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Prof Suzanne Filteau

Research Degrees Director & Prof, EPH

United Kingdom

My research focuses on nutritional problems in LMICs and I have several long-term collaborations with researchers in India, Tanzania, and Zambia. I have proven success at leading and contributing to multinational and multidisciplinary collaborations and my training in nutrition, which interacts with all body systems, allows me to make connections across disciplines and thus support junior researchers in diverse fields.

My teaching and capacity strengthening are primarily with doctoral students, both in my role as FRDD and in my supervision of both LSHTM and overseas doctoral trainees. I also contribute to teaching, module organization and other aspects of the MSC NfGH.

Affiliations

Department of Population Health
Faculty of Epidemiology and Population Health

Centres

Centre for Maternal Adolescent Reproductive & Child Health

Teaching

I am a member of the core staff of the MSc, Nutrition for Global Health. Each year I teach quite a few lectures on FPHN as well as lectures on second term nutrition modules and on the Diploma in Tropical Nursing. Each year I also act as personal tutor for 2-3 students, supervise 3-4 summer projects, and contribute to marking of assignments, exams and projects.

As FRDD since 2008, I make major contributions to the LSHTM Research Degrees programmes and student support and management overall. I have been on the management board of our successive MRC Doctoral Training Programmes. I also currently supervise the following Research Degrees students:

• Binta Bako, DrPH 9/2019 – associate supervisor with R Mathur and S Cook; Nigerian decision making regarding covid-19 and the interactions with chronic diseases.

• Fanny Sandalinas, 1/2021 - associate supervisor with Edward Joy and Heidi Hopkins; Understanding the influence of malaria on micronutrient biomarkers among populations in sub-Saharan Africa

• Emily Carr, 9/2021 - associate supervisor with Derek Macallan at SGUL as part of MRC LID; Effect of vitamin D and calcium supplementation on immune responses to respiratory viruses

• Eva Malindisa, 9/2021; CUHAS Mwanza, Tanzania; The role of diet on the high prevalence of diabetes in the CICADA cohort

I have examined 4 PhD vivas in the past 5 years: two in Norway, one for the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal, and one in Cambridge.

Research

I am an international research team leader and an expert on the role of nutrition in the interaction between infectious and chronic diseases, an under-studied but important area. This work arises from two aspects of my earlier research: on nutrition-HIV interactions and on body composition which is associated with disease in both over- and under-nutrition. My research addresses several themes in the LSHTM research strategy: chronic conditions in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), how these interact with infectious diseases, and how nutrition throughout the life course can influence these interactions. My focus has been on determinants of disease and underlying metabolism with the ultimate aim of improving management of infectious and chronic diseases in LMICs.

Since the largest numbers of people affected by infectious diseases and now also chronic diseases are in LMICs, I have invested substantially in developing partnerships with people from LMICs and mentor them so they become equipped with the skills to lead on research addressing their own aims. My recent grants include 6 where I act as mentor for colleagues and students in LMICs and 3 where, as Co-I, I contribute to work led by a PI from a LMIC. I consider mentorship of early career researchers both at LSHTM and in LMICs to be an important contribution to academic leadership.

Moving forward, the new SAMPA project, for which I am PI, combines several of my cohorts to permit investigation of long-term outcomes, primarily pancreas structure and endocrine and exocrine functions, of prior exposure to malnutrition or severe infections. This international collaboration will provide a step change in understanding chronic conditions in LMICs. In addition to the addressing the aims of the funded project, the data and samples from the combined cohorts will provide a platform for additional studies and PhD projects, some of which are now being planned.

Research Area
Child health
Clinical trials
Global Health
Nutrition
Vitamins and micronutrients
Disease and Health Conditions
HIV/AIDS
Malnutrition
Non-communicable diseases
Country
Ethiopia
India
Tanzania
Zambia
Region
South Asia
Sub-Saharan Africa (all income levels)

Selected Publications

Correlates of early child development among children with stunting: A cross-sectional study in Uganda.
Mbabazi, J; Pesu, H; Mutumba, R; Bromley, K; Ritz, C; FILTEAU, S; Briend, A; Mupere, E; Grenov, B; Friis, H; Olsen, MF;
2024
Maternal & child nutrition
Perinatal HIV infection is associated with deficits in muscle function in children and adolescents: a cross-sectional study in Zimbabwe.
Gregson, CL; Rehman, AM; Rukuni, R; MUKWASI-KAHARI, C; MADANHIRE, T; Kowo-Nyakoko, F; Breasail, MÓ; Jeena, L; Mchugh, G; FILTEAU, S; Chipanga, J; SIMMS, V; Mujuru, H; Ward, KA; FERRAND, RA;
2023
AIDS
Growth Profiles of Children and Adolescents Living with and without Perinatal HIV Infection in Southern Africa: A Secondary Analysis of Cohort Data
Rehman, AM; SEKITOLEKO, I; Rukuni, R; WEBB, EL; McHugh, G; Bandason, T; Moyo, B; Ngwira, LG; MUKWASI-KAHARI, C; Gregson, CL; SIMMS, V; FILTEAU, S; FERRAND, RA;
2023
Nutrients
Association of linear growth velocities between 0 and 6 years with kidney function and size at 10 years: A birth cohort study in Ethiopia.
Zinab, B; Ali, R; Megersa, BS; Belachew, T; Kedir, E; Girma, T; Abdisa, A; Berhane, M; Admasu, B; Friis, H; Abera, M; Olsen, MF; Andersen, GS; Wells, JC K; FILTEAU, S; Wibaek, R; NITSCH, D; Yilma, D;
2023
The American journal of clinical nutrition
Longitudinal Growth and Undernutrition Burden Among Term Low Birth Weight Newborns Reared in Adverse Socioeconomic Conditions in Delhi.
Kaur, M; Trilok Kumar, G; Sinha, S; FILTEAU, S; Kurpad, AV; Osmond, C; Sachdev, HS;
2023
Indian pediatrics
Dietary patterns of Indian school-aged children and associations with markers of chronic disease risk.
Trilok-Kumar, G; Malik, A; Gusain, Y; Millerot, E; Pathak, R; FILTEAU, S;
2023
Food science & nutrition
Brief Report: Changes in Nocturnal Heart Rate Variability in People Living With HIV During the First Year of Antiretroviral Therapy Compared With HIV-Uninfected Community Controls.
Kavishe, BB; PrayGod, G; Brage, S; Kitilya, BW; Faurholt-Jepsen, D; TODD, J; Jeremiah, K; FILTEAU, S; Olsen, MF; Peck, R;
2023
Journal of acquired immune deficiency syndromes
Associations of weight and body composition at birth with body composition and cardiometabolic markers in children aged 10 y: the Ethiopian infant anthropometry and body composition birth cohort study.
Megersa, BS; Zinab, B; Ali, R; Kedir, E; Girma, T; Berhane, M; Admassu, B; Friis, H; Abera, M; Olsen, MF; FILTEAU, S; NITSCH, D; Yilma, D; Wells, JC; Andersen, GS; Wibaek, R;
2023
The American journal of clinical nutrition
Associations between Stunting, Wasting and Body Composition: A Longitudinal Study in 6- to 15-Month-Old Kenyan Children.
Konyole, SO; Omollo, SA; Kinyuru, JN; Owuor, BO; Estambale, BB; Ritz, C; Michaelsen, KF; FILTEAU, SM; Wells, JC; Roos, N; Friis, H; Owino, VO; Grenov, B;
2023
The Journal of nutrition
Blood Pressure and Body Composition During First Year of Antiretroviral Therapy in People With HIV Compared With HIV-Uninfected Community Controls.
Kavishe, BB; Olsen, MF; FILTEAU, S; Kitilya, BW; Jeremiah, K; Krogh-Madsen, R; TODD, J; Friis, H; Faurholt-Jepsen, D; PrayGod, G; Peck, R;
2022
American Journal of Hypertension
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