Education, Training and Employment History
Assistant Professor – Department of Nutrition, Food and Exercise Sciences, Florida State University, USA.
Visiting Scholar - Institute for Ageing and Health, Newcastle University, UK.
Postdoctoral Fellowship - NIDDK, National Institutes of Health, USA.
Postdoctoral Fellowship - Department of Oncology/Cross Cancer Institute, University of Alberta, CA.
PhD - Nutrition & Metabolism, Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Sciences, University of Alberta, CA.
Postgraduate Degree (Specialist) - Academic Teaching, FacLions, BR.
Undergraduate - Nutrition/Internship, UFG, BR.
Research Area
Nutritional Assessment / Clinical Nutrition
Dr. Carla Prado, PhD, RD is a Professor at the University of Alberta, a Campus Alberta Innovates (CAIP) Chair in Nutrition, Food and Health, and a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) New Investigator. She is the Director of the Human Nutrition Research Unit, a state-of-the-art research and training facility. Her laboratory is dedicated to the study of nutrient intake, energy metabolism and skeletal muscle and adipose tissue dynamics and its effect on health. Dr. Prado was recognized as one of the most influential young Canadian leaders, receiving Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 Award.
Dr. Prado is an expert in assessing nutritional status through the precise measurement of body composition and energy metabolism; she has published over 160 peer-reviewed publications on the topic (h-index=46; i10-index=97). Her research has shown for the first time the prevalence and clinical implications of sarcopenic obesity (concurrent appearance of low muscle and high fat) in cancer, and has provided evidence of the independent effect of body composition on cancer recurrence, treatment and survival. Her expertise also includes the assessment of whole-body macronutrient metabolism and the regulation of body weight and composition. The focus of her current research program is to develop targeted nutrition interventions for the prevention and treatment of abnormal body composition in patients with diverse chronic conditions. She is currently the Principal Investigator of three randomized controlled trials investigating the impact of nutrition intervention on body composition and health.
Dr. Prado received her Ph.D. from the University of Alberta, Canada, and has completed further training at the Cross Cancer Institute (Canada), the National Institutes of Health (USA) and Newcastle University (UK). She is an Associate Editor of Clinical Nutrition and the Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle. She serves as a member of the Body Composition Clinical Guidelines group for the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition. In addition to receiving Canada's Top 40 Under 40 Award in 2019, Dr. Prado has also received Avenue Edmonton's Top 40 Under 40, an award that celebrates Alberta’s most exceptional young community and corporate leaders (2017).
NUTR 482 - Introduction to Dietetic Practice (Winter 2018).
NUTR 440 - Current Topics in Nutritional Science (Winter 2016, 2017).
Global News featured one of our studies. Watch it here: http://globalnews.ca/news/3521927/can-a-high-protein-diet-help-cancer-patients-live-longer/
Ms Scientist Documentary. Watch it here (Canada): https://watch.cbc.ca/media/media/absolutely-canadian/episode-17/38e815a-00f433343a9
Outside of Canada (https://vimeo.com/ondemand/msscientist/279160758)
Lectures and discussion to improve readiness of students to work independently in the development of professional practice skills in dietetics. Required before placement in NUTR 483, 484, 485, 486, 487 and 488. Prerequisites: NU FS 223, NU FS 250, NU FS 373, NUTR 301, and NUTR 468. Corequisites: NU FS 356, NU FS 377, and NUTR 302.