Congratulations to Maggie Kinshella, who completed her PhD program this summer! Maggie is the first WACH PhD graduate, and the first in her family to obtain a PhD!
Maggie’s dissertation was titled “Maternal diets and dietary diversity in relation to pregnancy hypertension in sub-Saharan Africa”.
Maggie’s PhD research was inspired by over a decade of work in global health, which highlighted the injustice of maternal health disparities, along with her interest in food and nutrition as a potato farmer’s daughter.
“The Elango Lab is renowned for systematically studying nutrition in pregnant and lactating populations, and I was fortunate to have Dr. Elango as my mentor for my doctoral studies.”
We asked Maggie what her top 5 experiences were during the PhD program:
1. The opportunity to travel to Kenya, The Gambia and Mozambique and conduct fieldwork that amplifies the voices of women and their families on maternal health and nutrition.
2. Building connections with colleagues in Africa at the forefront of global health research and advocacy.
3. Learning maternal and fetal physiology from the late Dr. Dan Rurak.
4. Being part of the Elango Lab and inspiring each other with our research.
5. Giving guest lectures on under-nutrition and pregnancy, and policies to impact maternal nutrition.
Maggie will be joining King’s College London this fall as a Banting Fellow. Congrats!