Anvesha Mahendra

BSc., MSc., and PhD.

Nutritionist & Epidemiologist

Welcome to my webpage!

Here, you can take a look at who I am and the work I do...

Who I am

My name is Anvesha Mahendra and I am a Nutritionist and an Epidemiologist

I am a Nutritionist and a Researcher passionate about the importance of science of nutrition around conception and the first 1000 days of life across the lifecourse. I strongly believe that nutrition in the womb has the power to benefit two lifetimes, the mother & her offspring.

I have >14 years of global work experience in research centres of excellence, hospitals, clinics, media, enterprises, think tanks in India and the UK.

I lead and run my own centre in Bangalore, India.

My work in nutrition involves:

Research - project management, data Intelligence and knowledge mobilisation), training & capacity building and science communication and advocacy for academics, policymaking, media and the public.

My clinical work includes both individual consultations and workshops for health, educational and corporate organisations and the general public.

I dream to see a world that grows, cooks and eats food that is diverse, fresh, healthy and good for our planet, us and our future generations.

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.