Key details
Dr Zahra Khan
Senior Lecturer in Human Nutrition & Health Science
Dr Zahra Khan is a Senior lecturer in Nutrition and Health Science in the Faculty of Engineering and Science with diverse experience in clinical nutrition, public health nutrition, research, and teaching.
At the University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences Lahore, she was appointed as a lecturer in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, where she played a pioneering role and dedicated herself to advancing the discipline. Before joining the University of 杏吧app下载, Dr Khan worked as Assistant Professor at A’Sharqiyah University Oman.
She completed her undergraduate and master's degrees in food and nutrition from Pakistan, followed by an M.Phil in Public Health and Preventive Medicine. In 2013, Dr Khan was awarded a foreign scholarship for her PhD studies and successfully completed her PhD with Distinction at the Medical University of Graz in Austria. Her doctoral research primarily focused on Paediatric/Neonatal Nutrition.
Over the course of nearly four years, she worked at the Children's Hospital Graz, gaining valuable experience in various fields, and improving her clinical and research skills. Dr Khan actively participated in numerous postgraduate courses on an international level and presented her work worldwide, gaining recognition and awards in the field of Paediatric nutrition. She has also published her research findings in peer-reviewed journals.
In addition to her academic and research activities, Dr Zahra Khan actively contributed to various nutrition focused initiatives in Pakistan. She served as a member of technical committees involved in procuring nutritional commodities for the treatment of malnutrition. Furthermore, she provided her expertise as a Public Health Nutrition specialist to local government and partner agencies for a range of assignments including a provincial consultation meeting focused on the development of a national maternal nutrition strategy where she acted as an academia resource person. She also contributed to the formulation of a national adolescents’ nutrition strategy and played a part in developing key messages for lifestyle and behaviour change communication.
She considers herself as a very enthusiastic young professional who believes: “We should work together to make this World a better place for future generations!”
Responsibilities within the university
Module leader
- Basic Principles of Nutrition
- Introduction to Nutrition and Health
- Nutrition Education and Health Promotion
- Nutrition through the lifecycle
- Nutrition Project
Awards
- Won scholarship after high school for Bachelor degree at Punjab University, Lahore. Pakistan
- Secured a travel grant from Higher Education Commission Pakistan to present my work at International conference in New Zealand (2011)
- Won a highly competitive scholarship for PhD studies at Medical University Graz, Austria jointly funded by Higher Education Commission, Pakistan- Osterreichischer Austauschdienst (OeAD) (2013)
- Attended summer school at Cambridge University UK sponsored by Department of Neonatology, Children Hospital, Graz, Austria. (2015)
- Won travel grant to present at World Congress of Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (WCPGHAN) conference arranged Montreal Canada, 2016 and most innovative idea award at the same conference.
- Won “ESPGHAN International Exchange Award” to attend short-term fellowship at LMU, Munich, Germany. (2017)
- Won Young Investigator Award to attend the Annual Meeting of ESPGHAN held in Glasgow, UK. (2019)
- Won travel grant to present at R4NUT conference arranged in Paris France, (2019) and most innovative idea award at the same conference.
Research / Scholarly interests
- Maternal nutrition
- Benefits of Breastfeeding and Breast Milk components
- Clinical Nutrition (Paediatric and adolescent population)
Key funded projects
- Identification of high-risk individuals for developing metabolic syndrome using National Cholesterol Education Program Expert Panel (NCEP) criteria among university students. Funded by ECR-Network Seed Funding supported by The Faculty of Engineering & Science, The NRI, and 杏吧app下载 Research & Enterprise.
- Determining the optimal time to introduce FULL oral feeds in preterm infants to establish successful breastfeeding during hospital stay Funded by HEC Pakistan
- Safety Assessment of human milk in Pakistan. Is there a health concern? Funded by HEC Pakistan
- Comparison between different feeding protocols and existing protocol for the treatment of acute malnutrition (a cluster randomized controlled clinical trial) Funded by World Bank and Department of Health Punjab.
Recent publications
- Javaid N, Khan Z, Ali MA and Tahir SA. Evaluating the impact of early nutritional assessment and intervention in hospitalized Liver Cirrhosis patients. Arq. Gastroenterol. 2022 59(01).
- Bruckner M, Khan Z, Binder C, et al. Extremely Preterm Infants Have a Higher Fat Mass Percentage in Comparison to Very Preterm Infants at Term-Equivalent Age. Front Pediatr. 2020;8:61. Published 2020 Mar 10. doi:10.3389/fped.2020.00061
- Khan Z, Sitter C, Dunitz-Scheer M, Posch K, Avian A, Bresesti I and Urlesberger B. Full oral feeding is possible before discharge even in extremely preterm infants. Acta Paediatr.2018 Jun 28. doi: 10.1111/apa.14478.
- Pahsini K, Marinschek S, Khan Z, Urlesberger B, Scheer PJ and Dunitz-Scheer M. Tube dependency as a result of Prematurity. JNPM. 2018:11(3):311-316
- Khan Z, Morris N, Unterrainer H, Haiden N, Holasek S and Urlesberger B. Effect of standardized feeding protocol on nutrient supply and postnatal growth pattern of preterm infants (Prospective study). JNPM. 2018;11(1):11-19
Presentations
- Khan Z. Optimizing early Neonatal Nutrition: A contrast in Evidence and Clinical Practice. Parallel Research Tracks. The 2022 ASU Research Day. Oman
- Rochow N, Kosmann P, Hon Yiu So, Rochow E, Landau-Crangle E, Wackernagel D, Collins C, Khan Z, et al. Individualized growth trajectories calculator for preterm infants – Effects on neurodevelopment, body composition and blood pressure. PAS meeting 2019. Baltimore. MD.USA
- Khan Z, Morris N, Dunitz-Scheer M, Holaseck S and Urlesberger B. Practical aspects of compromised nutritional supplies in extremely preterm infants vs very preterm infants admitted in NICU. NEW TRENDS IN NATURAL SCIENCES-II:PUBLIC HEALTH, FOOD, NUTRITION AND SAFETY NTNS-II, 2018. Lahore. Pakistan