Alison came to HNR from her position as Director of Research at the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada. Prior to that she spent 12 years at the University of Saskatchewan, where she was a Full Professor and for some time the Head of the Division of Nutrition and Dietetics, College of Pharmacy and Nutrition. This was followed by two years in industry, at CANTOX Health Sciences International in Mississauga, Ontario, where she was the Director of Nutritional Sciences.
Alison’s first degree was in Physiology from the University of Edinburgh, which was followed by a Diploma in Nutrition and PhD from the University of Cambridge. Her PhD research was conducted on human colonic function at the Dunn Clinical Nutrition Centre with Dr John Cummings. She carried out post-doctoral training at the Mayo Clinic, with Dr Sidney Philips, and at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio with Dr John Banwell. Alison returned to the UK and worked with Professor Nicholas Wald at St Bartholomew’s Medical College in London, before returning to Canada in 1987.
Alison has strong research interests in gastrointestinal function, particularly the roles of dietary fibre and starch, and more recently in dietary trend analysis, particularly fat, carbohydrate and energy. She has considerable experience in issues relating nutrition to food policy, dietary surveys and methodologies, and regulatory affairs. She has worked within the private and charitable sectors, and has been closely involved with the Canadian and US government departments associated with food policy and with FAO/WHO.
Dr Lennox continues to publish under the name Alison M Stephen.