Biography summary
Dr Samantha Dawson is an Alfred Deakin Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Food and Mood Centre (FAMC) and was recently awarded the Alfred Deakin Medal for the University’s best PhD thesis of the year. She leads the Perinatal Nutritional Psychiatry stream of research within the FAMC.
Samantha's work focuses on understanding diet-by-microbiome pathways impacting maternal and infant health, and developing, testing and implementing interventions to improve women’s diet before and during pregnancy.
She is one of our rising stars, who at a remarkably early stage in her career, has secured more than $1M in funding for her research stream, including a recent Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) grant for the Bugs & Bumps trial.
Knowledge areas
- Pregnancy and Early Life Nutrition
- Intervention design
- Gut Microbiota
- Fermented Foods
- Mental Health
- Bioinformatics
Research groups
Food & Mood Centre, Deakin University
Institute for Mental and Physical Health and Clinical Translation, Deakin University
Early Life Epigenetics, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute
Projects
- Leading a translational research topic focused on ‘increasing the proportion of pregnant women meeting the dietary guidelines’ within the Pregnancy Research and Translation Ecosystem, which is a platform for pregnancy research co-design with clinical stakeholders in southwest Victoria.
- Principal investigator on the ‘Healthy Parents, Health Kids’ study, which was an RCT study trialling the efficacy of a face-to-face perinatal dietary intervention on improving maternal diet quality and altering the gut microbiota of mothers and children.
- Led the co-design and development of the Bugs & Bumps smartphone app for pregnant women, which was underpinned by her HPHK prenatal dietary intervention. This project received Philanthropic funding form the Waterloo Foundation in the UK.
- Principal investigator on the Bugs & Bumps RCT, which is a two-year trial testing the efficacy of the Bugs & Bumps program compared to the Australian Dietary Guideline advice, on improving maternal diet quality, altering the gut microbiome and inflammatory markers in mothers and infants, and influencing child emotional, cognitive and language outcomes over the first 18 months of life. As PI, Samantha secured funding from the MRFF and the Waterloo Foundation to conduct this trial.
Publications
Differences in the gut microbiome across typical ageing and in Parkinson's disease
N Nuzum, E Szymlek-Gay, S Loke, S Dawson, W Teo, A Hendy, A Loughman, H Macpherson
(2023), Vol. 235, Neuropharmacology, C1
L Staskova, W Marx, S Dawson, M O’Hely, T Mansell, R Saffery, D Burgner, F Collier, B Novakovic, P Vuillermin, C Field, D Dewey, A Ponsonby
(2023), Vol. 62, pp. 2855-2872, European Journal of Nutrition, C1
L Sominsky, M O'Hely, K Drummond, S Cao, F Collier, P Dhar, A Loughman, S Dawson, M Tang, T Mansell, R Saffery, D Burgner, A Ponsonby, P Vuillermin
(2023), Vol. 113, pp. 189-202, Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, C1
K Fernando, J Craig, S Dawson
(2023), Vol. 14, pp. 540-555, Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease, Cambridge, Eng., C1
Megan Crichton, Skye Marshall, Wolfgang Marx, Elizabeth Isenring, Xabier Vázquez-Campos, Samantha Dawson, Anna Lohning
(2023), pp. 1-14, Journal of Nutrition, Oxford, Eng., C1
Associations between dairy consumption and constipation in adults: A cross-sectional study
H Aslam, M Mohebbi, A Ruusunen, S Dawson, L Williams, M Berk, K Holloway-Kew, F Collier, A Loughman, J Pasco, F Jacka
(2022), Vol. 28, pp. 31-39, Nutrition and Health, C1
A McGuinness, J Davis, S Dawson, A Loughman, F Collier, M O’Hely, C Simpson, J Green, W Marx, C Hair, G Guest, M Mohebbi, M Berk, D Stupart, D Watters, F Jacka
(2022), Vol. 27, pp. 1920-1935, Molecular Psychiatry, C1
Supporting Maternal and Child Mental Health Through Dietary Changes Focused on the Gut Microbiota
Samantha Dawson, Amy Finlay-Jones, Lauren Ball, Tetyana Rocks, Felice Jacka
(2022), Vol. 52, pp. 51-55, Psychiatric Annals, Thorofore, N.J., C1
Generation and Characterization of a Zebrafish IL-2Rγc SCID Model
R Sertori, R Jones, F Basheer, L Rivera, S Dawson, S Loke, S Heidary, A Dhillon, C Liongue, A Ward
(2022), Vol. 23, pp. 1-13, International Journal of Molecular Sciences, Basel, Switzerland, C1
T Rocks, S Teasdale, C Fehily, C Young, G Howland, B Kelly, S Dawson, F Jacka, J Dunbar, A O’Neil
(2022), Vol. 217, pp. S7-S21, Medical Journal of Australia, C1
S Dawson, M Mohebbi, J Craig, P Dawson, G Clarke, M Tang, F Jacka
(2021), Vol. 24, pp. 1129-1141, Public Health Nutrition, England, C1
T Purton, L Staskova, M Lane, S Dawson, M West, J Firth, G Clarke, J Cryan, M Berk, A O'Neil, O Dean, A Hadi, C Honan, W Marx
(2021), Vol. 123, pp. 1-13, Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, C1
Maternal prenatal gut microbiota composition predicts child behaviour
S Dawson, M O'Hely, F Jacka, A Ponsonby, C Symeonides, A Loughman, F Collier, M Moreno-Betancur, P Sly, D Burgner, M Tang, R Saffery, S Ranganathan, M Conlon, L Harrison, S Brix, K Kristiansen, P Vuillermin
(2021), Vol. 68, EBioMedicine, C1
H Aslam, J Green, F Jacka, F Collier, M Berk, J Pasco, S Dawson
(2020), Vol. 23, pp. 659-671, Nutritional Neuroscience, England, C1
P Vuillermin, M O’Hely, F Collier, K Allen, M Tang, L Harrison, J Carlin, R Saffery, S Ranganathan, P Sly, L Gray, J Molloy, A Pezic, M Conlon, D Topping, K Nelson, C Mackay, L Macia, J Koplin, S Dawson, M Moreno-Betancur, A Ponsonby, S Vashee, M Torralba, A Gomez, T Dwyer, D Burgner, M Forrester, C Symeonides, E Bandala Sanchez
(2020), Vol. 11, Nature Communications, England, C1
The effects of dairy and dairy derivatives on the gut microbiota: a systematic literature review
H Aslam, W Marx, T Rocks, A Loughman, V Chandrasekaran, A Ruusunen, S Dawson, M West, E Mullarkey, J Pasco, F Jacka
(2020), Vol. 12, Gut Microbes, United States, C1
Supporting engagement, adherence, and behavior change in online dietary interventions
Claire Young, Sara Campolonghi, Stephanie Ponsonby, Samantha Dawson, Adrienne O'Neil, Frances Kay-Lambkin, Sarah McNaughton, Michael Berk, Felice Jacka
(2019), Vol. 51, pp. 719-739, Journal of nutrition education and behavior, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, C1
S Dawson, J Craig, G Clarke, M Mohebbi, P Dawson, M Tang, F Jacka
(2019), Vol. 8, JMIR Research Protocols, Canada, C1
Sharing successes and hiding failures: 'reporting bias' in learning and teaching research
P Dawson, S Dawson
(2018), Vol. 43, pp. 1405-1416, Studies in higher education, Abingdon, Eng., C1
C Young, K Trapani, S Dawson, A O’Neil, F Kay-Lambkin, M Berk, F Jacka
(2018), Vol. 52, pp. 834-846, Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, England, C1
S Dawson, S Bowe, T Crowe
(2016), Vol. 36, pp. 499-508, Nutrition Research, United States, C1
The Importance of Diet and Gut Health to the Treatment and Prevention of Mental Disorders
S Dawson, S Dash, F Jacka
(2016), Vol. 131, pp. 325-346, GUT MICROBIOME AND BEHAVIOR, United States, C1
S Dawson, T Baker, S Salzman
(2015), Vol. 23, pp. 107-111, Australian journal of rural health., London, Eng., C1
Small rural emergency services still manage acutely unwell patients: a cross-sectional study
T Baker, S Dawson
(2014), Vol. 26, pp. 131-138, Emergency medicine Australasia, Melbourne, Vic., C1
What small rural emergency departments do : a systematic review of observational studies
T Baker, S Dawson
(2013), Vol. 21, pp. 254-261, Australian journal of rural health, Melbourne, Vic., C1
Funded Projects at Deakin
Australian Competitive Grants
The effect of a gut-focused dietary smartphone app for pregnant women on infant mental health-related outcomes: Beyond Bugs and Bumps RCT
Dr Samantha Dawson, Dr Laura Alston, Mrs Claire Young, Dr Poshmaal Dhar, Dr Amy Loughman, Dr Luba Sominsky, Dr Nikolaj Travica
MRFF (NHMRC) - MMM Mental Health Research Grant
- 2023: $930,501
Supervisions
No completed student supervisions to report