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Spotlight on Prof. Anastasia Kalea, Professor (Teaching), Education (Div of Med)
Each month we will interview a member of DoM Staff. This week we speak to Prof. Anastasia Kalea, Professor (Teaching), Education (Div of Med)
1 October 2024
What is your current role and what do you enjoy most about your job?
I am a Professor in teaching at the Division of Medicine across our undergraduate (BSc) and postgraduate (MSc) Nutrition and Dietetics programmes. As a Programme Director for the MSc in Obesity and Clinical Nutrition we train healthcare professionals with the vision to change the narrative around obesity and improve patient care. The lectures I deliver are in my area of expertise across different courses at UCL from the Division of Medicine to the Institute of Child Health to the Medical School MBBS programme. For a large part of my time I lead research projects in the areas of dietary interventions, cardiometabolic health and obesity, as well as on food sustainability.
What I enjoy most about my job is the autonomy to be creative. This applies to leading various research projects and initiating collaborations, but also to trying new things in teaching in order to improve learning and the student experience. My interest as an educator has been to change the way we train healthcare professionals. I believe that incorporating empathy into healthcare education enhances patient outcomes, improves patient and provider experiences, reduces burnout, and fosters better communication and holistic care.
The most exciting day of the year is meeting the new students. I am eager to embark on a journey with them not just to teach them the science, but rather to trigger their curiosity and inspire them to take positive action and drive change. It is extremely rewarding for me to see their excitement at their graduation parties a few months later and to listen to their amazing stories when they come back. Their accomplishments make it all worth it!
What are you working on at the moment?
At the moment I am working on a few interesting projects with important social impact. One is the “FeedYourBrain”project led by colleagues in the Nutrition Team. This initativeis funded by a Public engagement grant from the Institute of Mental Health. With a team of UCL colleagues, foodbank managers and student volunteers we designed a series of actions to empower food bank users with knowledge and practical advice to improve their diet and mental health, ultimately contributing to their overall well-being.
Another project is a revision of the diet handbook that Lupus UK will make available for patients living with the disease. With a team of MSc Nutrition students and colleagues, at the Division of Medicine and UCLH, we explored the evidence-based dietary information and engaged with patients with lupus to design guidance that will be useful for them to improve their dietary habits. We have published this research and it is great to see the translational aspects of this project.
My most exciting project perhaps this year is to set up the first UCL Summer school in Greece this coming summer on “Food, Diet, Health and Sustainability”. With UCL colleagues, key partners such as the British Council, and support from Global Engagement Funds, we plan to increase UCL’s international exposure. We will showcase our research strengths at UCL through the delivery of this course and explore future opportunities for collaboration and knowledge exchange with Greek partner educational institutions. Climate change has an impact on our health and our food systems and diets contribute quite significantly to its causes, so we need to act and talk to each other more.
What is your background, and how did you find your job in this field?
I was trained as a Dietitian in Greece. Soon after graduation and during my first post at a weight management clinic I realised I had too many questions needing answers. My curiosity brought me to the beautiful northeastern part of the USA in Maine, where I spent five wonderful years during my PhD learning different techniques in nutritional biochemistry and physiology. I took my first leadership lessons there and gained precious life experiences that shaped who I am today. Working together with people from different cultural and religious backgrounds and learning from their perspectives made me value and respect the importance of teamwork and diversity in searching for solutions.
As a postdoctoral fellow I joined Columbia University in New York and later as a JDRF Fellow Northwestern University in Chicago, where I was trained by world leaders in busy labs on many cutting-edge research techniques, conducting rigorous fast-paced research. When I returned to London for family reasons, UCL felt like a perfect fit for me. I joined UCL as a British Heart Foundation chair scholar an incredible team at UCL at the Centre of Cardiovascular Genetics. There I received full support for my first steps in the UK and plenty of life-changing leadership lessons from my mentors and supervisors. I often advise my students to see their postgraduate training not only as a life skills learning journey but also as an opportunity to travel the world and see different places.
The disruptive and inclusive culture at UCL and the research-focused education made me feel at home from day one. Later after gaining more teaching experience at a teaching University in London, I took the challenge to support the expansion of our Nutrition teaching portfolio at UCL, setting up several new programmes and education initiatives.
What are your interests outside work?
Outside work I believe all my time is spent with my family and I treasure these moments. I have two young children with strong personalities, and I honestly adore watching them grow up. I am learning through them, and I enjoy exploring their perspectives on the world. Parenting -in any form- is an unparalleled self-discovery journey that challenges your boundaries. Sometimes it feels harder to answer a question to a 5-year-old than someone at a scientific conference. Another thing I treasure is long philosophical conversations with my partner with whom we share a love of cooking, entertaining and spending time with friends, as well as a true love of traveling and exploring other cultures. Our last trip was to Bordeaux in France, where we learned a lot about the impact of environmental sustainability on the quality and complexity of the wine.
As a college student, I attended drama classes for a few years and was singing in every opportunity we had to gather with friends with their guitars. Getting ready for a performance after studying a play for a year was a thrill I miss. Even though I do not do this any longer, I frequently enjoy the amazing opportunities London offers to go to the theatre. The latest play I saw was “The Wizard of Oz” which reminded me how much I miss my family and friends in Greece. It also reminded me that home is not necessarily a physical place, it is the place we feel happy, loved, connected and secure. I think that many places I lived felt like home to me. And this does feel like a privilege.