Rate My Professor Rana Peniamina

Dr. Rana Peniamina is a Research Fellow in the Department of Public Health at the University of Otago, Dunedin School of Medicine, within the Division of Health Sciences. She earned her BSc, MSc, and PhD from the University of Otago, completing her doctoral thesis in 2015 titled 'The Impact of Food Allergies on Quality of Life,' supervised by Miranda Mirosa, Tamlin Conner, and Phil Bremer. Her research centers on public health nutrition, encompassing well-being, chronic health conditions, non-communicable diseases, food allergy management, and nutrition support for cancer patients and survivors. Peniamina serves as Assistant Director of the Cancer Society Research Collaboration at the University of Otago, contributing to projects on nutrition, physical activity, alcohol policy, and cancer prevention.

Peniamina's key publications include 'Understanding the Needs of Food-Allergic Adults' (Qualitative Health Research, 2014), 'The stress of food allergy issues in daily life' (2016), 'The Role of Personality in Daily Food Allergy Experiences' (Frontiers in Psychology, 2018), 'Comparison of 24-h Diet Records, 24-h Urine, and Duplicate Diets for Estimating Dietary Intakes of Potassium, Sodium, and Iodine in Children' (Nutrients, 2019), 'Food, nutrition and cancer: perspectives and experiences of New Zealand cancer survivors' (New Zealand Medical Journal, 2021), 'Nutrition support in oncology care in Aotearoa New Zealand: current practice, and where to from here?' (New Zealand Medical Journal, 2022), 'Public awareness of cancer risk factors & support for prevention policies in Aotearoa New Zealand: A focus on alcohol and diet' (2023), and 'Experiences of healthcare practitioners providing nutrition care to people with cancer in New Zealand: A qualitative study' (Nutrition and Health, 2024). Her work examines lived experiences of food allergies, nutrition challenges in cancer survivorship, and public attitudes toward health policies, informing discussions on improving quality of life and health outcomes in chronic conditions.