Researchers

David Ma

Dr. David W.L. Ma

GFHS Director, Professor, Human Health & Nutritional Sciences

David studies how the fats we eat influence our health. The goal is to better understand the effects of fats throughout the lifecycle from the early beginnings of life to old age in both the prevention and treatment of disease.

Jess Haines

Dr. Jess Haines

GFHS Co-Director, Associate Professor, Family Relations and Applied Nutrition

Jess studies ways to promote healthy weight in children and adolescents. This includes developing community and family-based programs that encourage healthy behaviours in preschool children.

Andrea Buchholz

Dr. Andrea Buchholz

Director, Body Composition Laboratory & Professor, Family Relations and Applied Nutrition

Andrea studies how our lifestyle (nutrition, exercise, sleep, etc.) can affect the percentage of fat and muscle in our bodies. She also studies the dairy product and calcium intake of Canadians.

Image of Clara Cho

Dr. Clara Cho

Assistant Professor, Tier 2 CRC, Human Health and Nutritional Sciences

Gerarda Darlington

Dr. Gerarda Darlington

Professor, Mathematics & Statistics

Gerarda’s areas of interest include statistical methods for correlated observations; methods for epidemiologic and genetic epidemiologic studies and the design and analysis of cluster randomized trials.

Alison Duncan

Dr. Alison M. Duncan

Professor, Human Health & Nutritional Sciences

Alison studies the effects that foods and natural health products have on our health. She is most interested in functional foods, which are foods with active components that can influence health.

DaliaElKhoury

Dr. Dalia El Khoury

Associate Professor, Family Relations and Applied Nutrition

Dalia’s work with the GFHS looks at exploring biomarkers for metabolic syndrome, and how they are affected by functional foods and/or physical activity, both in kids and adults. She is also interested in assessing intake, knowledge, and attitude with respect to global food trends such as the plant-based diet and the gluten-free diet.

Lori Ann Vallis

Dr. Lori Ann Vallis

Professor, Human Health & Nutritional Sciences

Lori Ann has a multifaceted approach to the study of human movement. Her research program has focused on strategies used to execute safe movement during adapted locomotor tasks (steering, obstacles) and the role of vision in these tasks.

Image of Kathryn Walton

Dr. Kathryn Walton

Assistant Professor, Family Relations and Applied Nutrition

Kathryn studies what and how young children eat. She is very interested in helping families with children at high risk of eating difficulties, including children born preterm and those with neurodevelopmental disorders.