Dr. Rachelle Pretorius

Biography

Rachelle Pretorius is a Registered Nutritionist (RNutr) and Post Doctoral researcher at the Nutrition Early Life team. She is particularly interested in understanding the influence of early life environmental exposures and nutrition during pregnancy and early childhood on later-life disease outcomes. With over ten years of experience in the industry as a global regulatory scientific affairs manager, Rachelle transitioned into academic research, completing her PhD at the University of Western Australia. Her PhD project was part of the SYMBA Study, focusing on promoting gut health and allergy prevention, examining maternal dietary fiber intake during pregnancy and its impacts on maternal and infant health. As an early-career researcher, she gained further experience in epidemiology and big-data management through her work with the LIFECYCLE team and the European Child Cohort Network (ECCN). Currently, as a research fellow at the Telethon Kids Institute, her work focuses on understanding the relationship between food and nutrient combinations consumed by pregnant women and childhood allergic disease prevention. Rachelle is committed to exploring how mothers' diets during pregnancy impact early-stage brain development, with a vision to optimize dietary recommendations for pregnant mothers, ultimately leading to better health outcomes for children.

Research Interests

Experience