About Us
Dr. Ana Carolina Leme, Ph.D. is the founder of NutriSearch Consulting Services. She is passionate about improving diet and other lifestyle behaviours among Canadians and Brazilians from different age groups. Dr. Leme has a Ph.D. in Public Health Nutrition from the University of São Paulo, Brazil, where her research focused on diet and physical activity behavioural change. For her thesis, she developed a 6-month obesity prevention program for adolescents from low-income status using multiple components (i.e., interactive seminars, cooking classes, WhatsApp® group messages, and parents newsletters).
Dr. Leme was a post-doctoral fellow at the Children's Nutrition Research Centre, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, USA. She conducted important research while at Baylor in two different approaches but interconnected:
Nutritional epidemiology using representative datasets (NHANES);
A qualitative study to understand how adolescents classify their top foods consumed into the MyPlate (US Dietary Guideline).
She was a visiting scholar with the “Guelph Family Health Study” under the supervision of Dr. Jess Haines. Her research focuses on the dietary patterns of a cohort of parents and children living in Southern Ontario, Canada. In addition, she conducted a focus-group study to understand parents of young children's perceptions of the 2019 Canada Food Guide and how they can support meal preparation and family meals.
Dr. Leme's research has been supported by the prestigious São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) and the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES). Her research has been published in high-impact peer-review journals and recognized by prestigious awards and nominations from “Abril Publishing Housing", “The University of São Paulo”, and the “International Society for Behavioural Nutrition and Physical Activity”. Moreover, she holds a Bachelor's degree in Nutrition & Dietetics from Centro Universitário São Camilo. She also completed a specialization course in Clinical Nutrition at Centro Universitário São Camilo.
Dr. Leme has experience in research coordination, project management, and communication, and has previously worked with several academic institutes in Canada, Brazil, Australia, and the USA. She also has a number of volunteer roles related to nutrition and dietetics, public health, and behavioural-change strategies.
