Associate Professor, School of Nutrition
T: 514 396-1320 | leila.larson [at] mcgill.ca (Email)Ìý| Office: CINE 207
Degrees
BASc 2010 (University of British Columbia, Vancouver)
MPH 2013 (Columbia University, New York)
PhD 2017 (Emory University, Atlanta)
Recruiting
Currently recruiting MSc Thesis and PhD students.
Short Bio
Dr. Leila Larson is an Associate Professor in the School of Human Nutrition in the Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at ºÚÁÏÍø±¬³Ô¹Ï. Her primary areas of research are maternal and child nutrition and early childhood development. Her research focuses on 1) studying the impact of nutrition and psychosocial stimulation interventions, 2) investigating prenatal and postnatal exposures that influence nutrition and development of children, adolescents, and caregivers, and 3) the measurement of nutritional outcomes. She currently leads several projects to study the short and long-term impacts of early life nutrition inputs. Her research projects have been funded by numerous organizations such as the National Institutes of Health, the Thrasher Research Fund, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Awards and Recognitions
2025 – Arnold School of Public Health Recognition of Teaching Excellence 2021 Top Reviewer Award for The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
2018 Emory University Doctoral McCormick Award
Active Affiliations
· American Society of Nutrition
· Society for Research in Child Development
Research Interests
Dr. Larson’s overall research agenda is centered around investigating integrated solutions for sustained effects on maternal and child nutrition and early childhood development. Her research agenda fits into three primary areas of investigation: 1) designing and evaluating
interventions to address suboptimal nutrition and development, 2) understanding the relationship between prenatal and postnatal exposures on maternal and child health and development, and 3) improving the measurement of nutritional biomarkers.
Current Research
Dr. Larson is currently leading several large community-based projects in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and North America.
The BUNDLE study is a close collaboration with Plan International and the University of South Carolina. This cluster randomized trial in rural communities across Liberia is testing the effectiveness of an integrated nutrition, parenting, and infection control intervention on early childhood development and key caregiver and child health outcomes.
The RDNS Teen study aims to understand the long-term health, nutrition, and neurobehavioral impacts in adolescence from early life nutrition supplementation through a 10-year follow-up of a cluster randomized trial in Bangladesh.
A third project seeks to uncover how extreme weather events influence child nutrition, health, and developmental outcomes to better inform health interventions. Her team is using big data methods and large national and state representative datasets to understand the associations between key measures and indicators of extreme heat, drought, flooding, and storms and suboptimal child health and development across the USA.
Courses
NUTR 337: Nutrition Through Life
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NUTR 610: Pediatric and Maternal Nutrition
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Publications
To view a list of Dr. Larson’s publications, click .
