Rate My Professor Rachelle Pretorius

Dr. Rachelle Pretorius is a Lecturer and Researcher in the School of Medical, Molecular and Forensic Sciences, College of Environmental and Life Sciences, at Murdoch University, where she serves as Unit Coordinator and Lecturer for Human Nutritional Physiology within the Food Science and Nutrition team. She earned her PhD in Nutrition and Immunometabolism from the University of Western Australia in 2022, as part of the SYMBA Study—a sub-project of the ORIGIN Project—investigating maternal dietary fibre intake during pregnancy and its impacts on maternal and infant metabolic and immune health outcomes. Pretorius also holds a Master of Science in Physiology from North-West University, South Africa. Before transitioning to academia, she accumulated over a decade of experience as a Global Regulatory and Scientific Affairs Manager, overseeing the safety and effectiveness of food products for infants and young children. Previously, she was a Postdoctoral Researcher at The Kids Research Institute Australia (Telethon Kids Institute) and an Adjunct Research Fellow at UWA Medical School.

Pretorius's research focuses on maternal and early life nutrition, examining connections between diet, chronic inflammation, gut microbiota, metabolic disorders, immunology, and child health outcomes, with particular emphasis on early childhood brain development and prevention of allergic diseases. Her work incorporates randomized controlled trials and large-scale epidemiological analyses, including data from over 200,000 mother-infant pairs through the European Child Cohort Network (ECCN) to explore maternal metabolic health and child neurodevelopmental outcomes such as ADHD and autism spectrum disorders. Notable publications include "Infant Diet Recommendations Reduce IgE-Mediated Egg, Peanut, and Cow’s Milk Allergies" (Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice, 2025, co-authored with S.V.M. Walker et al.); "Is maternal diabetes during pregnancy associated with neurodevelopmental, cognitive and behavioural outcomes in children? Insights from individual participant data meta-analysis in ten birth cohorts" (BMC Pediatrics, 2025, lead author); "Higher maternal bread and thiamine intakes are associated with increased infant allergic disease" (Pediatric Allergy and Immunology, 2024); "Effects of pregnancy and lactation prebiotics supplementation on infant allergic disease: A randomized controlled trial" (Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 2025); "Maternal Fiber Dietary Intakes during Pregnancy and Infant Allergic Disease" (Nutrients, 2019); and "High-Fiber Diet during Pregnancy Characterized by More Fruit and Vegetable Consumption" (Nutrients, 2020). Her research has garnered 177 citations.