Cathy Alberda is currently the Clinical Nutrition Program Lead at the Royal Alexandra Hospital, along with Edmonton area rural, rehab and community hospitals. She graduated from the University of Saskatchewan with a degree in Food Science and Applied Microbiology. Cathy spent more than two decades as a critical care dietitian where she became involved in clinically based research. She returned to school mid-career to undertake a Master’s degree in Nutrition and Metabolism at the University of Alberta where she investigated the use of probiotic therapy in the critically ill population. Her teaching and research interests have continued to focus on energy and protein metabolism in the critically ill patient, and the clinical applications of probiotics in the hospital setting.
This session will examine the role of the gut microbiota in the development and management of chronic metabolic diseases. The objectives are to discuss the role of probiotics and prebiotics in relation to energy metabolism and obesity, chronic diseases, mental health and maternal diet-offspring links.