DR. CARLA PRADO

Associate Professor

CAMPUS ALBERTA INNOVATES

Program Chair in Nutrition, Food and Health; Director – Human Nutrition Research Unit

UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA BIO: Carla Prado is an internationally recognized expert in body composition assessment and a champion of women in science. Her research program focuses on the identification and treatment of abnormalities in body composition (such as low muscle mass), with a special interest in cancer, a disease that affects one in four Canadians. Her research has shown that body composition predicts both response to therapy and survival in cancer. She is now designing targeted lifestyle interventions to change body composition and improve the health of people with cancer. Carla is an expert in assessing nutritional status through the precise measurement of body composition. Body composition is an expanded concept of body weight and refers to the different proportions of muscle and fat in our bodies. Carla is particularly interested in studying low muscle mass, a condition that can be present at any body weight yet may be hidden in those with normal weight or with obesity. Her vision and leadership on this topic are changing the way an individual is assessed and treated. Carla is also pioneering a number of community engagement endeavours. Her excellence spans the three pillars of academic commitment, having won several awards for her research, teaching and service. In 2017, Avenue Magazine Edmonton named Carla to its Top 40 Under 40 list, an award that celebrates Alberta’s most exceptional young leaders. She has shared her expertise in over 100 meetings worldwide and in many high-profile media outlets such as Forbes, The Atlantic, Marie Claire and Women’s Health. Carla was recently featured in the CBC documentary “Ms. Scientist”. Carla earned her PhD from the University of Alberta and completed further training at the Cross Cancer Institute, the National Institutes of Health (U.S.A.) and Newcastle University (U.K.). She is an associate editor of Clinical Nutrition and the Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle. She is also a member of the Body Compositional Clinical Guidelines group for the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition.

THE BEST CAREER ADVICE I EVER RECEIVED: Always do what you love, you will never work a day in your life.

THE BEST CAREER DECISION I EVER MADE WAS: To persistently pursue my dream, taking big risks to make it happen.