Jennifer Vena is the Scientific Director for Alberta's Tomorrow Project (www.myATP.ca), a longitudinal cohort study of 55,000 adults based in Alberta, Canada. ATP is currently in its 20th year, and sits in Cancer Research and Analytics in Cancer Care Alberta, Alberta Health Services. ATP functions as a health research platform, with the goal of supporting research to better understand the causes of cancer and chronic disease. Dr. Vena is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Depts of Oncology and Community Health Sciences (University of Calgary) and Dept of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Sciences (University of Alberta). Dr. Vena’s work largely focuses on lifestyle behaviours and prevention of cancer and chronic diseases.
This session will discuss the emerging importance of body composition assessment throughout the nutrition care process. New and upcoming approaches and technological developments for assessing body composition will be reviewed. Attendees will learn about the relevance of body composition assessment, with a specific focus on acute and chronic care settings, and how to identify appropriate approaches to assess body composition in these clinical populations.