Kerith Duncanson

Dr. Kerith Duncanson is a Senior Research Fellow in Gastrointestinal Nutrition at the University of Newcastle's School of Medicine and Public Health. With over 30 years of experience across public and private sectors in nutrition and dietetics, she brings extensive clinical expertise to her research role. Her work bridges clinical practice and scientific investigation, focusing on the complex relationship between dietary intake, gut microbiome, and gastrointestinal health.

Dr. Duncanson's research interests span multiple domains of nutritional science with particular emphasis on gastrointestinal nutrition, dietary assessment methodologies, maternal and child nutrition, and Aboriginal nutrition. Her work addresses critical gaps in understanding how food impacts gut health, particularly in functional gastrointestinal disorders that affect quality of life for millions worldwide. She has developed innovative approaches to dietary assessment, including image- and voice-based systems for capturing dietary intake in diverse populations, including Cambodian women and children in lower-middle income countries.

Her recent publications reveal a strong focus on diet-microbiota interactions in gastrointestinal disorders, with numerous systematic reviews examining the relationships between food, gut bacteria, and symptoms in conditions like functional dyspepsia and irritable bowel syndrome. Her work also extends to maternal and child nutrition, Aboriginal health, and the development of standardized reporting frameworks for dietary metabolome research. Dr. Duncanson frequently collaborates with leading researchers in gastrointestinal health, particularly with Professor Nicholas Talley and colleagues in the Australian Gastrointestinal Research Alliance.

• 2008 prize winner for best report in the Rural Research Capacity Building Program
• Finalist in the 2011 University of Newcastle 3 minute thesis competition
• Finalist in the 2014 University of Newcastle 3 minute thesis competition

Dr. Duncanson's research program includes significant grant funding through the VISIDA project, which aims to improve dietary assessment in lower-middle income countries, and collaborations with the CRE Digestive Health, Australian Gastrointestinal Research Alliance, and Food and Nutrition Research Program. Her work has practical applications for improving nutritional assessment tools and developing better dietary management strategies for gastrointestinal disorders. She leads the PICNIC project (Parents in Child Nutrition Informing Community), which uses peer education approaches to disseminate child feeding and nutrition information in regional NSW.