Food is like a drug. At least that was what I realized at the age of 16 when I had an allergic reaction to penicillin. I quickly found out that some foods could aggravate the hives that had broken out all over my skin. This event sparked my interest in nutrition and convinced me to pursue it through my studies.
Academic Background in Nutrition
I started at University of Guelph in 1998 where I completed a B.A.Sc. (Honours) in Human Nutrition, with distinction in 2002. While at Guelph, I realized a lot still needed to be done to understand the role of nutrition in the human body. That brought me to McGill University in Montreal, where in 2006, I completed a Ph.D. in Nutritional Science under the supervision of Dr. Peter Jones. There, I also decided to complete my dietetic internship at the McGill University Health Centre so that I could get better clinical insight into my research. After completing my internship in 2007, I decided to pursue my interest in obesity research and expand my training through postdoctoral studies at the Mayo Clinic (Rochester, MN) under the mentorship of Dr. Michael Jensen. Throughout my training I received many awards from the Heart and Stroke Foundation, Canadian Diabetes Association, and Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada. I joined Concordia University in 2011 where I am currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Health, Kinesiology, and Applied Physiology and a Canada Research Chair, Tier II in Clinical Nutrition. I have currently published/submitted 36 manuscripts, many in high-ranking, peer-review journals. I am also a registered dietitian through membership in the College of Dietitians of Ontario.
A Research Program Studying the Underlying Effects of Obesity
“Results from my research will promote the development of better interventions for obesity from disease prevention to management. “
The goal of my research program is to examine the heterogeneity of obesity, from the cell to the entire body. I am committed to understanding the mechanisms that make people with obesity different from each other. In doing so, my multidisciplinary research program steps out-of-the-box and combines unique techniques in biology, physiology, and nutrition to study the effects of obesity that contribute to weight gain and disease. Ultimately the results from my research will promote the development of better interventions for obesity from disease prevention to management.
For more information: View Sylvia Santosa’s CV
Learn more about our research program: Overview Research Program