QIMR Berghofer Associate Professor Severine Navarro has been appointed to the steering committee of the Woolworths Centre for Childhood Nutrition Research.
The centre, which was launched by the Children’s Hospital Foundation in Queensland in 2018, aims to better understand key issues in childhood nutrition and how to tackle them.
Associate Professor Navarro is the head of the Mucosal Immunology Laboratory at QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute and her research focuses on the link between gut health and the immune system.
She was the first person to receive funding through the Woolworths Centre for Childhood Nutrition Research for her work into how parasites affect our gut microbiome and how they might help prevent a range of inflammatory conditions from allergies to mental illnesses.
The Centre is also funding Associate Professor Navarro to conduct research into the link between diet and gut health during pregnancy and early childhood.
“I am delighted to be appointed to the steering committee for the Woolworths Centre for Childhood Nutrition Research, and to help further important studies into how we can safeguard the health of future generations,” Associate Professor Navarro said.
“The Centre is advancing important research into child health including the prevention and management of food allergies, diet, childhood eating behaviours and infant feeding, and I am proud to play a part in that.
“I am also very grateful to the Centre for supporting my research in this field.”
Associate Professor Navarro was also recently appointed the head of the Queensland branch of the Australia and New Zealand Society for Immunology – the leading scientific group for immunology research in Australia and New Zealand.
“In the last 10 to 15 years, immunology has emerged as a breakthrough field of research, with implications for all aspects of human health including inflammation, mental health and cancer risk and recovery,” she said.
“There is a lot more to learn, and as the head of the Queensland branch of the ASI, I am very pleased to support and promote this important field of research.
