Mahsa Jessri

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

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.

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

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.

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. 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