Dr Seema Mihrshahi

This person does not currently hold a position at QUT.
Biography
Seema Mihrshahi is the Heinz Post-doctoral Research Fellow at QUT's Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation.Seema’s role is to analyse and report for the NOURISH randomised controlled trial, which seeks to promote positive feeding practices and food preferences in early childhood as a primary prevention strategy for childhood obesity.
Background
Seema was previously:
- Senior Research Fellow - Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine - Monash University
- Research Fellow - International and Immigrant Health Group - Department of Medicine - University of Melbourne
- Research Fellow in Nutrition - University of Sydney and George Institute for International Health Research.
Seema was also the project manager of the Childhood Asthma Prevention Study (CAPS), a multicentre randomised trial for the primary prevention of asthma in children, which tested:
- two interventions
- dietary modification
- house dust mite avoidance.
Seema has participated in research projects in three developing countries:
- Thailand
- Bangladesh
- Vietnam.
Research interests
- Health and nutrition of children in developing countries.
Seema's PhD research involved the use of the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS-UNICEF) from 31 developing countries to study the association between exclusive breastfeeding and child morbidity, particularly acute respiratory infections and diarrhoeal disease, which are the most common causes of child mortality and morbidity.
In 2005, Seema undertook fieldwork at the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Diseases Research (ICDDR, B) in Dhaka, Bangladesh, where she was involved in a cohort study to assess the effects of feeding practices on child morbidity.
An additional part of her research examined the implementation of the recommendations developed by WHO/UNICEF in the Global Strategy for Infant and Young Child Feeding in Bangladesh.
Personal details
Discipline
Public Health and Health Services
Field of Research code, Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC), 2008
Qualifications
- PhD (Curtin University of Technology)
Professional memberships and associations
- Editorial board - Nutrition and Metabolic Insights.
Teaching
Current supervision
- Associate supervisor for two PhD students on projects related to infant feeding practices in migrant mothers from China and India.
Experience
SAIFRN seeks to:
- improve infant and young child feeding practices
- reduce infant mortality in the South Asian region.
As part of this network she attends biannual research and dissemination meetings which are focused on developing new research questions and increasing the research capacity of South Asian investigators with an interest in infant and young child feeding.
The outcomes include:
- creating policy relevant information about the current situation
- assessing trends and key factors associated with infant and young child feeding practices in the region.
SAIFRN meetings are also attended by staff from:
- AusAID
- UNICEF
- WHO
- external funding bodies e.g. the Gates Foundation
Selected publications
QUT ePrints
To find publications by Seema, visit QUT ePrints, the University's research repository.