Anne is a new alumni and dietitian from the University of Alberta. As a Research Coordinator, Anne supports the ongoing research at Dr. Carla Prado’s lab through administrative work, study recruitment, and data collection and processing. In her spare time, Anne loves to cook, go for a run, and spend time with her friends and family. 

Teresita received her Bachelor of Nutrition and Dietetics and a Master’s in Public Nutrition, both with maximum distinction, all from Chile, her home country.

She worked as a Registered Dietitian, helping with nutritional and lifestyle counselling for individuals who needed changes to manage body weight, gastrointestinal conditions, autoimmune diseases, and chronic conditions. She always assured her counselling was research-based in order to give the best care to her patients. After gaining experience in the clinical human nutrition area, she started her Master’s in Public Nutrition and health promotion. After that, she designed, led, and published the first Nationwide study of the environmental impact of the Chilean diet. Since then, her interest in food and nutrition research has only grown.

She is currently working as a Research Coordinator at Dr. Carla Prado’s lab. In her free time, she enjoys doing yoga, bicycling, spending time in nature, cooking plant-based meals, and being with her family and her dog Echo.

Lourdes completed her Bachelor of Science in Nutrition at Universidad de las Américas Puebla (UDLAP) in Mexico and completed part of her program at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA. She always felt passionate and curious about food and nutrition so she decided to study her Master’s degree in Food Science and Technology at the University of Alberta funded by the National Council of Science and Technology (CONACyT) and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Fellowship (NSERC). In her program she developed a study using oats for the extraction and hydrolysis of its protein to understand the potential antidiabetic effects of oat peptides. During her studies she collaborated in multiple academic projects, presented her work in conferences, and instructed laboratory lectures for undergraduate courses. She’s currently working as a Research Assistant at Dr. Carla Prado’s lab. Lourdes enjoys mindfulness practice through meditation, reading, painting, and baking. She’s also into basketball, biking, and swimming.

Sophie is a recent graduate from the University of Alberta, where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree with a major in biology and a Bachelor of Science degree in Kinesiology. After completing her practicum at the Prado Lab, she was hired as a Research Assistant and currently helps with many ongoing research projects. She has a keen interest in understanding the intricacies of the human body and the benefits of exercise and diet to health. She is excited to integrate new knowledge about nutrition into her skillset.

In her spare time, Sophie enjoys playing soccer and hockey, coaching, travelling, and spending time with friends and family.

Ana completed her Ph.D. in Sciences at the Research Center for Food and Development (CIAD) in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico, her hometown-, where she is an experienced registered dietitian and diabetes educator. During the last years, her contributions published in scientific journals or presented at international conferences consist in sarcopenic obesity prevention in breast cancer patients during active cancer treatment, body composition assessment, and implementing food-based nutrition interventions using novel approaches to individualize dietary plans. She is an active member of several scientific societies focused on Nutrition and Dietetics and has received awards as an academic lecturer and researcher. Currently she is working as a postdoctoral fellow with Dr. Prado and Dr. Tandon at the University of Alberta in a trial evaluating a digital app to deliver a combined nutrition and exercise intervention for patients with cirrhosis, cancer, and chronic obstructive lung disease. Outside of academia, Ana enjoys running, travelling and going to the theatre and museums.  

Bruna completed a Nutrition and Metabolism degree at the University of São Paulo (USP), Ribeirão Preto, Brazil - her home Country - where she is a registered dietitian. She also completed her internship at the University of São Paulo Faculty of Medicine Clinics Hospital of Ribeirão Preto, USP.

She has been involved in academic research since the beginning of her undergraduate program. She started researching obesity, body composition, and since 2015 she has been enthusiastic about breast cancer and body composition. Therefore, she decided to go deeper in this research area, through a doctorate degree at the University of São Paulo (USP), Ribeirão Preto, where she studies different techniques for assessing body composition, diet, oxidative stress and quality of life in breast cancer.

Due to Bruna's passion for having direct contact with patients, she also volunteered as a dietitian during her first and second year of PhD at the Faculty of Medicine Clinics Hospital of Ribeirão Preto. Bruna received a federal academic excellence award to visit Dr. Prado's lab, under the supervision of Dr Prado and was offered a post-doctoral position upon completing her doctoral degree. Bruna is a recipient of a MITACS fellowship award.

She loves cats, music, spending time with her family, playing sports, and travelling.

Flavio holds a Bachelor’s, a Master’s, and a Ph.D. in Human Nutrition, all from Brazil, his home country. He also has international and multicultural experience, having been a visiting undergraduate student at the University of Porto, Portugal, and a visiting Ph.D. student at the University of Alberta, Canada, in the Fall of 2021 - being awarded nationally competitive scholarships on both occasions. 

Flavio holds two Postgraduate diplomas. The first one is in Clinical Nutrition, obtained by the Residency Program in Clinical Nutrition, gaining hands-on experience providing nutritional care for clinical populations. The second one is in Epidemiology, deepening knowledge in scientific methods and biostatistics, and gaining hands-on experience working for Brazil’s Ministry of Health as a technical consultant. Additionally, Flavio holds a registered dietitian credential in Brazil and a Postgraduate Specialization credential in Nutrition Therapy, issued by the Brazilian Society of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition. 

Flavio is passionate about teaching and research, having 5 years of experience as an undergraduate and postgraduate Professor in nutrition at different universities/colleges in Brazil. His research focuses on assessing body composition, energy metabolism, usual food intake, physical function, metabolic markers, gut microbiota, and ultimately on the study of sarcopenia and sarcopenic obesity. His research is primarily focused on clinical populations, especially people living with obesity, obesity-related comorbidities, and post-bariatric surgery. 

Flavio is completely passionate about volleyball (watching and playing) and loves to do outdoor activities. He likes to spend his leisure time with friends and family, dancing and listening to music, watching movies and TV series. 

Kristine completed her PhD in rehabilitation science from the University of Alberta in 2019. She has an extensive background as a clinical exercise physiologist working in healthcare, community, and occupational health settings. She has been a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Prado’s lab since August 2021, supported by an Alberta Innovates Fellowship in Health Innovation. She is currently leading the POMELO [Prevention of MusclE Loss in Osteoarthritis] study, a pilot randomized trial funded by the Arthritis Society (website: pomelo.ualberta.ca). Kristine’s research examines the relevance of body composition in osteoarthritis management, including the identification, prevention, and treatment of sarcopenic obesity.

Anissa is a registered dietitian and PhD candidate supervised by Drs. Carla Prado and Jens Walter. She received her Bachelor of Science in Nutrition and Food Sciences with distinction and completed an Integrated Dietetic Internship at the University of Alberta. Her doctoral research focuses on modulating the gut microbiome using nutrition interventions, especially by increasing dietary fibre intake, to benefit health. Anissa has been the recipient of numerous scholarships, such as the Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Scholarship, due to her extensive volunteering and academic excellence at the University of Alberta. Along with Dr. Prado and colleague Hillary Wilson, Anissa authored The High Protein Cookbook for Muscle Health During Cancer Treatment, which was recently awarded an international Gourmand cookbook award and is a bestseller on Amazon. In her spare time, Anissa loves to cook, go on hikes, travel, and spend time with family and friends. 

Ana Paula is a PhD candidate supervised by Dr Prado. She completed a Nutrition and Metabolism degree at the University of São Paulo (USP), Ribeirão Preto, Brazil - her home country -, where she is a registered dietitian. She also completed both her internship and Specialization in Nutrition at the Hospital of Clinics, Medical School of Ribeirão Preto, USP. During her specialization she began working on the field of body composition assessment of patients with cancer and became very passionate about it. As such, she decided to pursue this passion working on a Master degree, also at USP, and received a competitive two-year scholarship. She completed her degree in 2019 and her work focuses on exploring different techniques for body composition assessment in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

Ana Paula also loves connecting with patients and students. As a graduate student, she has volunteered as a dietitian at the Hospital of Clinics of Medical School of Ribeirão Preto, providing nutritional care for oncological outpatients and assisting undergraduate students during their internship at the same institution. As a PhD student, her current research aims to study energy requirements in patients with cancer using innovative techniques and approaches.

In her spare time she likes reading fiction books, watching tv series and movies and spending time with her husband and her dog Sushi.  

Julia has completed her BSc and internship in Nutrition at the Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro (UNIRIO), in Brazil, her home-country. She discovered her love for science during undergraduate degree, when she worked on different projects in the food science field. Julia also has a MSc degree in Food and Nutrition from the same university. Currently, she is a PhD student in Nutrition and Metabolism, supervised by Dr. Prado. Her academic excellence has led her to publish articles, present her work at academic conferences, and receive competitive scholarships. Julia’s study focuses on the impact of a higher protein intake in metabolism, body composition and gut microbiota in people with excessive body weight. In her spare time, Julia likes hiking, traveling, reading, and listening to music. 

Montse completed her Bachelor of Science in Nutrition at the University of the Valley of Atemajac (UNIVA) and one-year internship at the Western General Hospital (HGO) in Guadalajara, Mexico, her home-country. She worked as a Registered Dietitian and volunteered in different associations related to sarcopenia and muscular diseases where she discovered her passion for research, which led her to pursue her Master of Science with distinction, also at UNIVA. 

Montse has presented her projects in academic conferences and innovations centers. She has received a prestigious and highly competitive four-year scholarship as well as other awards due to her extensive academic excellence and innovation projects in health area. 

She is currently a first year PhD student in Nutrition and Metabolism at Dr. Prado’s lab, her research aims to study body composition abnormalities and energy needs in patients recovering from COVID-19. Outside of academia, Montse enjoys traveling, dancing ballet and spending time with her family and friends.

Chris is a first-year Master’s student supervised by Dr. Prado and Dr. Puneeta Tandon. In 2018, he earned his degree, a Bachelor of Science in Nutrition and Food Science with distinction, with a minor in Physical Activity, from the University of Alberta. He completed a year-long integrated dietetic internship and started his career in health care as a Registered Clinical Dietitian helping individuals use diet modifications to manage chronic diseases such as diabetes, kidney disease, and obesity. Though he continues to utilize his nutritional expertise and lifestyle counselling in health care he was introduced to the research world by Dr. Prado and his current research at the University of Alberta focuses on digital technologies to create innovative nutrition solutions for chronic disease. Outside of academia, Chris enjoys weightlifting, bodybuilding, rock climbing and playing video games and he has a strong interest in men’s fashion, is a creative cook, and tattoo collector. 

Camila Orsso is a doctoral student of Dr. Prado in the Nutrition and Metabolism program.

She previously earned a master’s degree in the same program at the UofA and a bachelor’s degree in Physical Education from the Federal University of Technology – Paraná in Brazil. Camila’s efforts have focused on improving people’s physical activity and nutrition behaviours to support optimal body composition, health, and well-being.

Throughout her research training, she has gained first-hand experience in conducting exercise and nutrition studies as well as evaluating body composition in a wide range of clinical groups (including children with obesity, postmenopausal women, cancer survivors, and lung transplant candidates). Her current PhD research focuses on investigating the efficacy of a multimodal and digital intervention to improve body composition and chronic disease risk factors for people living in larger bodies. In her spare time, Camila enjoys having coffee with friends, spending time with her family, and exercising.

Homa completed her BSc of Science in Chemistry, with a minor in Biological Sciences, at the University of Calgary in 2018. Realizing her passion about making a difference in people’s lives to promote their health, she subsequently enrolled in the BSc of Nutrition and Food Science, Dietetics Specialization at the University of Alberta. During her undergraduate degree, she researched the efficiency and feasibility of current malnutrition screening tools in acute care settings. After completing a one-year Dietetic internship, she aspired to explore clinical nutrition research further, and to focus on how nutrition and lifestyle interventions can positively impact a person’s overall wellbeing and quality of life. Homa is a graduate student in Nutrition and Metabolism, supervised by Dr. Prado, her research will aim to investigate how digital platforms can be used to improve the health of Endometrial cancer survivors. Outside of academia, Homa enjoys spending time with her family, going on road trips, reading books, and watching movies.

Sabina Valentine is a doctoral student working with Dr. Prado in the Nutrition and Metabolism program.

Sabina had previously earned two master’s degrees at the University of British Columbia in Sport Nutrition, and another Master’s degree in Nutrition at the University of Alberta in nutrition and women’s health.  Sabina is also a Registered Dietitian and worked in cancer for almost 20 years.  She really enjoys teaching and has taught at the University of Alberta in the Nutrition program since 2000.

Her current PhD research focuses on exploring the experience that immigrants have with a digital lifestyle management program for decreasing chronic disease risk.  In addition, Sabina’s research will also involve working with Indigenous women to explore the culturally relevant information that should be included in nutrition education materials for cancer care as well as explore how best to deliver these materials using telehealth modalities.

Yelyzaveta received her bachelor’s degree in Dietetics at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Ukraine, her home country. Yelyzaveta has always been passionate about academia and broadening her knowledge skills, which led her to start a master’s program in Laboratory Diagnostics, at the same university. In this program, she spent one year on an Erasmus+ Program KA107 at Magna Graecia University of Catanzaro, Italy. She wrote a thesis and an article devoted to the topic of Prothymosin-Alpha as an Inflammatory marker in obesity, based on the research work done at a University Lab. 

Apart from this, Yelyzaveta has been presenting her research works in conferences and has taken several Nutrition courses outside of her program in Germany and Ukraine to broaden her research expertise. 

Yelyzaveta completed her master’s degree in Pedagogy in 2022 with specialization `English Assistant Lecturer of Institution of Higher Education. Teacher of the German language and Foreign Literature of Comprehensive Secondary school` as she is passionate about teaching and learning languages. 

She is currently a thesis-based master’s student in Human Nutrition at Dr. Carla Prado’s lab. 

In her free time, she enjoys singing, dancing, cooking, and spending time in nature. 

Dr. Horst is adjunct professor at the Faculty of Nutrition (FANUT) and tenured professor in the graduate program of Nutrition and Health at the Federal University of Goiás (UFG). She also holds a Registered Dietitian title in Brazil. Dr. Horst received her PhD in Food Science from the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences of the University of São Paulo (USP) and later completed two postdoctoral fellowships: the first in Food Science at USP and the second in Cancer Molecular Biology at Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP).

Dr. Horst is co-organizer of the book Nutritional Genomics: From Fundamentals to Molecular Nutrition and leader of the working group "Nutritional Genomics and Metabolic Changes Related to Chronic Non-communicable Diseases". Her expertise lies in Nutritional Genomics, Experimental Nutrition and Molecular Biology. She mainly focuses on chemoprevention, gene expression, nutrigenomics, nutrigenetics and epigenetics, head and neck squamous cell carcinoma and miRNAs.

Outside of the lab, Dr. Horst enjoys spending time with her family and cats, travelling and flying drones.

Iasmin has completed her BSc, internship, and Master Degree in Nutrition at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), in Brazil, her home-country. She also has international experience, having been a visiting undergraduate student at the University of Wollongong, Australia for one and a half years. Iasmin has been passionate about research since her first BSc in Biology field which made her go deeper into Human Nutrition science. Iasmin has almost 8 years of experience in Human Nutrition research, focusing on chronic diseases, body composition, nutritional assessment, physical function, sarcopenia and clinical outcomes.

Currently, she is a third year PhD student in Health Sciences at UFRN, and has been awarded with a scholarship for one year, to be a visiting student at the University of Alberta (UofA), Canada supervised by Dr. Prado.

Outside of the research environment, Iasmin loves traveling, spending time with family and friends, cooking, and watching movies.

Jordan is volunteering in the NUANCE cancer research study. She has a bachelor of Kinesiology from the University of Calgary and is currently in her second year of Dietetics Specialization at the University of Alberta. Jordan is interested in integrating her background knowledge from Kinesiology with nutrition and is excited to play a role in research at the PradoLab. Outside of academia, Jordan is an avid ultra runner and loves to spend her time in the mountains with her husband and dog.

Olivia is an undergraduate research volunteer in Dr. Prado’s Lab, where her efforts have been primarily focused on the PRIMe and POMELO studies. She is in the last semester of her Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Alberta (Campus Saint-Jean), with a major in Biological Sciences and a minor in Psychology. Although nutrition has not been the core focus of her studies, this volunteer opportunity has sparked her interest in the field and has allowed her to develop an appreciation for the inner workings of research in the domain of science. Outside of her studies, Olivia loves to play and watch sports, travel, spend time with her family, and is a big animal lover.