Research Fellow
- About
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- Email Address
- magaly.aceves@abdn.ac.uk
- Office Address
The Rowett Institute of Nutrition and Health
University of Aberdeen
Foresterhill
Aberdeen AB25 2ZD- School/Department
- School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition
Biography
Magaly passionately advocates nutrition, healthy lifestyles, and health policies for building a better and sustainable future. She is very interested in using data and new technologies (such as Artificial Intelligence) to drive innovation in nutrition and health. She uses nutrition-relevant data and meta-data to frame knowledge and enhance understanding of current nutritional problems and environmental sustainability challenges and looks to communicate and inform citizens and policy effectively.
She joined The Rowett Institute in 2020 and has been working on different RESAS-funded projects researching the relationships between healthiness, environmental sustainability, and cost diets. Also, she is working on assessing Scottish adults’ readiness to change towards a more sustainable diet. She joined the University of Aberdeen in 2017 and was part of the Health Services Research Unit. During this time, she was involved in the Knowledge Syntheses Team, which conducts high-quality research to inform healthcare professionals, policymakers, and service users across a wide range of healthcare interventions.
During her career, she has been involved in different childhood and adolescent obesity prevention and lifestyle improvement projects. She has vast experience in assessing nutritional health through quantitative and qualitative research methods and fieldwork experience in clinical nutrition, health promotion, and nutrition interventions. She has also experience in evidence synthesis and meta-analysis.
Qualifications
- Doctoral degree in Biomedicine & Nutrition (PhD, summa cum laude)2016 - Rovira i Virgili University (Tarragona, Spain)
- Master’s degree in Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (MSc)2013 - Barcelona University (Barcelona, Spain)
- Bachelor’s degree in Nutrition and Integral Wellbeing (BSc, Hons)2011 - Tec de Monterrey (Mexico City, Mexico)
Memberships and Affiliations
- Internal Memberships
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She is a mentor at the SUCCESS PLUS (Socio-cUltural Coaching for Careers and Employability to Support Success: Pathways for Life Underpinning Success) Mentoring programme at the University of Aberdeen.
- External Memberships
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- Cochrane Member
- Associate Editor at Public Health Nutrition, which provides an international forum for the publication and dissemination of research aimed at understanding the causes of, and approaches and solutions to, nutrition-related public health achievements, situations and problems around the world.
- Board of Editors at the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior (JNEB), the official journal of the Society for Nutrition Education and Behaviour, represents the unique professional interests of nutrition educators worldwide.
- Research
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Research Overview
As a woman working in and for health and nutrition sciences, Magaly tends to think broader about how science interacts with the real world and translates into better environments so that people can make healthier choices. She has been involved in different childhood and adolescent obesity prevention and lifestyle improvement projects. She has vast experience in assessing nutritional health through quantitative and qualitative research methods and fieldwork experience in clinical nutrition, health promotion, and nutrition interventions. She has also experience in evidence synthesis and meta-analysis. She is also interested in methods regarding knowledge transference, public engagement, and the implementation of research findings into clinical practice and policymaking.
Research Areas
Nutrition and Health
Applied Health Sciences
Biomedical Sciences
Current Research
Currently, she is working with data from the UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS) to model the relationships between the ‘healthiness’, ‘carbon footprint’ and ‘cost’ of UK diets, using our newly developed NDNS nutrient database. This work aims to establish determinants of healthy and sustainable diets. Also, she is working on assessing Scottish adults’ readiness to change towards a more sustainable diet.
Past Research
She has collaborated on national and international research projects, such as:
- Childhood Obesity in MexicO (COMO) project
- European Youth Tackling Obesity (EYTO) Project
- EYTO-Kids Project
- Health Behaviours in School-aged Children (HBSC) Study
She has also been involved in different Health Technology Assessment Programme commissioned by the National Institute of Health Research. Some of these include:
- A systematic review and integrated report on the quantitative, qualitative and economic evidence base for the management of severe obesity (REBALANCE) project;
- Testosterone Effects and Safety in Men with Low Testosterone levels (TestES Consortium): An evidence synthesis (including an individual participant data meta-analysis) and economic evaluation;
- The ARCHITECT Urine NGAL assay, NephroCheck Test and NGAL Test to help assess the risk of acute kidney injury for people who are being considered for admission to critical care;
- A rapid review of child food insecurity in the UK: evidence on its extent, nature and effects and what can be done to address it.
Knowledge Exchange
Magaly was part of the Public Engagement Group from the Health Services Research Unit. Through such activities, sharing information, she shared daily work experiences with the general public. Such experience showed her that public engagement comprises interaction and listening, which results in mutual learning.
She is a huge supporter of #WomenInScience and #WomenInSTEM. More women are needed in the scientific environment, and once they are in it, we need to retain them. There are still many stereotypes and gaps that need to be avoided, and she is willing to help achieve so.
- Teaching
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Teaching Responsibilities
Magaly is the Course Coordinator for course RN5002 - Assessment of Nutritional Health. She also is currently involved in delivering online material and lectures in the Challenges in Global Nutrition course.
Non-course Teaching Responsibilities
Magaly has been an Associate Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy (aFHEA) since 2020. She has experience teaching higher education in Mexico, Spain, and the UK.
- Publications
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Page 5 of 6 Results 41 to 50 of 54
Bariatric surgery, lifestyle interventions and orlistat for severe obesity: the REBALANCE mixed-methods systematic review and economic evaluation
Health Technology Assessment, vol. 22, no. 68, pp. 1-286Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.3310/hta22680
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/11603/2/Avenell_etal_HTA_Bariatric_Surgery_Lifestyle_VOR.pdf
- [ONLINE] Corrigendum
Child food insecurity in the UK: a rapid review
Public Health Research, vol. 6, no. 13Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.3310/phr06130
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/11624/1/Public_Health_Research_Review.pdf
The "Som la Pera" intervention: Sustainability capacity evaluation of a peer-led social-marketing intervention to encourage healthy lifestyles among adolescents
Translational Behavioral Medicine, vol. 8, no. 5, pp. 739-744Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/tbm/ibx065
Self-reported weight and predictors of missing responses in youth
Nutrition, vol. 53, pp. 54-58Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nut.2018.01.003
Follow-up of a healthy lifestyle education program (the EdAl study): four years after cessation of randomized controlled trial intervention
BMC Public Health, vol. 18, 104Contributions to Journals: ArticlesCost-Effectiveness of the EdAl (Educació en Alimentació) Program:: A Primary School-Based Study to Prevent Childhood Obesity
Journal of Epidemiology , vol. 28, no. 12, pp. 477-481Contributions to Journals: ArticlesA Youth-Led, Social Marketing Intervention Run by Adolescents to Encourage Healthy Lifestyles among Younger School Peers (EYTO-Kids Project): A Protocol for Pilot Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial (Spain)
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, vol. 14, no. 8, 923Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14080923
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/9725/1/A_Youth_Led_Social_Marketing_Intervention_Run_by_Adolescents_to_Encourage_Healthy_Lifestyles_among_Younger_School_Peers_EYTO_Kids_Project_A_Protocol_for_Pilot_Cluster_Randomized_Controlled_Trial_Spain.pdf
Healthy habits and life style promotion to fight obesity. Social marketing and communication 2.0 in the project European youth tackling obesity (EYTO)
Educación, comunicación y salud: Perspectivas desde las ciencias humanas y sociales. URV Publications, pp. 199-223, 25 pagesChapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: ChaptersRestaurant-based intervention to facilitate healthy eating choices and the identification of allergenic foods at a family-oriented resort and a campground
BMC Public Health, vol. 17, 393Contributions to Journals: ArticlesEffectiveness of social marketing strategies to reduce youth obesity in European school-based interventions: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Nutrition Reviews, vol. 74, no. 5, pp. 337-351Contributions to Journals: Articles