DrAlison Spence

Dr Alison Spence is an Advanced Accredited Practising Dietitian (AdvAPD) and leader in public health nutrition research and teaching, at Australia's top ranked university for research in nutrition sciences.

Her research expertise is in early childhood nutrition promotion for children aged five years and under. Her research focuses on practical strategies to take health promotion messaging to everyday settings, and ultimately to set children up with a healthy start to life. Working across both home environments and Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) settings includes exploring opportunities to understand and improve feeding practices and child diets through family/shared meals and snacks, picture books and recipes. She leads Deakin's collaboration with the National Nutriton Foundation (NNF, formerly Nutrition Australia, Vic branch) to advance mutual priorities through evidence-based strategies for promoting healthy and sustainable eating in ECEC.

Dr Spence is also passionate about teaching public health nutrition, to upskill and empower nutrition and dietetic students, and research students, for work in this important area. She was Course Director of the Master of Dietetics in 2021-25. She teaches Community and Public Health Nutrition and manages community placements within the Master of Dietetics, supporting projects for community health centres and public health organisations across Victoria. Another of her favourite parts of her work is supervising Honours, PhD and placement students on early childhood nutrition projects.

Additionally she contributes to Scholarship of Teaching and Learning via delivering and evaluating novel teaching practices in public health nutrition. She has led and presented the Master of Dietetics team's work to expand and evaluate the incorporation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history, culture and health across the curriculum (2026 conference presentation), and collaboration with Deakin's School of Education to embed nutrition content in the Bachelor of Early Childhood Education (2025 conference presentation), as well as conducted work on evaluating feedback practices (published 2020).