Dr Amanda Lee
(Chair)

PhD, BSc(Nutr), PostGrad Dip Diet, Cert Bus Mgmt, APD

Dr Lee is currently Manager of Nutrition and Physical Activity with Queensland Health and Associate Professor (Nutrition) at the University of Queensland.

Dr Lee has worked for 30 years in Indigenous and public health and as a nutrition consultant in Australia and Japan. Previous work for the NH&MRC has included membership of the working party that reviewed the dietary guidelines in 2003 and of the Indigenous nutrition working party in the mid 1990s. Dr Lee serves on several public health and nutrition advisory groups and committees, including as the current Chair of the National Nutrition Network and member of the Queensland Premier’s Eat Well Be Active taskforce.

Over the last eight years Dr Lee has led the development of a strategic approach to the nutrition and chronic disease prevention agenda within Queensland. She also holds honorary positions at Griffith University and as Adjunct Associate Professor in the School of Public Health, Queensland University of Technology.

Professor Colin Binns
(Deputy Chair)

MBBS, MPH, FRACGP, FACOM, FAFPHM, PhD

Professor Binns is based at Curtin University of Technology where he is Professor (Professorial Staff), Co Director of the Western Australian Centre for Health Promotion Research, Professor of Public Health (Public Health) and Professor of Public Health (Health Sciences). He is also a Visiting Professor of Kagawa Nutrition University, Tokyo, Japan, and Visiting Professor of Inje University School of Public Health, Seoul, Republic of Korea. Professor Binns has been a visiting professor at University of Washington, Harvard University and at the Medical Research Council at Cambridge University.

For two decades Professor  Binns has been involved in national nutrition and public health policies through the NHMRC and other national bodies. Current research includes projects on cancer and diet in China, diarrhoeal disease in Korea and Australia and breastfeeding in Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations.

Professor Sandra Capra, AM

BSc(Hons)DipNutr&Diet, MSocSc, PhD, FDAA

Professor Capra is Professor of Nutrition at the University of QLD. She is a Fellow and Life Member of the Dietitians Association of Australia and is the current President of the International Confederation of Dietetic Associations, (2004-2008). She has represented the nutrition profession nationally and internationally on a variety of committees over the years.

After more than 15 years in professional practice in NSW, Victoria, Queensland and New Zealand  she entered academia full time and built on her practice interests in her teaching, research and writing on nutrition and dietetics education and practice, food and nutrition policy and service provision and quality, with over 150 published works in these fields. She has held academic positions at the University of the South Pacific, Queensland University of Technology and the University of Newcastle prior to taking up her current position early in 2008. Previous work for the NH&MRC has included membership of the working party which developed the Nutrient Reference Values and grant reviewer.

Professor Capra has been recognised for her contribution to nutrition and dietetics by being appointed a Member of the Order of Australia.

Professor Peter Davies

BSc (Hons), MPhil, PhD

Professor Peter Davies is currently the Director of Research at the School of Medicine, University of Queensland and Director the Children’s Nutrition Research Centre (CNRC) Discipline of Paediatrics and Child Health, University of Queensland, Royal Children’s Hospital, Brisbane. 

Professor Davies has published over 250 articles and papers in the field of nutrition, growth, energy metabolism and body composition in both health and disease in infants and children over a number of years. 

He is a past recipient of the British Nutrition Society medal for scientific excellence and has been nominated for the Commonwealth Health Minister’s Award for Excellence in Health & Medical Research.  Professor Davies is also President of Nutrition Australia.

Associate Professor Sharon Friel

MSc, PhD

A/Professor Friel is a social and nutritional epidemiologist who has worked in the area of public health nutrition and inequalities in health since 1992. She was recently awarded an inaugural Australian Research Council Future Fellowship (October 2009) and continues to have a part-time appointment with University College London. Prior to this award she held a joint appointment as Director of the Global Health Equity Group in the International Institute for Society and Health, University College London and a Fellow at the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health (NCEPH), Australian National University, Canberra. Between 2005 and 2008 she was Head of the Secretariat (UCL) of the global World Health Organization Commission on Social Determinants of Health.

A/Professor Friel has worked closely with the World Health Organization and as a consultant to the World Cancer Research Fund. Prior to coming to Australia she worked for many years in the Department of Health Promotion, National University of Ireland, Galway. She has undertaken extensive policy-related research in the areas of social determinants of health inequalities, climate change and health, socio-environmental determinants of dietary habits, food security, obesity, and nutrition surveillance. Relevant committee membership includes UCL Lancet Commission Health Effects of Climate Change; International New Nutrition Science project; Nutrition Sub-Committee of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland.

Ms Clare Hughes

BSc (Nutrition), MPH

Ms Clare Hughes is currently the Senior Food Policy Officer at the CHOICE. CHOICE is Australia’s largest consumer organisation and is the publisher of CHOICE magazine.

Ms Hughes has graduate and postgraduate qualifications in nutrition, public health and health administration. As Senior Food Policy Officer at CHOICE, Ms Hughes is responsible for ensuring that the interests of consumers are considered during the food policy and regulatory processes. Clare’s areas of responsibility include nutrition, health and related claims, fortification, food labelling, genetic modification, food innovations and technology, and food regulatory system and standards development.

Ms Hughes currently sits on a number of Food Standard Australia New Zealand committees and working groups including the Standard Development Advisory Committee on Nutrition and Health Claims, the Consumer Liaison Committee, and the Standard Development Committee for the Poultry Meat Primary Production and Processing Standard. Ms Hughes also represents the CHOICE on the Standards Australian Committee on Organic and Biodynamic Products.

A/Professor Mark Lawrence

BSc(Hons), GradDip Nutr&Diet, GradDip Epidem&Biostats, MSc, PhD, APD, RPHNut

Mark is an Associate Professor in Public Health Nutrition at Deakin University. He has over 20 years experience working in food and nutrition policy at the local, state, national and international levels.

A/ Professor Lawrence’s research involves analysing policies to protect and promote the nutritional health of populations from environmental, social, political, biological and economic perspectives. With colleagues he is mapping the food and nutrition system and investigating policy approaches for obesity prevention and responding to environmental change. He is also investigating the use of evidence in policy-making and is actively involved in monitoring and evaluating policies related to climate change, folic acid fortification and food labelling.
 
A/ Professor Lawrence is the coordinator of the Public Health Nutrition program at Deakin University. He has published extensively, including co-editing the reference book, ‘Public Health Nutrition: from Principles to Practice’. Previous work for the NHMRC has included membership of the former Food and Health committee. He is a member of a number of professional committees, including:

• the Council of the World Public Health Nutrition Association

• Advisory Committees for Food Standards Australia New Zealand.

• the Victorian Food Safety Council.

Dr Dorothy Mackerras

Dorothy Mackerras obtained her PhD in epidemiology in the United States and is well known in Australia for her expertise in nutritional epidemiology and dietary methods.  After returning to Australia, she lectured in the School of Public Health at the University of Sydney for some years.  She then spent 10 years in Darwin at the Menzies School of Health Research where, among other things, she conducted the evaluation of the Strong Women Strong Babies Strong Culture Program and became one of the Chief Investigators of the Aboriginal Birth Cohort Study, the longest running Indigenous cohort in the world.  Two years ago, Dr Mackerras moved to Canberra to take up the newly created position of Chief Public Health Nutrition Advisor at Food Standards Australia New Zealand.

Dr David C. K Roberts

BSc(Hons), PhD

David is a food and nutrition consultant who was Deputy CEO and Scientific and Technical Director of the Australian Food and Grocery Council for 5 years until October 2007. Prior to that, David held the Foundation Chair in Nutrition and Dietetics at the University of Newcastle (established 1991) for 10 years and was also at Sydney University for 12 years teaching and researching in nutritional biochemistry. David was Chairman of the Federation of Australasian Nutrition Organisations for 2 years, president of the Nutrition Society of Australia for 3 years, chaired the inaugural Complementary Medicines Evaluation Committee of the Therapeutic Goods Administration in Canberra for 4 years and is the Australasian correspondent for the British Nutrition Foundation. Putting evidence based research into practice via public health initiatives has been a career interest.

Dr Rosemary Stanton, OAM

BSc, C Nutr/Diet, G Dip Admin, PhD (Hon), APD

Dr Rosemary Stanton OAM completed a science degree majoring in biochemistry and pharmaceutical chemistry and followed up with post-graduate qualifications in nutrition and dietetics and a graduate diploma in administration. Her career has focussed on public health nutrition and has included a consultancy business, private practice, research and lecturing in medical, school and community education programs. Her services to community health through education in nutrition was acknowledged with an Order of Australia Medal in 1998 and she has also been awarded an honorary doctorate for her accumulated scientific papers and work in public health nutrition.

Dr Stanton has authored many scientific papers, 32 books on food and nutrition (including several textbooks) and over 3400 articles for magazines and newspapers. Her independence and close liaison with the Australian public has contributed to her being recognised as a source of reliable nutrition information for over 40 years. She is a popular choice for interviews on news and current affairs programs, has been a regular presenter on several top-rating programs and sits on many government advisory committees.
 
Dr Stanton's aim is to encourage Australians towards healthier diets, with enjoyable foods which create minimal environmental damage.

Professor Linda Tapsell

PhD, FDAA

Linda Tapsell is Professor in Nutrition and the Director of the Smart Foods Centre at the University of Wollongong. She has over 30 years experience in the food and nutrition area, covering clinical, public health and academic environments.   Professor Tapsell has a personal research background in diet and metabolic syndrome, and has worked extensively in establishing links between science, practice and the commercial environment. She has a strong track record in research funding and scientific publications, with a focus on establishing the evidence for food intake patterns promoting positive health outcomes. Professor Tapsell works with a number of national and international nutrition organizations, contributing to peer review, strategic direction and policy formulation. Professor Tapsell is a fellow of the Dietitians Association of Australia, Editor of the journal, Nutrition and Dietetics and is on the Editorial Board of Nutrition Today.

Dr Karen Webb

Karen is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Public Health and the Human Nutrition Unit at the University of Sydney. Karen is also currently a Visiting Scholar and Researcher at the Center for Weight and Health , School of Public Health and Department of Nutritional Sciences and Toxicology and University of California, Berkeley.

Karen’s main interests are population nutrition policies, community nutrition program design and evaluation, nutrition surveys and population nutrition surveillance.