DrHajar Mazahery

Dr Hajar Mazahery is an experienced nutritionist, a research fellow at Deakin University, and adjunct Research Fellow at Curtin University, with a strong interest in dietary assessment, nutrients and dietary patterns and the role of diet in mental health and neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders. Her PhD research program focused on the role of vitamin D and omega-3 in pathophysiology of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in New Zealand children, led by Prof. Pamela von Hurst. She received a Trainee Travel Award, 21st Workshop on Vitamin D (Barcelona, Spain, 2018) in recognition of the merits of her research on diet and ASD. Since 2023, she has joined the MS Nutrition Research Program (Deakin University and Curtin University), led by Prof. Lucinda Black, working as the quantitative research group leader contributing to various projects that investigate associations between diet and the onset and progression of MS. She has been  awarded several grants, with the latest being MS Australia postdoctoral research fellowship to investigate associations between macronutrients and MS risk and progression using geometric framework for nutrition (for three years starting from January 2026). Hajar strongly believes in the benefits that a healthy diet can bring to people’s lives, and that diet is a high priority for people with MS.