Rate My Professor Deborah O’Connor

Deborah O’Connor is the Earle W. McHenry Professor and Chair of the Department of Nutritional Sciences in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto. She earned her PhD in Nutritional Sciences from the University of Illinois in 1989, MS in Nutritional Sciences from the University of Illinois in 1986, BASc in Applied Human Nutrition from the University of Guelph in 1983, and completed a clinical dietetic internship at Kingston General Hospital in 1984, qualifying as a Registered Dietitian. Her research focuses on human milk composition and fortification for preterm infants, factors influencing folate and one-carbon nutrient status in women, infants, and children, maternal diet effects on lactation, and strategies to promote human milk feeding in vulnerable populations such as very low birth weight infants. Career appointments include Senior Associate Scientist in the Translational Medicine Program at the Hospital for Sick Children since 2013, Scientific Associate Staff in the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology at Mount Sinai Hospital since 2016, Director of Clinical Dietetics and Breastfeeding Support at the Hospital for Sick Children from 2000 to 2012, and Associate Chief of Academic and Professional Practice until 2013. She currently chairs the Advisory Board for the Rogers Hixon Ontario Human Milk Bank at Mount Sinai Hospital.

O’Connor has received the Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Human Milk and Infant Nutrition in 2022, Fellow of the Canadian Nutrition Society in 2023, Earle W. McHenry Award for Distinguished Service in Nutrition in 2020, Earle W. McHenry Chair in 2020, Faith Elizabeth Winifred Bayley Nutrition Lectureship in 2016, and Khursheed Jeejeebhoy Award in 2015. She has served on expert panels for the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada Nutrition Practice Guidelines, US-Canada Joint Dietary Reference Intake Working Group on Chronic Disease Endpoints, US National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine on Nutrition During Pregnancy and Lactation, and World Health Organization on human milk banking. A leading scholar with over 330 publications, her highly cited works include “Effect of supplemental donor human milk compared with preterm formula on neurodevelopment of very low-birth-weight infants at 18 months: a randomized clinical trial” (JAMA, 2016), “Pre-conception folic acid and multivitamin supplementation for the primary and secondary prevention of neural tube defects and other folic acid-sensitive congenital anomalies” (Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Canada, 2015), “Folate status of the population in the Canadian Health Measures Survey” (CMAJ, 2011), and “Growth and nutrient intakes of human milk–fed preterm infants provided with extra energy and nutrients after hospital discharge” (Pediatrics, 2008). Her contributions advance clinical practices and policies in neonatal nutrition.