Dr. Dai-Keller is a Lecturer at the School of Population Health. Her research and teaching focus on chronic disease prevention, food policy, research integrity, and health disparities.
As a nutritional epidemiologist primarily studying ageing, Zhaoli (Joy) has led multiple projects using population-based cohorts, nationally representative survey data, and electronic health records in Singapore, the US, and Australia to study dietary factors...view more
Dr. Dai-Keller is a Lecturer at the School of Population Health. Her research and teaching focus on chronic disease prevention, food policy, research integrity, and health disparities.
As a nutritional epidemiologist primarily studying ageing, Zhaoli (Joy) has led multiple projects using population-based cohorts, nationally representative survey data, and electronic health records in Singapore, the US, and Australia to study dietary factors and other modifiable risk factors for the development and management of chronic diseases, including hip fractures, osteoarthritis and pain, obesity, cardiovascular disease, and mental health. In addition, her systematic reviews and meta-research assess dietary recommendations in evidence-based public health guidelines and clinical guidelines, with an extent to examine the influence of conflicts of interest in research conduct and dissemination.
Her research addresses the importance of optimal diet and nutrition in improving the quality of ageing life, methodological rigour of evidence-based health guidelines and policies, and equity in healthcare access, particularly for people in racial and ethnic minority groups. She has published over 40 peer-reviewed publications, including those published in top-tier medical journals, including the BMJ, Annals of Rheumatic Diseases, and PLOS Medicine (Published name: Zhaoli Dai).
As a committed public health researcher and educator, her goal is to train students in public health, medicine, or other health disciplines to develop systems thinking and essential analytic skills to address various public health problems.
My Grants
- Unraveling lifestyle patterns for better health outcome
Role: Principal investigator (funded $10,000; July 2023; UNSW School of Population Health)
- Evaluation of current and potential dietary data collection methods at UNSW
Role: Co-Principal investigator (funded $8,500; July 2023; UNSW SPH & SoHS)
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Identifying culturally appropriate and feasible strategies to improve hospital food service in older inpatients from racial and ethnic minority groups
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(Flinders Health & Medical Research Institute Kickstart program for ECRs, funded with 20,000 AUD, Dec 2022; Flinders University)
Role: Chief investigator A
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COMPare Conflicts: A Real-time Audit of Conflict of Interest Disclosures in Major Medical Journals
(USyd - Yonsei - Partnership Collaboration Awards, funded with 20,000 AUD; 2020-2022; University of Sydney)
Role: Co-Investigator
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Evidence use in genetically modified products (SJTU, funded with 5,000 AUD, Sept 2019; University of Sydney)
Role: Chief investigator A
My Qualifications
Ph.D. (Epidemiology): National University of Singapore (Oct 2015)
My Awards
- Summer scholarship awarded to two MD pathway students under my supervised projects (Flinders University; December 2022)
- Travel Award sponsored by the University of Sydney Pharmacy School 2019 Travel Support Grant (University of Sydney; July 2019)
- Travel Award sponsored by Boston Nutrition Obesity Research Center (BNORC) (Harvard University, Boston University, and Tufts University; 2018)
- Travel award sponsored by the Professional Development and Postdoctoral Affairs at Boston University (2017)
- Travel award sponsored by the North America Chinese Society for Nutrition and America Society for Nutrition (US; 2017)
- National Institute of Health (T32 fellowship) (US NIH; 2015-2018)
- 2nd Place Laboratory Clinical Research Award in the Evans Department of Medicine Research Days Poster Session (Boston University School of Medicine; 2016)
- Young Investigator Award by the 4th International Osteoporosis Foundation - Asia-Pacific Regional Conference 2014 (Taiwan; 2014)
- Best Poster Award by International Life Sciences Institute Southeast Asia Region 2013 (Singapore; 2013)
- Young Investigator Award by the 3rd International Osteoporosis Foundation - Asia-Pacific Regional Conference 2012 (Malaysia; 2012)
My Research Activities
- diet, nutrition, and medication use to promote healthy ageing and healthy longevity
- lifestyle patterns in disease management
- hospital food service and nutrition quality
- optimisation of telehealth utilisation in disease management
- systematic reviews related to food, nutrition, health, and research integrity
My Research Supervision
Areas of supervision
- Epidemiological studies in ageing and health (cohort studies, population surveys, and linked data in administrative health records)
- Systematic reviews and meta-analyses of primary studies, health guidelines/policies, and reviews
- Assessment of healthcare access and utilisation to address health inequalities
- Health disparities among culturally and linguistically diverse populations
Currently supervising
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Project: Identifying culturally appropriate and feasible strategies to improve hospital food service in older inpatients from racial and ethnic minority groups (primary supervisor)
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Project: A systematic review of diet, nutrition, and medication use among centenarians around the world (primary supervisor; completed)
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Project: Prevalence and Risk Factors of Drug-Related Hospital Readmissions in Older Adults: A Systematic Review (co-supervisor)
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PhD project: Strategies to improve incentives for responsible research practices among health and medical researchers at Australia’s Group of Eight universities (co-supervisor; University of Sydney)
My Engagement
In the media:
Editorial services:
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Associate editor: Public Health Nutrition (2023-)
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Associate editor: Nutrition Journal (2022-)
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Editorial board: BMC Geriatrics (2021-)
Academic societies:
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Nutrition Society Australia: Deputy Chair, Equity Diversity & Inclusion Working Group (National) (2022-)
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Australian Association of Gerontology: Executive committee member (NSW) (2021-)
My Teaching
My teaching interest includes nutritional epidemiology, ageing health, and health policy.
I have taught and coordinated units/courses in nutritional epidemiology, research methods, ageing and health, introduction to public health, and history of public health.
Current teaching (course convenor): Program evaluation (PHCM 2009); Capstone (PHCM 3003)
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0809-5692