Staff profile

Ms Tania Thodis APD / APN

PhD Candidate, Associate Lecturer

Faculty of Health Sciences

School of Allied Health
Department of Dietetics and Human Nutrition

Health Sciences 2, Melbourne (Bundoora)

 

Qualifications

BSc (Hons), MSc (Nut&Diet)

Membership of professional associations

Dietitians Association of Australia

Area of study

Dietetics

Brief profile

Tania Thodis is an Accredited Practising Dietitian (APD) and Accredited Nutritionist (AN) with over 10 years experience in clinical dietetics.

Tania received a Bachelor of Science degree at LaTrobe University with majors in Biochemistry and Microbiology. She then completed her Honours in Nutrition at Deakin University by research into quantifying the olive oil intake of a sub-set of Greek-born migrants and assessed the validity of asking  this question in a food frequency questionnaire conducted by the Melbourne Collaborative Cohort Study (MCCS) with the Cancer Council of Victoria.  Tania also received her Masters degree in Nutrition and Dietetics from Deakin University.  

More recently, Tania has continued work as a research dietitian in two dietary intervention studies investigating the Greek Mediterranean diet versus a low fat diet and the effects on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and metabolic syndrome with Dr Marno Ryan and Associate Professor Catherine Itsiopoulos and also the impact of a low AGE and high AGE (Advanced Glycation Endproducts) Greek version of the Mediterranean diet with Professor Itsiopoulos, Dr Laima Brazionis, Dr Allison Hodge and Dr Karen Walker.  

In 2011, Tania received a Dean’s Scholarship from LaTrobe University and currently is a PhD Candidate and Associate lecturer within the Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Dietetics and Human Nutrition. 

Research projects

Her research area of interest is the Greek Mediterranean diet as a model for the improvement and prevention of chronic diseases such as metabolic syndrome, coronary heart disease and diabetes.  In collaboration with Harokopio University in Athens, Tania is continuing the Australian arm of the MEDIS study (Mediterranean Islands study) to investigate dietary and lifestyle factors such as migration, level of adherence to the Greek Mediterranean diet and traditional cooking methods that may impact on the persistent low CHD mortality of Greek born elderly migrants from Greek islands such as Crete in comparison to islanders still living in Greece.