health claims and Novel foods. She served as WHO national nutrition counterpart and member of WHO Working Group on Implementation, Monitoring and Accountability for Ending Childhood Obesity. Dr Rakic is PI of the Health behaviour in school-aged children survey (HBSC) in Serbia. She is a member of the marketing restriction network of the WHO Europe, Euro lifestyle Network, UNU/SCN Network for Capacity Development in Nutrition in Central and Eastern Europe (NCDNCEE). She is also a member of Serbian Nutrition Society, Serbian Association for the Study of Obesity, nutrition expert committees and task forces formed by the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Education. She is currently working as Head of Centre of Health Promotion at the Institute of Public Health of Serbia