Research Fellow
College of Nursing and Health Sciences
Dr Lucinda Bell is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Caring Futures Institute (Better Lives Theme), at Flinders University. She is a nationally recognised public health nutrition researcher, focused on enhancing children’s health and nutrition from the start of life.
Lucy has a strong track record in dietary assessment, evidence synthesis, nutrition epidemiology, and the delivery and evaluation of child nutrition and weight management initiatives across a range of settings: childcare centres, families, and communities. Dr Bell’s body of research has helped transform approaches to the prevention and management of childhood obesity and has improved our ability to routinely monitor and measure diet-related behaviours.
Lucy is also part of the NHMRC EPOCH-Translate Centre for Research Excellence leading the development of a Core Outcome Measures Set for Early Prevention of Obesity in Childhood (COMS-EPOCH) (https://earlychildhoodobesity.com/). This work will develop a standardised approach to measuring outcomes in early obesity-prevention interventions, to improve and harmonise evaluation.
In her role on the SMILE (Study of Mothers' and Infants' Life Events affecting oral health) study, an NHMRC-funded birth cohort study investigating the relative importance and timing of critical factors that shape young children's oral heath, Lucy leads the dietary measures component, developing a brief free sugars screener for young children.
Lucy has supervised Honours and PhD students to completion and is the recipient of a Flinders University Vice-Chancellors Early Career Researcher Award.
PhD, Flinders University (2015)
BND(Hons), Flinders University (2008)
2017: Flinders University CoNHS Vice Present and Executive Dean’s Award for Research, all other researchers
2016: Flinders University Vice-Chancellor’s Early Career Researcher Award
2016: SA Channel 9 Young Achiever Award semi-finalist science & technology category
2014: Best Student Research Paper Award, School of Medicine, Flinders University
2014: Best Student Research Paper Award, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University
2013: Best Student Oral Presentation (1st prize) at the Nutrition Society of Australia ASM (Brisbane)
2013: Best Student Oral Presentation (1st prize) at the Nutrition Society of Australia student presentation evening/AGM (Adelaide)
2006, 2007: Golden Key International Honour Society Award, Flinders University, recognises scholastic achievement and excellence among university students from all disciplines
Dr Bell currently works on the following public health nutrition projects:
1) "Tools and interventions to increase children’s vegetable consumption" A consortia between Flinders University, Nutrition Australia (Victoria Division), Healthy Kids Association, Perfection Fresh and Thomas Farms Kitchen. Funded by Hort Innovation.
2) SMILE (the Study of Mothers' and Infants' Life Events affecting oral health): An NHMRC project grants in area of child obesity and dental health (In collaboration with Adelaide Uni).
Community engagement: Dr Bell has served on the executive committee for the state branches of the Nutrition Society of Australia as student representative (2014), general member (2015, 2019) and secretary (2016-2018), and the Dietitians Association of Australia as general member (2014-2015) and treasurer (2016-2017). In 2018 she received a Dietitians Association of Australia (DAA) Award of Merit in recognition of her contribution to the profession.
Peer review: Dr Bell is a peer reviewer for numerous international and national scientific journals (~1/month). Since 2018 she has served on the editorial board of Nutrition and Dietetics, journal of the Dietitians Association of Australia.
Professional activities: Dr Bell was invited on to a National Nutrition Group for Early Childhood Education and Care settings (NNG-ECEC) demonstrating external recognition of her research in early childhood diet and public health nutrition (2018-2020).
Research supervision: Dr Bell is active in research training. She has supervised 1 PhD student to completion and is currently supervising another PhD student (to be completed in 2022). She has also supervised 9 Honours students to completion.