Mahsa Jessri

Mahsa Jessri

January 30, 2019

Mahsa Jessri

Assistant Professor, Food, Nutrition and Health
Centre for Health Services and Policy Research (CHSPR)
Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) in Nutritional Epidemiology for Population Health

604-827-3564

mahsa.jessri@ubc.ca

Food, Nutrition and Health 215, 2205 East Mall

Nutritional Epidemiology for Population Health (NEPoH) Laboratory

Education

Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship, 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

Research

Dr. Jessri’s research program is uniquely at the intersection of nutritional sciences and population and public health. The overarching goal of her research program is to provide the evidence-base and decision tools to inform nutritional guidelines and polices for reducing the burden of chronic diseases.

Currently, Dr. Jessri’s program is focused on:

  • Dietary pattern modelling and health and healthcare outcomes (with a focus on systems approach)
  • Population health impact assessment of foods, nutrients, dietary habits and policy
  • Nutritional monitoring and population surveillance
  • Development of robust methods and strategies for addressing the challenges in assessment and analysis of complex dietary and lifestyle data
  • Design and development of personalized nutrition risk assessment tools

Dr. Jessri’s research lab offers a stimulating place for research on nutritional epidemiology for population health. If you are interested in joining the team, please contact us via email to express your research interests.

Teaching

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

Selected Publications

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.

Awards & Honours

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

Additional Information

Dr. Mahsa Jessri is an Assistant Professor in Food, Nutrition and Health Program, the University of British Columbia, where she leads the “Nutritional Epidemiology for Population Health” research group. Previously, Dr. Jessri was a CIHR Banting Fellow with the Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute; School of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Ottawa; and Health Analysis Division, Statistics Canada. She is the recipient of the Royal Society of Canada Award and Medal (2018) for her research leadership.Dr. Jessri has expertise in nutritional and chronic disease epidemiology, dietary pattern modelling and health, dietary assessment, public and population health, machine learning, and preventive nutrition and dietetics.
Professional Affiliations:

1) Faculty, Centre for Health Services and Policy Research
2) Canada Research Chair in Nutritional Epidemiology for Public Health
3) Associate Member, UBC School of Population and Public Health
4) Core Advisor, Nutrition Science Advisory Committee, Health Canada

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Faculty member appointed Senior Editor in Cancer Pharmacology

January 22, 2019

Faculty member appointed Senior Editor in Cancer Pharmacology for British Journal of Pharmacology

Barbara Stefanska, Assistant Professor in Nutritional Epigenomics in the Faculty of Land and Food Systems, UBC, has been appointed Senior Editor in Cancer Pharmacology for the British Journal of Pharmacology (BJP).

BJP is a leading peer-reviewed international medical journal in the field of experimental pharmacology with recent impact factor 6.8. It was established in 1946 and is published for the British Pharmacological Society by Wiley-Blackwell. Twelve Senior Editors, including Stefanska, are active researchers from various countries who oversee submissions related to different areas of pharmacology.

Stefanska has been part of the Editorial Board of BJP since 2011, acting first as an Editor in the area of hepatic pharmacology and nutraceuticals. Her contribution to the journal and scientific community was recently recognized and she received the British Journal of Pharmacology Editor’s Performance Award for Excellence in Peer Review. Dr. Stefanska was among three of 86 editors who won the award in 2018.

Apart from the editorial management of manuscripts, Stefanska’s outstanding contributions included co-editing a themed issue “Epigenetics and Therapy”, published in BJP in 2015. She collaborated on this project with Senior Editor David MacEwan with a goal to describe advances in epigenetic understanding that relate to human disease, and test our ability to control these mechanisms using pharmacological means. She also published a commentary, one review article and two original research articles in BJP since 2011.

Stefanska’s research is related to cancer prevention and establishing epigenetic biomarkers of cancer risk prediction and early detection using blood as a minimally invasive source of DNA. She also uses genomics approaches coupled with techniques of molecular biology in human tissues, cell and animal models of cancer. Stefanska has received research awards from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation, the National Institutes of Health and the Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute, and American Cancer Society.

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David Fraser re-elected to national animal welfare council

December 21, 2018

David Fraser re-elected to national animal welfare council

Professor David Fraser has been re-elected to Canada’s National Farmed Animal Health and Welfare Council.

The Council provides advice to senior levels of government and the animal production sector on all aspects of farm animal health and welfare in Canada and hosts an annual Forum in Ottawa to create national discussion on issues such as animal welfare, disease surveillance and antibiotic resistance.

The Council is composed of representatives from federal, provincial and territorial governments and the animal production sector; Fraser is one of two independent members elected by the supporting organizations. Fraser has served on the Council since it inception in 2010.

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Ainsley MacDougall

December 6, 2018

Ainsley MacDougall

About

 Graduated, May 2020
DegreeBachelor of Science in Global Resource Systems
MajorFood and Resource Economics
HometownCalgary, Alberta, Canada

Ainsley MacDougall is a recent graduate from the Global Resource Systems (GRS) program. She has also served as the student representative for the Faculty of Land and Food Systems (LFS) on the UBC Senate during her time as an undergrad.

What are three adjectives that describe you?

Passionate, dedicated, curious

What did a typical week look like for you?

Between classes, work, and being involved in student government, I was on campus a lot! Generally, I had one to three classes a day. I worked as a Senior Student Ambassador, where I helped lead and manage a team of over 40 student ambassadors that run UBC campus tours for prospective students.

I made sure to make time for the gym at least twice a week. My weekends were usually spent studying in a café in a new part of the city, or hiking around Vancouver.

During my term as a student senator, I also had 3-6 meetings a week for the UBC Senate.

How much has your university experience changed overtime?

I started my first year at a different university in Ontario, but had trouble fitting in and wanted more from my program. I was fortunate that my friends at UBC introduced me to the Global Resource Systems program, which upon further research sounded right up my alley – a degree that I could design myself around issues I am passionate about!

In high school, I never would have thought I would be pursuing a Bachelor of Science. I think it is important to keep an open mind and be willing to try new things in your university experience, even if it means taking some courses that make you nervous (like chemistry for me!)

How did your extracurricular activities contribute to your university experience?

University, to me, was never just been about the academics. That was always my primary focus, but so much of the work, volunteering, and adventuring I did outside of that helped me along my path to a career where I can make a difference. My classes were where I gained invaluable knowledge and connections to professors and faculty, but it was my extracurricular activities that gave me all the leadership and organizational skills I take into all aspects of my life.

What would you want a student applying to LFS to know about our Faculty?

Overall, I can't express enough how fantastic LFS has been in supporting my transition from a different faculty and university. The members of this community, including the professors, staff, and my fellow students, have helped me so much in pursuing my passions.

The attitude on campus is very positive and supportive of students, and it is a place I feel at home and where I can thrive.

Interested in studying in the Faculty of Land and Food Systems? Learn more here!

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Sumeet Gulati

December 4, 2018

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Animal welfare researcher wins international prize in Bern, Switzerland

December 3, 2018

Animal welfare researcher wins international prize in Bern, Switzerland

Professor Marina (Nina) von Keyserlingk was recognized by the Hans Sigrist Foundation at the University of Bern with the 2018 Hans Sigrist Prize for her outstanding academic contributions in the field of Sustainably Produced Food of Animal Origin.

“The search committee was unanimous in recognizing that she is truly outstanding when compared to others working in the same field,” said committee chair Professor Rupert Bruckmaier, Head of Veterinary Physiology at the University of Bern.

Von Keyserlingk accepted the award at the annual Hans Sigrist Symposium and at the University-wide formal awards ceremony on December 1. She is pictured above, with Professor Norbert Trautmann, President, Hans Sigrist Foundation, University of Bern on her left, and Bruckmaier, Hans Sigrist Prize search committee chair, on the right.

The foundation awards the Hans Sigrist Prize in the form of a 100,000 CHF research grant (approximately CAD$130,000) to a mid-career academic researcher to recognize research contributions to date and to encourage further outstanding work. Award winners represent a variety of academic fields; each year’s prize field is different, based on proposals considered by the foundation’s board.

Von Keyserlingk joined UBC’s Animal Welfare Program in the Faculty of Land and Food Systems in 2002 as the group’s third faculty member. She was appointed as an NSERC Industrial Research Chair in 2008. Today, with her colleagues, she leads a strong group of students, post-doctoral fellows, visiting researchers and adjunct professors that now make up one of the world’s foremost research groups in the area of animal welfare.

She is recognized internationally for research on the care and housing of dairy cows and calves. She has been a pioneer in the use of behaviour (including especially automated measures) for the early detection and prediction of disease in animals. This work has focused on the use of changes in feeding and social behaviour as early indicators of disease, and has provided a basis for the rapid growth in new research focused on automated health assessments on farms.

Her work is also among the first in the field of animal welfare to incorporate qualitative methods when addressing animal welfare issues, such as interviews, focus groups and online crowd sourcing tools to understand perspectives of farmers, veterinarians and the public. This work has motivated scientific research better targeted at perceived constraints and illustrates a new trend towards interdisciplinary research to address societal concerns around animal agriculture.

Awards received by von Keyserlingk include the Killam Teaching Prize in 2008 for outstanding contributions to teaching at the undergraduate and graduate levels in the Faculty; the American Dairy Science Association’s DeLaval Dairy Extension Award (2018); co-recipient (with her colleague Professor Dan Weary) of the World Buiatrics Ruminant Well-being award; and the Elanco Award for Excellence in Dairy Science (2013), among others.

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Blue & Gold Campaign for Students

November 22, 2018

Blue & Gold Campaign for Students: Supporting Local and Global Students

UBC launched the Blue & Gold Campaign for Students with the goal of raising $100 million over three years to support students. Those who give to the Blue & Gold Campaign provide promising students access to a life-changing education — and perhaps more importantly — invest in the future of our province and our global community.

Born and raised in Kenya, Monicah Namu explains why she felt compelled to come to UBC for a Master of Food Science degree, a professional program within the Faculty of Land and Food Systems. Without donor support, she could not have made the journey to Canada.

“I was very interested in helping my community in terms of food security as my country experienced famine and crisis,” said Namu. “I could see the lack of good agricultural inputs and knowledge of how to process food after production, which included post-harvest loss of almost 40 per cent. I thought, if I can do something, now is the time.”

Namu was supported by the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program, which gives students from Africa financial, social, and academic support to complete their education. After graduating, the scholars then use their learning and experiences to contribute to the economic growth and social transformation of their communities in Africa.

“Words cannot explain my gratitude to the Mastercard Foundation for having a program that supports students from sub-Saharan Africa to study at global universities like UBC. I could not have done this without their support.

I am so happy they gave me an opportunity to study here. There are so many other kids from Africa who have dreams, and because of financial constraints they can’t achieve those dreams and most of them give up along the way. Donor support to help someone achieve a dream goes a long way in changing society; the support doesn’t just benefit me, it benefits my community too.”

In the Faculty of Land and Food Systems, students in the professional programs sometimes experience financial hardship due to program costs and demands, especially when unpaid work experience is a requirement of the program. The professional programs include Master of Food and Resource Economics, Master of Food Science, Master of Land and Water Systems, and Dietetics.

These programs are training the leaders of tomorrow to find solutions to pressing problems in our global food system and in our natural resources.

UBC students such as Monicah Namu are ready to create meaningful change and tackle the challenges that affect us all. Supporting these promising students today — so they are equipped to build a better tomorrow — is more urgent than ever.

Please consider supporting the Blue & Gold Campaign for Students to change their world so they can change ours! Contact Alexa Class-Freeman, Development Officer, alexa.class.freeman@ubc.ca, to learn more.

If you are an alumni interested in getting involved with our students, please get in touch. We want to hear your story. Contact Niki Glenning, Alumni Relations Manager, niki.glenning@ubc.ca.

Read more stories from our latest issue of ReachOut!

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