Mahsa Jessri

Faculty, Centre for Health Services and Policy Research
Canada Research Chair in Nutritional Epidemiology for Public Health
Assistant Professor, Food, Nutrition and Health
Associate Member, UBC School of Population and Public Health

mahsa.jessri@ubc.ca


Profile

Dr. Mahsa Jessri is Faculty at the UBC Centre for Health Services and Policy Research, Assistant Professor of Food, Nutrition and Health in the UBC Faculty of Land and Food Systems, and an Associate Member in the Division of Health Services and Policy at the UBC School of Population and Public Health. She is Principal Investigator of the Nutritional Epidemiology for Population Health Lab in the Food, Nutrition and Health Program, where she holds the Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) in Nutritional Epidemiology for Population Health. She is a core member of Health Canada’s Nutrition Science Advisory Committee (NSAC) and recipient of the Royal Society of Canada Award.

Dr. Jessri is an expert in public health, nutritional epidemiology, surveillance and methodology, biostatistics, as well as public health nutrition policy and her program is uniquely at the intersection of population and public health and nutritional sciences and dietetics. The overarching goal of her research program is to provide the evidence-base and decision tools to inform national guidelines and policies for reducing the burden of chronic diseases.

Currently, Dr. Jessri’s program is focused on population modeling of the impact of lifestyle patterns on health and healthcare system, predictive modelling, population health impact assessment of public health nutrition policies, nutritional monitoring and surveillance, development of robust methods for addressing the challenges in assessment and analysis of complex data, and design and implementation of personalized risk assessment tools (web-based applications available through https://www.projectbiglife.ca/). She has published government reports and has been awarded several national grants to support her research program, including a recently-funded Canadian Foundation for Innovation Grant to support her Nutritional Epidemiology and Big Data Analytics Laboratory.

Education

PhD (Vanier Scholar), Nutritional Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto
MSc, Nutrition and Metabolism, Human Nutrition Division, University of Alberta

Research Interests

  • Development and validation of predictive risk tools and microsimulation models to support public health planning
  • Population health impact assessment of public health policies and lifestyle patterns
  • Measuring current and future burden of disease
  • Exploring machine learning techniques for deriving patterns in health data
  • Knowledge translation and evaluation (web-based application development and evaluation)

Affiliations and Awards

  • Discovery Award, Banting Research Foundation
  • Royal Society of Canada (RCS) Alice Wilson Award
  • Member, UBC Social Exposome Cluster

Current Graduate Students

  • Sappho Gilbert, PhD Student (Yale Fox Fellow)
  • Saba Jalali, PhD Student
  • Adelia Jacobs, MSc Student
  • Julia Chen, MSc Student
  • Alisha Buttar, MSc Student
  • Svilena Lazarova, MSc Student

Currently Recruiting Graduate Students Interested in

  • Development and validation of predictive risk tools and microsimulation models
  • Population health impact assessment
  • Measuring burden of disease
  • Using machine learning techniques
  • Knowledge translation and evaluation

Courses Currently Taught

  • FNH 398 Research Methods in Human Nutrition

Recent Publications

Jessri M, Jacobs A, Ng AP, Bennett C, Quinlan A, Nutt C, Brown J, Hennessy D, Manuel DG. Development and Evaluation of the Dietary Pattern Calculator (DiPaC) for Personalized Assessment and Feedback. Can J Diet Pract Res. 2023 Oct 12:1-7. doi: 10.3148/cjdpr-2023-013. Online ahead of print. Read more

Perreault M, Wallace A, Martin A, Sadowski A, Laila A, Lemieux S, Hutchinson JM, Kirkpatrick SI, Randall Simpson JA, Guenther PM, Lamarche B, Jessri M, Louzada ML, Olstad DL, Prowse R, Vatanparast H, Haines J. Construct validity and reliability of the Canadian Eating Practices Screener to assess eating practices based on 2019 Canada's food guide recommendations. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2023 Oct 3. doi: 10.1139/apnm-2023-0080. Online ahead of print. Read more

Wallace A, Martin A, Bédard A, Pitre C, Lemieux S, Randall Simpson JA, Kirkpatrick SI, Hutchinson JM, Williams TE, Westaway AM, Lamarche B, Day M, Guenther PM, Jessri M, L'Abbé MR, Louzada ML, Olstad DL, Prowse R, Reedy J, Vatanparast H, Vena JE, Haines J. Development of the Canadian Eating Practices Screener to assess eating practices based on 2019 Canada's Food Guide recommendations. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2023 Aug 30. doi: 10.1139/apnm-2023-0081. Online ahead of print. Read more

Grant A, Roy-Gagnon MH, Bastasic J, Talekar A, Jessri M, Li G, Buhrmann R, Freeman EE. Alcohol Consumption, Genetic Risk, and Intraocular Pressure and Glaucoma: The Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2023 Jul 3;64(10):3. doi: 10.1167/iovs.64.10.3. Read more

Hutchinson JM, Dodd KW, Guenther PM, Lamarche B, Haines J, Wallace A, Perreault M, Williams TE, Louzada ML, Jessri M, Lemieux S, Olstad DL, Prowse R, Randall Simpson JA, Vena JE, Szajbely K, Kirkpatrick SI. The Canadian Food Intake Screener for assessing alignment of adults' dietary intake with the 2019 Canada's Food Guide healthy food choices recommendations: Scoring system and construct validity. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2023 May 10. doi: 10.1139/apnm-2023-0018. Online ahead of print. Read more

Ng AP, Jessri M, L'Abbe MR. Adherence to a priori dietary patterns in relation to obesity: results from two cycles of the Canadian National Nutrition Survey. Public Health Nutr. 2023 May 2:1-26. doi: 10.1017/S1368980023000903. Online ahead of print. Read more

Hutchinson JM Hutchinson, Williams TE, Westaway AM, Bédard A, Pitre C, Lemieux S, Dodd KW, Lamarche B, Guenther PM, Haines J, Wallace A, Martin A, Louzada ML, Jessri M, Olstad DL, Prowse R, Randall Simpson JA, Vena JE, Kirkpatrick SI. Development of the Canadian Food Intake Screener to assess alignment of adults' dietary intake with the 2019 Canada's Food Guide healthy food choices recommendations. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2023 Apr 24. doi: 10.1139/apnm-2023-0019. Online ahead of print. Read more

Gilbert SZ, Morrison CL, Chen QJ, Punian J, Bernstein JT, Jessri M. Algorithm-based mapping of products in a branded Canadian food and beverage database to their equivalents in Health Canada's Canadian Nutrient File. Front Nutr. 2023 Feb 16;9:1013516. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2022.1013516. eCollection 2022. Read more

Jessri M, Hennessey D, Eddeen AB, Bennett C, Sanmartin C, Manuel D. Dietary Patterns Attributable Mortality and Life Expectancy Lost in Canada: Evidence from Canadian National Nutrition Survey Linked to Routinely-Collected Health Administrative Databases. Am J Epidemiol. 2022 Oct 26:kwac189. doi: 10.1093/aje/kwac189. Online ahead of print. Read more

Jessri M, Hennessy D, Eddeen AB, Bennett C, Garriguet D, Sanmartin C, Manuel D. Linkage of the nationally representative Canadian Community Health Survey - Nutrition 2004 to routinely collected mortality records. Health Rep. 2022 Sep 15;33(9):11-20. doi: 10.25318/82-003-x202200900002-eng. Read more

Prowse R PhD, RD, Doan N MSc, Philipneri A MSc, Thielman J PhD, Hack S MSc, Harrington DW PhD, Jessri M PhD, RD. Creating "Plates" to Evaluate Canadians' Dietary Intake in Relation to the 2019 Canada's Food Guide. Can J Diet Pract Res. 2022 May 3:1-8. doi: 10.3148/cjdpr-2022-010. Online ahead of print. Read more

Lazarova SV, Jessri M. Associations between dietary patterns and cardiovascular disease risk in Canadian adults: a comparison of partial least squares, reduced rank regression and the simplified dietary pattern technique. Am J Clin Nutr. 2022 May 2:nqac117. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/nqac117. Online ahead of print. Read more

Jessri M, Hennessey D, Bader Eddeen A, Bennett C, Zhang Z, Yang Q, Sanmartin C, Manuel D. Sodium, Added Sugar and Saturated Fat Intake in Relation to Mortality and Cardiovascular Disease Events in Adults: Canadian National Nutrition Survey Linked with Vital Statistics and Health Administrative Databases. Br J Nutr. 2022 Apr 8:1-33. doi: 10.1017/S000711452200099X. Online ahead of print. Read more

Lazarova SV, Sutherland JM, Jessri M. Adherence to emerging plant-based dietary patterns and its association with cardiovascular disease risk in a nationally representative sample of Canadian adults. Am J Clin Nutr. 2022 Mar 10:nqac062. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/nqac062. Online ahead of print. Read more

Fisher S, Bennett C, Hennessy D, Finès P, Jessri M, Bader Eddeen A, Frank J, Robertson T, Taljaard M, Rosella LC, Sanmartin C, Jha P, Leyland A, Manuel DG. Comparison of mortality hazard ratios associated with health behaviours in Canada and the United States: a population-based linked health survey study. BMC Public Health. 2022 Mar 10;22(1):478. doi: 10.1186/s12889-022-12849-y. Read more

Fisher S, Bennett C, Hennessy D, Finès P, Jessri M, Bader Eddeen A, Frank J, Robertson T, Taljaard M, Rosella L, Sanmartin C, Jha P, Leyland A, Manuel DG. Comparison of mortality hazard ratios associated with health behaviours in Canada and the United States: a population-based linked health survey study. BMC Public Health. 2022 Mar 10;22(1):478. doi: 10.1186/s12889-022-12849-y.

Brassard D, Elvidge Munene L, St Pierre S, Gonzalez A, Guenther PM, Jessri M, Vena JE, Olstad DL, Vatanparast H, Prowse R, Lemieux S, L’Abbé M, Garriguet D, Kirkpatrick S, Lamarche B. Evaluation of the Healthy Eating Food Index (HEFI)-2019 measuring adherence to Canada’s Food Guide 2019 recommendations on healthy food choices. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2022 Jan 14. doi: 10.1139/apnm-2021-0416. Online ahead of print.

Warren C, Hobin E, Manuel DG, Anderson LN, Hammond D, Jessri M, Arcand J, L’Abbé M, Li Y, Rosella LC, Manson H, Smith BT. Socioeconomic position and consumption of sugary drinks, sugar-sweetened beverages and 100% juice among Canadians: a cross-sectional analysis of the 2015 Canadian Community Health Survey-Nutrition. Can J Public Health. 2022 Feb 9.

Brassard D, Elvidge Munene L, St Pierre S, Guenther PM, Kirkpatrick S, Slater J, Lemieux S, Jessri M, Haines J, Prowse R, Olstad DL, Garriguet D, Vena JE, Vatanparast H, L’Abbé M, Lamarche B. Development of the Healthy Eating Food Index (HEFI)-2019 measuring adherence to Canada’s Food Guide 2019 recommendations on healthy food choices. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2022 Jan 14. doi: 10.1139/apnm-2021-0415. Online ahead of print.

Fisher S, Manuel DG, Hsu AT, Bennett C, Tuna M, Bader Eddeen A, Sequeira Y, Jessri M, Taljaard M, Anderson GM, Tanueseputro P. Development and validation of a predictive algorithm for risk of dementia in the community setting. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2021 Sep;75(9):843-853. doi: 10.1136/jech-2020-214797. Epub 2021 Jun 24.

Ng AP, Jessri M, L’Abbe MR. Using partial least squares to identify a dietary pattern associated with obesity in a nationally-representative sample of Canadian adults: Results from the Canadian Community Health Survey-Nutrition 2015. PLoS One. 2021 Aug 5;16(8):e0255415. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0255415. eCollection 2021.

Hack S, Jessri M, L’Abbé M. Nutritional quality of the food choices of Canadian children. BMC Nutr. 2021 May 29;7(1):16. doi: 10.1186/s40795-021-00422-6.

Smith BT, Hack S, Jessri M, Arcand J, McLaren L, L’Abbé M, Anderson LN, Hobin E, Hammond D, Manson H, Rosella LC, Manuel DG. The Equity and Effectiveness of Achieving Canada’s Voluntary Sodium Reduction Guidance Targets: A Modelling Study Using the 2015 Canadian Community Health Survey-Nutrition. Nutrients 2021 Feb 27;13(3):779. doi: 10.3390/nu13030779.

Hack S, Jessri M, L’Abbe M. Evaluating Diet Quality of Canadian Adults Using Health Canada’s Surveillance Tool Tier System: Findings from the 2015 Canadian Community Health Survey-Nutrition. Nutrients. 2020 Apr 16;12(4):1113. doi: 10.3390/nu12041113

Jessri M, Wolfinger R, Lou W, L’Abbe MR. Identification of dietary patterns associated with obesity among a nationally-representative sample of Canadian adults: using of a priori, hybrid and simplified dietary pattern techniques. Am J Clin Nutr. 2017 Mar;105(3):669-684. doi: 10.3945/ajcn.116.134684. Epub 2017 Feb 1.

Jessri M, Lou WY, L’Abbé M. The 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans is associated with a more nutrient-dense diet and a lower risk of obesity. Am J Clin Nutr. 2016 Nov;104(5):1378-1392. doi: 10.3945/ajcn.116.132647. Epub 2016 Sep 28.

Jessri M, Lou WY, L’Abbé M. Evaluation of different methods to handle misreporting in obesity research: evidence from the Canadian national nutrition survey. Br J Nutr. 2016 Jan 14;115(1):147-59. doi: 10.1017/S0007114515004237. Epub 2015 Nov 2.

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