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Hire Dr. Laura V.

Canada

Research Consultant | Medical Writer | Expert in Public Health Nutrition and Nutrition Policy Research

Profile Summary

Dr. Laura Vergeer, PhD is the Founder and Owner of Nutrience Consulting. Nutrience Consulting provides support in conducting, analyzing or communicating research in nutritional sciences, public health or other life sciences. Nutrience Consulting works with academics, government policymakers, food companies, NGOs, non-profit organizations and other stakeholders to conduct and manage research projects - from study conceptualization to data collection and analysis, to the writeup and dissemination of research findings. Dr. Vergeer is also experienced in advising on policies, strategies or proposed regulations related to public health nutrition and food environments. Dr. Vergeer is passionate about improving the healthfulness, sustainability and affordability of food environments. Dr. Vergeer has a PhD in nutritional sciences from the University of Toronto, where her research focused on food and nutrition policy for population health. For her PhD thesis, she compared the nutritional quality of products offered by the top packaged food and beverage companies in Canada, and evaluated companies' reported and actual progress in contributing to a healthier Canadian food supply. Dr. Vergeer's PhD research and training were supported by the prestigious Canada Graduate Scholarship Doctoral Award from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and the Ontario Graduate Scholarship. Her research has been published in high-impact peer-reviewed scientific journals and recognized by prestigious awards from the Canadian Nutrition Society and Obesity Canada. Dr. Vergeer presently has more than 22 published peer-reviewed manuscripts (including 8 as first author), 7 technical reports, and over 44 invited presentations and conference presentations/publications. In addition to her PhD, Dr. Vergeer holds an Honours BSc in nutritional sciences and environmental science (with High Distinction) from the University of Toronto. She also completed the Collaborative Specialization in Public Health Policy PhD program at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto. Dr. Vergeer has experience in research administration, project management and science communication, and has previously worked with Health Canada, food companies and public health organizations to help inform their nutrition policies or regulations. She has also held a number of volunteer leadership roles related to nutrition, obesity and public health. Languages: English (native); French (professional working proficiency); Dutch (basic) Technical skills: Microsoft Office; statistical analysis software (R, SPSS); research administration; academic writing (manuscripts, reports, grants); procurement; website building and updating; social media Soft skills: Oral and written communication; problem solving; time management; leadership; collaboration Interests: Nutrition policy; public health policy; food environments; sustainability; climate change Website: nutrienceconsulting.com

Subject Matter Expertise

• ☆ Nutrition Science
• ☆ Health Policy
• ☆ Public Health
• ☆ Medical Writing
• ☆ Technical & Scientific Writing
• ☆ Manuscript & Journal Article Writing
• ☆ Science Communication
• ☆ Scientific Proofreading & Editing

Services

• Writing
• Research
• Consulting
• Data & AI
• Product Development

Writing Medical Writing, Technical Writing, General Proofreading & Editing

Research Gray Literature Search, Scientific and Technical Research, Systematic Literature Review, Secondary Data Collection

Consulting Scientific and Technical Consulting

Data & AI Statistical Analysis, Data Cleaning

Product Development Formulation

Work Experience

Owner/Founder

Nutrience Consulting

May 2023 - Present

Research Programs Officer

Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Toronto

September 2021 - May 2023

PhD Candidate/teaching assistant

Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Toronto

September 2017 - July 2021

Research Assistant

Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Toronto

April 2020 - March 2021

Undergraduate Research Student

St. Michael's Hospital (Toronto)

January 2016 - April 2017

Undergraduate Research Student

Mount Sinai Hospital (Toronto)

February 2014 - June 2014

Education

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D)

University of Toronto

September 2017 - July 2021

Honours Bachelor of Science (HBSc)

University of Toronto

September 2013 - June 2017

Certifications

• Canada Good Clinical Practices (GCP) Course for Researchers involved with clinical trials using investigational products

  Government of Canada

  January 2016 - Present

• Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans Tutorial Course on Research Ethics 2

  Government of Canada

  January 2016 - Present

• International Baccalaureate Diploma

  International Baccalaureate Organization

  July 2013 - Present

Publications

JOURNAL ARTICLE

Christine Mulligan, Vergeer L, Kent MP, L'Abbé MR (2023). Child-appealing packaged food and beverage products in Canada-Prevalence, power, and nutritional quality . PloS one.

Potvin Kent M, Soares Guimarães J, Amson A, Pauzé E, Remedios L, Bagnato M, Pritchard M, Onwo A, Wu D, L'Abbé M, et al. (2023). Sex differences in children's exposure to food and beverage advertisements on broadcast television in four cities in Canada . Health promotion and chronic disease prevention in Canada : research, policy and practice.

Potvin Kent M, Soares Guimaraes J, Pritchard M, Remedios L, Pauzé E, L'Abbé M, Mulligan C, Vergeer L, Weippert M (2023). Differences in child and adolescent exposure to unhealthy food and beverage advertising on television in a self-regulatory environment . BMC public health.

Monique Potvin Kent, Pauzé E, Remedios L, Wu D, Soares Guimaraes J, Pinto A, Bagnato M, Pritchard M, L'Abbé M, Mulligan C, et al. (2023). Advertising expenditures on child-targeted food and beverage products in two policy environments in Canada in 2016 and 2019 . PloS one.

Potvin Kent M, Guimaraes JS, Bagnato M, Remedios L, Pauzé E, Pritchard M, Wu D, L'Abbé M, Mulligan C, Vergeer L, et al. (2022). Broadcast Television Is Not Dead: Exposure of Children to Unhealthy Food and Beverage Advertising on Television in Two Policy Environments (Ontario and Quebec). An Observational Study . The Journal of nutrition.

Mulligan C, Jennifer J. Lee, Vergeer L, Ahmed M, L'Abbé MR (2022). Evaluating the potential implications of canadian front-of-pack labelling regulations in generic and branded food composition databases . BMC public health.

Laura Vergeer, Potvin Kent M, Pauzé E, Mariangela Bagnato, Guimarães JS, Pinto A, Remedios L, Pritchard M, L'Abbé M, Mulligan C, et al. (2022). Advertising expenditures across media on food and beverage products heavily advertised on youth-appealing television stations in Canada . Applied physiology, nutrition, and metabolism = Physiologie appliquee, nutrition et metabolisme.

Potvin Kent M, Pauzé E, Bagnato M, Guimarães JS, Pinto A, Remedios L, Pritchard M, L'Abbé MR, Mulligan C, Vergeer L, et al. (2022). Food and beverage advertising expenditures in Canada in 2016 and 2019 across media . BMC public health.

Vergeer L, Ahmed M, Vanderlee L, Mulligan C, Weippert M, Franco-Arellano B, Kacie Dickinson, Bernstein JT, Marie-Eve Labonte, Mary L'Abbe (2022). The relationship between voluntary product (re) formulation commitments and changes in the nutritional quality of products offered by the top packaged food and beverage companies in Canada from 2013 to 2017 . BMC public health.

Laura Vergeer, Mulligan C, Potvin Kent M, Christoforou AK, Mary L'Abbe (2021). Quantifying Child-Appeal: The Development and Mixed-Methods Validation of a Methodology for Evaluating Child-Appealing Marketing on Product Packaging . International journal of environmental research and public health.

Laura Vergeer, Beatriz Franco-Arellano, Gabriel B. Tjong, Jodi Bernstein, Mary R. L’Abbé (2021). The Level of Processing, Nutritional Composition and Prices of Canadian Packaged Foods and Beverages with and without Gluten-Free Claims . Nutrients.

Mulligan C, Franco-Arellano B, Ahmed M, Vergeer L, Kacie Dickinson, L'Abbé MR (2021). Comparing how Canadian packaged food products align with the 2007 and 2019 versions of Canada's Food Guide . Applied physiology, nutrition, and metabolism = Physiologie appliquee, nutrition et metabolisme.

Vergeer L, Lana Vanderlee, Sacks G, Ella Robinson, Mackay S, Young L, Mulligan C, Mary L'Abbe (2020). The Development and Application of a Tool for Quantifying the Strength of Voluntary Actions and Commitments of Major Canadian Food Companies to Improve the Nutritional Quality of Their Products . Current developments in nutrition.

Laura Vergeer, Mavra Ahmed, Beatriz Franco-Arellano, Christine Mulligan, Kacie Dickinson, Jodi Bernstein, Marie-Eve Labonte, Mary R. L’Abbé (2020). Methodology for the Determination of Fruit, Vegetable, Nut and Legume Points for Food Supplies without Quantitative Ingredient Declarations and Its Application to a Large Canadian Packaged Food and Beverage Database . Foods.

Vincent Lau, Cook DJ, Fowler R, Bram Rochwerg, Johnstone J, Lauzier F, Marshall JC, Basmaji J, Heels-Ansdell D, Thabane L, et al. (2020). Economic evaluation alongside the Probiotics to Prevent Severe Pneumonia and Endotracheal Colonization Trial (E-PROSPECT): study protocol . BMJ open.

Vergeer L, Lana Vanderlee, Ahmed M, Franco-Arellano B, Mulligan C, Kacie Dickinson, Mary L'Abbe (2020). A comparison of the nutritional quality of products offered by the top packaged food and beverage companies in Canada . BMC public health.

Laura Vergeer, Christine Mulligan, Anthea K. Christoforou, Jodi T. Bernstein, Mary R. L’Abbé (2020). Evaluating the Canadian Packaged Food Supply Using Health Canada’s Proposed Nutrient Criteria for Restricting Food and Beverage Marketing to Children . International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.

Laura Vergeer, Paige Veira, Jodi T. Bernstein, Madyson Weippert, Mary R. L’Abbé (2019). The Calorie and Nutrient Density of More- Versus Less-Processed Packaged Food and Beverage Products in the Canadian Food Supply . Nutrients.

Laura Vergeer, Lana Vanderlee, White CM, Rynard VL, Hammond D (2019). Vegetarianism and other eating practices among youth and young adults in major Canadian cities . Public health nutrition.

Gary Sacks, Lana Vanderlee, Ella Robinson, stefanie vandevijvere, Cameron AJ, Cliona Ni Mhurchu, Amanda Lee, SeeHoe Ng, TILAKAVATI KARUPAIAH, Vergeer L, et al. (2019). BIA-Obesity (Business Impact Assessment-Obesity and population-level nutrition): A tool and process to assess food company policies and commitments related to obesity prevention and population nutrition at the national level . Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity.

Vergeer L, Lana Vanderlee, Potvin Kent M, Mulligan C, L'Abbé MR (2018). The effectiveness of voluntary policies and commitments in restricting unhealthy food marketing to Canadian children on food company websites . Applied physiology, nutrition, and metabolism = Physiologie appliquee, nutrition et metabolisme.

Laura Vergeer, Mulligan C, Marie-Eve Labonte, L'Abbé MR (2018). Assessment of the Canadian Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative's Uniform Nutrition Criteria for Restricting Children's Food and Beverage Marketing in Canada . Nutrients.