Rate My Professor Vanessa Shrewsbury

Dr. Vanessa Shrewsbury is a dietitian and early career researcher serving as Research Project Officer in the Office of the PVC - Health, Medicine and Wellbeing at the College of Health, Medicine and Wellbeing, University of Newcastle, Australia. She earned her PhD from the University of Sydney in 2011 with a thesis titled 'Management of overweight and obesity in adolescents and the role of parents,' and a Bachelor of Health Science (Nutrition and Dietetics) Honours from the University of Newcastle in 2001. Her career began with research positions at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead from 2002 to 2005, followed by work in the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at University College London from 2005 to 2006. Upon returning to the University of Newcastle in 2016, she has held postdoctoral roles, including contributions to quality award-winning programs Students as LifeStyle Activists (SALSA) and Weight4Kids, and serves as an investigator on the No Money No Time project sponsored by the nib Foundation.

Shrewsbury's research focuses on the epidemiology, prevention, and management of overweight and obesity in children, adolescents, and parents, emphasizing the role of diet, maternal nutrition, cooking skills, public health nutrition, clinical nutrition, and digital health. She chairs the Health in Preconception, Pregnancy, and Post-partum Early and Mid-career Researcher Collective (HIPPP EMR-C) and acts as Associate Editor for BMC Nutrition. Her extensive publication record includes over 65 journal articles and conference proceedings, such as 'Socioeconomic status and adiposity in childhood: a systematic review of cross-sectional studies 1990–2005' (2008), 'Sharing the motherload: A review and development of the CO–Parent conceptual model for early childhood obesity prevention' (2025), 'My feed is what I eat? A qualitative study on adolescents' awareness and appreciation of food marketing on social media' (2024), and 'Cook-EdTM: a model for planning, implementing and evaluating cooking programs to improve diet and health' (2025). These works contribute to advancing research translation and impact in nutrition and obesity prevention fields.