Dr. Maureen Cheserek is a Registered Nutritionist and Dietitian who works as a Lecturer and Researcher in the Department of Human Nutrition, Faculty of Health Science, Egerton University, Kenya. She has a BSc. in Food, Nutrition, and Dietetics and MSc. in Nutritional Science, both from Egerton University. She obtained her PhD in Food, Nutrition, and Safety from Jiangnan University, Wuxi, China. Her doctoral research work focused on the prevention and management of obesity and metabolic syndrome in thyroid dysfunction.
She is currently engaged in multi-disciplinary research and implementation of development projects in agricultural biodiversity and dietary diversity, food product development, and healthy diets for better nutrition and health. Her research interests and community work are centered on the potential of indigenous foods to improve diet quality for prevention of undernutrition, obesity, and non-communicable diseases, youth and women’s empowerment in nutrition-sensitive agricultural programs, and improving rural agricultural livelihoods and resilience. Her main goal is to embed a nutrition and health perspective in community-based nutrition-sensitive food systems. She is the Nutrition and Dietetics Internship Program Coordinator, an Exchange Program between the Department of Human Nutrition, Egerton University, and Boitekanelo College, Botswana. She is the Nutrition Team Leader in the Kenya Climate Smart Project (KCSAP) aquaculture value chain (2020-2022) and Lead Nutrition Specialist in the Drought Tolerant Crops value chain project, Feed the Future Kenya, Accelerated Value Chain Development Program (2015-2020).
Dr. Cheserek was also the Principal Investigator in the Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH), Transform Nutrition project, Agrobiodiversity and Dietary Diversity of women and children, Kenya (2015-2017), and co-investigator in other nutrition and health projects. She works in close collaboration with universities and research institutions, county governments, policymakers, NGOs, CBOs, and local communities. She also actively participates in community extension and outreach activities.