1. Fishbowl conversation: Nutritional, social and environmental drivers of school-provided meal programs
What should a national school-provided meal program in Australia look like? Drawing on the latest research and practice insights from Australia and Canada, including children's perspectives and pilot program evaluations, this interactive fishbowl discussion invites panellists and participants to weigh up the nutritional, social and environmental factors and co-develop recommendations for future programs.
Presenters
2. What are our kids really eating? How to overcome the challenges of measuring nutrition in cohort studies
Led by two of Australia's leading longitudinal birth cohorts, ORIGINS and Generation Victoria, this interactive workshop shares case studies and lessons learnt on the challenges and latest methods for measuring child nutrition, and how cohort data can inform policy, practice and interventions. Participants will help identify priority evidence gaps and intervention opportunities in the early primary school years and gain confidence to use longitudinal nutrition data in their own research.
Presenters
Capacity = 50
Positioning Nutritionists as Leaders in Transforming Australia’s Food System
An interactive workshop exploring how nutrition professionals can lead and partner in transforming Australia's food system to be healthier, more sustainable and more equitable, drawing on examples from WA, Victoria and NSW. Participants will map a nutrition challenge from their own context and leave with practical tools and strategies to drive collaborative food systems change.
Presenters
Capacity = 50
The impact of exercise on the gastrointestinal tract: Nutritional Implications
An interactive workshop for nutrition scientists and athlete support practitioners on the causes, assessment and evidence-based nutrition management of exercise-induced gastrointestinal symptoms. Participants will build their understanding of GI symptoms during and after exercise and how to research, assess and manage them.
Presenters
Capacity = 60
Strengthening Causal Inference in Nutritional Epidemiology: The Role of Target Trial Emulation
An interactive workshop introducing target trial emulation as a practical framework for drawing stronger causal conclusions from observational nutrition data, with DAGs and g-methods as supporting tools. Working in small groups on real scenarios (e.g. ultra-processed food and cardiovascular disease), participants will learn to specify a target trial, identify common biases and critically evaluate causal claims in nutrition research.
Presenter
Capacity = 30
Culinary Education and Interventions for Nutrition Research, Teaching and Practice
An interactive workshop exploring how culinary education, including culinary medicine and Teaching Kitchens, can bring nutrition science to life in research, teaching and practice. Through a simulated cooking demonstration, tasting plates, sensory evaluation and small-group discussion, participants will learn to design effective face-to-face or online culinary programs for their own setting.
Presenters
Capacity = 25 | Cost = $10
AI and the Future of Food Environments and Policy: From Big Data to Action
An interactive workshop exploring how AI is transforming food-environment and food-policy research, featuring case studies from Professor Mary L'Abbé (the FLIP food label database) and Professor Kathryn Backholer (AI monitoring of digital food marketing). In a facilitated AI Futures Lab, participants will weigh up the opportunities, risks and safeguards of AI in nutrition and co-develop priority recommendations.
Presenters
Capacity = 50
Connecting with Country - our film, our story
A screening of a 20-minute documentary filmed on Country in the Kimberley with Djarindjin Community as part of the Connecting to Country for Healthy Eating project, followed by a yarning session with John Jacky (Bardi Jawi Community researcher), Vincent McKenzie (Djarindjin Community representative) and filmmaker Shannon Owen. Participants will gain insights into working respectfully with remote Aboriginal communities and building meaningful, community-led research through storytelling and two-way knowledge exchange.
Presenters
Capacity = 60
Unmasking Imposter Syndrome: Building Belonging, Confidence and Resilience
Hosted by the NSA Student Mentoring Committee, this interactive workshop for students and early career researchers combines speakers' career stories with small-group activities that explore how imposter syndrome affects confidence and career progression. Attendees will leave with practical strategies for recognising self-doubt, building resilience and seeking support.
Presenters
Caroline Tuck - Swinburne University
Andrew Costanzo - Deakin University
Capacity =30 | This workshop is designed for students and ECRs only
Beyond Nutrients: How Food Structure Shapes Sensory Perception and Digestion?
Why can two foods with identical nutrient panels behave so differently once eaten? This interactive workshop traces how processing shapes food structure, texture, sensory experience and digestion, with participants working as "food structure detectives" to interpret real-world data and recognise when structure, not just composition, matters in their own research.
Presenters
Capacity = 40
1. From hidden curriculum to intentional design: Mapping food literacy in nutrition education courses
Hosted by SIGNETT and facilitated by Dr Rebecca Russell and Dr Emma Beckett, this interactive workshop helps nutrition and dietetics educators map where food literacy skills are taught, practised and assessed across their curriculum. Through guided reflection and hands-on mapping, participants will identify strengths and gaps and leave with a food literacy skills map and action plan for clearer scaffolding.
Presenters
2. From Framework to Action - advancing planetary health education in nutrition and dietetics by implementing the NURTURE framework
This interactive workshop introduces the NURTURE Curriculum Framework, an internationally co-developed and Indigenous-informed framework to help educators embed sustainable food systems and planetary health in nutrition and dietetics training. Through card-based curriculum mapping, a quiz and global best-practice examples, participants will identify gaps in their own teaching and leave with an action plan to strengthen their curricula.
Presenters
Capacity = 50
Location
Ian Potter Auditorium
Kenneth Myer Building (Dax Centre) Parkville, VIC
Speakers
Associate Professor Sandra Iuliano - University of Melbourne
Associate Professor Helen Macpherson - Deakin University
Register
This lecture is not included in a an ASN meeting registration. You are required to register for this separately via the link below:
CLICK HERE to register