Meet our Applied Human Nutrition faculty members

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Dr. Kyly Whitfield, PhD, Department Chair, Associate Professor

kyly.whitfield@msvu.ca

Research interests: Dr. Whitfield is passionate about international nutrition, with interests in identifying and combating micronutrient deficiencies during ‘the first thousand days’ window, from conception through 2 years. Read more »

 

P Williams

Dr. Patricia Williams, PhD, Professor

patty.williams@msvu.ca

Research interests: Participatory research processes into social and policy change necessary to build food security. Read more »

 

Dr. Bohdan Luhovyy, PhD, Professor
bohdan.luhovyy@msvu.ca

Research interests: Functional foods and food-derived bioactivities; mechanisms of adaptive responses to chronic dietary exposures, the role of food-born substances in physiologic and metabolic regulations. Read more »

 

Phillip JoyDr. Phillip Joy, PhD, Associate Professor
phillip.joy@msvu.ca

Research interests:  I am a registered dietitian with the Nova Scotia Regulator of Dietetics (NSRD). My research interests are driven from my own experiences as part of the LGBTQQIP2SAA community. A community that is often silenced through heteronormative social and cultural discourses. Read more »

 

Irene OgadaDr. Irene Ogada, PhD, Associate Professor
irene.ogada1@msvu.ca

Research interests: Maternal and Child Nutrition, Social Determinants of Health, Intersectionality in Nutrition and Health, Community Nutrition Programming. Read more »

 

 

Jillian Ruhl, MScAHN, RD, Lab Instructor and Faculty Supervising Dietitian
jillian.ruhl@msvu.ca

As the Faculty Supervising Dietitian for the Internship Education Program, I serve as an educational liaison between dietetic interns and sponsors/preceptors at sponsoring organizations of our program. Read more »

 

Meredith Bessey, PhD, RD Assistant Professor
Meredith.bessey@msvu.ca

Research interests: Women’s experiences of weight stigma/bias in healthcare; biomedical interventions into body weight; arts-based research; critical theory.  Read more »

 

 

Safura Syed, RD, Assistant Professor
safura.syed1@msvu.ca 

Research interests: Culturally inclusive menu planning in LTC; nutrition statis, food intake, and mealtime experiences of older adults; access to culturally inclusive nutrition health care across continuum of care, scholarship of teaching and learning in dietetics education.

 

 

Staff

Caroline Anderson, wearing a jean jacket with a pink shirt smiling in front of a treeCaroline Anderson, MSc, RD, Nutrition Support & Placement Advisor
caroline.anderson2@msvu.ca
902-457-6101

Caroline completed both her BScAHN Dietetics and MScAHN with Internship Education Program (IEP) in the Department of Applied Human Nutrition. She is a Registered Dietitian with the Nova Scotia Regulator of Dietetics (NSRD).

Caroline has worked in the Department of Applied Human Nutrition since 2022 in the role of Nutrition Support and Placement Advisor. In 2026 she took on coordination of the IEP.

As the NSPA, Caroline maintains the curricula of our programs, coordinates program evaluation, accreditation, external review, and also coordinates experiential learning for our programs.

As a graduate of both the BScAHN Dietetics and MScAHN with IEP, Caroline has a first-hand perspective on the experiences of students in our programs. This perspective allows her to better understand the needs of our current students when working to place them on internships, and also in program evaluation and curriculum maintenance efforts.

Any questions related to the Internship Education Program can be directed to Caroline at the email address above.

Administrative Assistant (TBD)

Professors Emeritus

Dr. Daphne Lordly, DEd, Professor Emerita

daphne.lordly@msvu.ca

Research interests: Dietetic education and the socialization of dietetic students and practitioners, and how gender is implicated in these processes; arts-informed research and pedagogy. Read more »

Linda Mann, Professor Emerita

linda.mann@msvu.ca

Research interests: Impacts of parenting styles on healthy eating and physical activity behaviours of young adults, support for responsive feeding in home and childcare settings, and innovative and entrepreneurial aspects of nutrition and dietetic practice. Read more

Adjunct Faculty

Dr. Angela Dufour, PhD, MEd, RD, IOC Dip Sport Nutr, HPC, ISAK 2, Adjunct Professor
angela.dufour@msvu.ca

Dr. Dufour is a Registered Dietitian with expertise in applied human nutrition, clinical nutrition, sport nutrition, and foodservice systems management. She recently completed her PhD studies at the University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia, with key research interests in the area of foodservice provisions at major sporting events to improve athletes’ health and safety and has over 15 years of experience in university teaching, research, and professional practice. She is the Lead Sport and Performance Dietitian for the Canadian Olympic and Paralympic Sport Institute Network and Sport Scientist Canada and has attended multiple Olympic and International Games; 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, 2018 Peyong Chang Winter Olympics, 2019 PanAmerican Games, 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics, 2022 Beijing Winter Games and multiple Canada Games.

Angela holds a Masters in Adult Education and graduated from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) with a Diploma in Sports Nutrition and is a Level 2 Anthropometrist, certified by the International Society of Anthropometry Kinetics.

Dr. Dufour has taught within the Department of Applied Human Nutrition at Mount Saint Vincent University and has contributed to student mentorship and experiential learning in both academic and professional practice settings. She is also an Adjunct Fellow with University of the Sunshine Coast, supporting international collaboration in nutrition and sport nutrition research.

Dr. Dufour has collaborated nationally and internationally with researchers, healthcare professionals, and sport organizations to advance evidence-based nutrition practice and education and she brings a unique blend of knowledge between mass catering and the nutrition requirements of high-performance athletes.

 

Dr. Matt McSweeney, PhD, Adjunct Professor
Matthew.mcsweeney@acadiau.ca

Matt joined the Acadia University faculty in 2013 after completing both his BSc and PhD in Food Science at the University of Guelph.  Matt primarily studies sensory science. Read More

 

 

Dr. Priya Kathirvel, PhD, Adjunct Professor
priya.kathirvel@msvu.ca

Dr. Kathirvel has a background in food science and her primary research interests have been in the areas of food chemistry & analysis and functional food product development. Her earlier research focused on the extraction, isolation and characterization of polyphenolic compounds from fruits and studying their antioxidative potential and mechanisms of inhibition of lipid oxidation in various food systems. Read more

 

Dr. Sukhinder Cheema, PhD, Adjunct Professor
skaur@mun.ca

Dr. Cheema has a background in biochemistry, nutrition and molecular biology. She combines her multidisciplinary expertise to investigate the regulation of metabolic pathways, at the molecular and cellular level, by nutrients. Her research focuses on maternal nutrition during pregnancy, its impact on pregnancy outcome, and the regulation of offspring metabolism.