Mahsa Jessri

Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship, Statistics Canada (Health Analysis Division); & Clinical Epidemiology, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute; & Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON

PhD (Vanier Scholar), Nutritional Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON

M.Sc., Nutrition and Metabolism, Human Nutrition Division, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB

Dr. Mahsa Jessri (PhD, RD) is an Associate Professor in Food, Nutrition and Health Program where she holds the Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) in Nutritional Epidemiology for Population Health. She is a Faculty at the Centre for Health Services and Policy Research (CHSPR), and Department of Health Services and Policy (HSP), at the UBC School of Population and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine. Dr. Jessri is also an Affiliate Investigator of Evidence to Innovation (E2i) Theme at the BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute and a past Core member of Health Canada’s Nutrition Science Advisory Committee (NSAC). 

As a member of the American Society for Nutrition (ASN) and American Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Nutrition Research Taskforce, Dr. Jessri’s research is uniquely at the intersection of nutritional sciences, big data analytics, AI and population and public health. The overarching goal of her research program is to provide the evidence-base and decision tools to inform guidelines and polices for reducing the burden of chronic diseases.

Dr. Jessri’s lab, Nutritional Epidemiology and Big Data Analytics Laboratory is focused on:

• Using big data and methodological advancements (including AI and ML) to identify dietary patterns and their interactions with health and healthcare outcomes (systems approach)
• Population health impact assessment of food and nutrition policies
• Nutritional monitoring and population surveillance
• Development of robust methods and strategies for addressing the challenges in assessment and analysis of complex data
• Design and development of personalized nutrition risk assessment tools (e.g., https://www.projectbiglife.ca/calculators/dietary-pattern)

Dr. Jessri’s research lab offers a stimulating place for research on nutritional epidemiology, big data analytics (AI) and population health. If you are interested in joining the team, please connect via email to express your research interests.

FNH 398: Research Methods in Human Nutrition

Past Courses:

POP 8910 (PhD Core Course): “Scientific Paradigms in Population Health/ Paradigmes scientifiques en santé des populations”, Interdisciplinary School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa

Development and Evaluation of the Dietary Pattern Calculator (DiPaC) for Personalized Assessment and Feedback.

Jessri M. PhD, Jacobs A. RD, Ng A. MSc, Bennett C. MSc, Quinlan A. MSc, Nutt C. RD, Brown J. MSc, Hennessy D. PhD, Manuel D.G. MD.Can J Diet Pract Res. 2024 Mar 1;85(1):25-31. doi: 10.3148/cjdpr-2023-013. Epub 2023 Oct 12.PMID: 37824093 Review.

Canadian Dietary Intakes Assessed by Nutrient Profiling Models and Association with Mortality and Cardiovascular Disease.

Jacobs A.C. MSc RD, Jessri M. PhD.Can J Diet Pract Res. 2024 Dec 1;85(4):410-417. doi: 10.3148/cjdpr-2024-017. Epub 2024 Sep 24.PMID: 39317681

Associations between dietary patterns and cardiovascular disease risk in Canadian adults: a comparison of partial least squares, reduced rank regression, and the simplified dietary pattern technique.

Lazarova SV, Jessri M.Am J Clin Nutr. 2022 Aug 4;116(2):362-377. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/nqac117.PMID: 35511218 Free PMC article.

Adherence to emerging plant-based dietary patterns and its association with cardiovascular disease risk in a nationally representative sample of Canadian adults.

Lazarova SV, Sutherland JM, Jessri M.Am J Clin Nutr. 2022 Jul 6;116(1):57-73. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/nqac062.PMID: 35265975 Free PMC article.

For a comprehensive list of publications, click here.

Jessri M, Wolfinger R, Lou W, L’Abbe MR. Identification of dietary patterns associated with obesity in a nationally representative survey of Canadian adults: application of a priori, hybrid, and simplified dietary pattern techniques. Am J Clin Nutr. 2017 Mar;105(3):669-684. doi: 10.3945/ajcn.116.134684. Epub 2017 Feb 1

Jessri M, Lou W, L’Abbe MR. Evaluation of different methods to handle misreporting in obesity research: evidence from the Canadian national nutrition survey. Br J Nutr. 2016 Jan 14;115(1):147-59. doi: 10.1017/S0007114515004237. Epub 2015 Nov 2.

Jessri M, L’Abbe MR. The time for an updated Canadian Food Guide has arrived. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2015 Aug;40(8):854-7. doi: 10.1139/apnm-2015-0046. Epub 2015 Jul 9. Review.

INMD/CNS – Early Career Researcher Partnership Prize (link)

Discovery Award-Banting Research Foundation

Royal Society of Canada (RCS) Alice Wilson Award (2018)

Emerging Leader in Nutrition Science, American Society for Nutrition

Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR) Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship

Dr. Jessri’s academic career is built on her decades of clinical and public health dietetics and nutrition policy experience working at academic and regulatory institutions.

If you are interested in learning more, please connect via email.