On behalf of Dietitians Australia, we are delighted to invite you to participate in the inaugural Dietitians Australia National Nutrition & Dietetics Research Summit, to be held online and in-person at Deakin Downtown on Friday 13 February 2026.
The Summit’s theme, Evidence to impact: Science with purpose, captures the vital role of scientific research in advancing nutrition and dietetics knowledge. In addition, it will examine the translation of evidence to inform meaningful change across clinical, community, policy and education settings to promote individual, population and planetary health.
Deakin Downtown offers a stunning venue with panoramic city views, just steps away from world-class dining and cultural attractions. Whether you’re joining us in person or online, we hope you’ll find the Summit both enriching and energising.
We look forward to welcoming you in Melbourne / Naarm, or online, in February 2026.
Working Group members:
Professor Mark Lawrence (Chair), PhD, APD (Deakin University)
Mark has over 40 years’ experience as a practitioner and academic in food policy and regulation. His research seeks to shift conventional nutrition science to an Ecological Nutrition paradigm to inform policies and practices for healthy and sustainable diets. He has 153 publications, H-index: 52 and >11,500 citations. The latest ScholarGPS report ranked him Australia’s number 1 nutrition scholar.
Dr Lauren Hanna, PhD, APD (Monash University)
Following a decade of clinical practice in hospital settings, Lauren is now a Research Fellow at Monash University specialising in nutrition in cancer care. Her postdoctoral work is exploring innovative approaches to identify, monitor, and manage malnutrition and muscle loss in patients with high-risk cancers to improve outcomes.
A/Prof Helen MacLaughlin, PhD, APD (Queensland University of Technology and Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital)
Helen leads and supports nutrition research undertaken in healthcare settings to improve outcomes that matter to people living with chronic or complex conditions. Her work aims to develop evidence, and to close the evidence to practice gap with innovative implementation research which supports broad uptake and development of research capacity.