Rate My Professor Lisa Houghton

Emeritus Professor Lisa Houghton serves in the Department of Human Nutrition within the Sciences Division at the University of Otago. She completed her undergraduate studies and MSc at the University of Guelph in Canada, followed by clinical dietetic training at McMaster Health Sciences Centre, and earned her PhD in Nutritional Sciences from the University of Toronto. Before joining the University of Otago in 2008, her career included positions as Assistant Professor at Acadia University, Research Associate at The Hospital for Sick Children in Canada, and member of the Premature Infant Nutrition group at Abbott Laboratories in the USA. She was promoted to Professor and served as Head of the Department of Human Nutrition in 2020, attaining Emeritus status in 2023. Professor Houghton is actively involved in the Otago Global Health Institute Leadership Group and holds memberships in the American Society of Nutrition and the International Society for Research on Human Milk and Lactation.

Her research focuses on community and international nutrition, particularly the assessment and health consequences of micronutrient deficiencies in at-risk populations, maternal and young child undernutrition, and nutritional assessments in Indonesia, Kenya, and India. Key areas include the influence of infant and young child feeding practices on diet quality, gut microbiota, growth, and morbidity; the impact of complementary feeding home-fortification strategies using desiccated beef powder on young children's growth and development; and the development of field-friendly biomarkers for exclusive breastfeeding. Influential publications encompass 'The case against ergocalciferol (vitamin D2) as a vitamin supplement' (2006, The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition), which has garnered over 800 citations; 'Long-term vitamin D3 supplementation is more effective than vitamin D2 in maintaining serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D status over the winter months' (2013, British Journal of Nutrition); 'Micronutrient intakes of lactating mothers and their association with breast milk concentrations and micronutrient adequacy of exclusively breastfed Indonesian infants' (2019, The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition); and 'Serum zinc is a major predictor of anemia and mediates the effect of selenium on hemoglobin in school-aged children in a nationally representative survey in New Zealand' (2016, The Journal of Nutrition). Her work has advanced knowledge on micronutrient interventions in vulnerable groups, reflected in over 3,000 career citations.