Dr Anvesha Mahendra
Anvesha Mahendra
BSc., MSc., and PhD. Nutritional Epidemiologist and Researcher.
Welcome to my webpage! Here, you can take a look at who I am, what I do, projects I've worked on, institutions I've been a part of, and get in touch with me.
Who I am
My name is Anvesha Mahendra and I am a Nutritional Epidemiologist and Researcher.
I am a Nutritionist and a Researcher in the area of Developmental Origins of Adult Diseases in Humans and Animals (DOHaD). DOHaD is a concept that tells us that the early life environment is more important than anything else for the health of the foetus throughout life. I strongly believe that nutrition in the womb has the power to impact many lifetimes.
What I do
My research investigates how nutrition and lifestyle factors before and during pregnancy are linked to good health for a mother and her baby for the first 1000 days and throughout life. I am committed to the translation of science to impact policy that improves food and nutrition systems for mothers and children globally.
My areas of interest are Nutritional Epidemiology, Global maternal and child health, the First 1000 days of life, Food and Nutrition systems, Sustainable Development Goals, policy, and impact.
Projects and Affiliations
I am fortunate to have been affiliated with some world-renowned and emerging centres of excellence in nutrition and epidemiology.
2008-2015
Early Career
I assisted in designing and co-coordinating a Paediatric obesity project: PEACH (Pediatric Epidemiology and Child Health), which is an ongoing large cohort (n=9000) at St. John's Research Institute in Bangalore, India. Responsibilities included designing questionnaires, plan of action, liaising with stakeholders, participant recruitment, data collection and analysis.
I established and headed the Nutrition and Dietetics department for Cloudnine Hospital, Malleshwaram, Bangalore. I led and developed evidence-based nutrition guidelines, in and out- patient nutrition counseling for conception, pregnancy, lactation, infertility, diabetes, hypertension, polycystic ovarian disease (PCOD), anemia, obesity and underweight and hyperemesis gravidarum during pregnancy.
2016-2021
Doctoral Research
First Indian in Nutrition to be awarded the ‘Faculty for the Future Grant’ ($150,000) by the Schlumberger Foundation to pursue a split site doctoral program at the MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit, Southampton, U.K. I set up the BANGLES (BAngalore Nutrition Gestational Diabetes LifEstyle Study). BANGLES aimed to study the dietary and blood micronutrient levels (folate, B12, ferritin and vitamin D) as risk factors of Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) in India.
2022-2023
Post-Doc Experience
I was a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow in Epidemiology at the School of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Leeds, UK. I contributed to research within the area of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) in the Nutritional Epidemiology Group. The main focus was on investigating maternal dietary and metabolic factors determining new-born birth weight and adiposity in the Bradford Cohort.
I was a Lecturer in Human Nutrition at the University of Plymouth and contributed towards curriculum development, lectures, workshops, practical laboratory classes, student assessment, and mentoring.
Useful links
Get in Touch
If you would want to get in touch with me, please use the form below and I will get back to you as soon as possible.
2 9th Cross
Kumara Park West
Bangalore 560020
India
(Appointments mandatory)