DrHeidi Staudacher

Heidi is an advanced accredited practising dietitian and NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow at the Food & Mood Centre. She leads two main research programs, aiming to identifying dietary treatments for common mental disorders, such as depression, and for disorders of gut-brain interaction (DGBI), such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). As well as examining efficacy of these dietary interventions, her research investigates the nature and relevance of diet-induced microbiome shifts and other important mechanisms through which diet influences the brain and the gut, including placebo and nocebo effects. Her PhD which was funded by a prestigious NIHR Clinical Doctoral Research Fellowship, led to the discovery that a low FODMAP diet shifts the gut microbiome in irritable bowel syndrome, and that probiotic co-administration can mitigate these effects. Her research has had international impact, informing international guidelines for the clinical management of IBS and other DGBIs.

Selected grants 2010-current:

2022 Rome Foundation Disorders of Gut-Brain Interaction International Research Award $57112

2022 NHMRC Emerging Leadership Investigator Grant $655,150

2019 Career Continuity for Researchers who are Primary Carers $26,227

2018 Alfred Deakin Postdoctoral Fellowship $182,589

2013 NIHR Clinical Doctoral Fellowship $526,000