Photo of professor Elizabeth Prado

Position Title
Associate Professor of Nutrition

Bio

Research interests:

Dr. Prado's research focuses on nutrition and child development. Her research interests also include caregiving, health and other influences on child development in low-resource settings, evaluating programs and policies to support children to achieve their developmental potential, and cross-cultural developmental and cognitive assessment. She directs the Translational Research in Early Life Learning for Impact at Scale (TRELLIS) lab. Like a vine, children need nurturing care and strong support structures to ensure their healthy growth and development to their full potential. Parents and caregivers are the gardeners that tend and nurture the vine so that it can grow and flourish. Policies and programs, from the national to community level, are the trellis that supports the vine to grow. At the TRELLIS lab, we work with collaborators from across the globe to conduct research informing how policies and programs can best support parents and caregivers to provide the nurturing care that children need to thrive. Research approaches include efficacy, effectiveness and impact evaluations, longitudinal cohort studies, systematic reviews and meta-analyses, and methodological studies and reviews on assessing child development and cognition in low-income contexts.

PhD

PhD. Psychology (Developmental). Lancaster University, UK

Masters

MS. Applied Linguistics. Georgetown University

Bachelors

BA. Linguistics. Georgetown University.

Selected Publications

Prado, E. L., Maleta, K., Caswell, B. L., George, M., Oakes, L. M., DeBolt, M. C., . . . Stewart, C. P. (2020). Early Child Development Outcomes of a Randomized Trial Providing 1 Egg Per Day to Children Age 6 to 15 Months in Malawi. J Nutr. doi:10.1093/jn/nxaa088

https://trellislab.ucdavis.edu/2020/05/14/first-study-to-use-automated-eye-tracking-to-measure-developmental-outcomes-of-a-nutrition-trial/

Prado, E. L., Abbeddou, S., Adu-Afarwuah, S., Arimond, M., Ashorn, P., Ashorn, U., Bendabenda, J., Brown, K. H., Hess, S. Y., Kortekangas, E., Lartey, A., Maleta, K., Oaks, B., Ocansey, E., Okronipa, H., Ouédraogo, J. B., Pulakka, A., Somé, J., Stewart, C., Stewart, R., Vosti, S. A., Yakes Jimenez, E., Dewey, K. G. (2017). Predictors and pathways of language and motor development in four large prospective cohorts of young children in Ghana, Malawi, and Burkina Faso. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. (Epub ahead of print).

Prado E.L., Sebayang S.K., Apriatni M., Hidayati N., Adawiyah S.R., Islamiyah A., Siddiq S., Harefa B., Alcock K.J., Ullman M.T., Muadz, H., Shankar A.H. (2017). Maternal multiple micronutrient supplementation and other biomedical and socioenvironmental influences on children’s cognition at age 9-12 years in Indonesia: follow-up of the SUMMIT randomised trial. The Lancet Global Health, 5(2), e217-e228.

Prado, E. L., Abbeddou, S., Yakes Jimenez, E., Somé, J. W., Ouédraogo, Z. P., Vosti, S. A., et al. (2016). Lipid-based nutrient supplements plus malaria and diarrhea treatment increase infant development scores in a cluster-randomized trial in Burkina Faso. Journal of Nutrition. (Epub ahead of print).

Prado E. L., Abbeddou S., Adu-Afarwuah S., Arimond M., Ashorn P., Ashorn U., Brown K.H., Hess S.Y., Lartey A., Maleta K., et al. (2016). Linear growth and child development in Burkina Faso, Ghana, and Malawi. Pediatrics. 138(2). doi:10.1542/peds.2015-4698

Prado, E. L., Abbeddou, S., Yakes Jimenez, E., Somé, J. W., Dewey, K. G., Brown, K. H., & Hess, S. Y. (2016). Effects of an intervention on growth and development: evidence for different mechanisms at work. Maternal & Child Nutrition. 13(2). doi:10.1111/mcn.12314

Prado, E. L., Phuka, J., Maleta, K., Ashorn, P., Ashorn, U., Vosti, S. A., & Dewey, K. G. (2016). Provision of lipid-based nutrient supplements from age 6 to 18 months does not affect infant development scores in a randomized trial in Malawi. Maternal & Child Health Journal, 20(10), 2199-2208.

Prado, E. L., Adu-Afarwuah S., Lartey A., Ocansey M., Ashorn P., Vosti S. A., & Dewey, K. G. (2016). Effects of pre- and post-natal lipid-based nutrient supplements on infant development in Ghana. Early Hum Dev, 99, 43-51.

Prado, E. L., Maleta, K., Ashorn, P., Ashorn, U., Vosti, S. A., Sadalaki, J., & Dewey, K. G. (2016). Effects of maternal and child lipid-based nutrient supplements on infant development: a randomized trial in Malawi. Am J Clin Nutr, 103(3), 784-793.

Prado, E. L., & Dewey, K. G. (2014). Nutrition and brain development in early life. Nutrition Reviews, 72(4), 267-284.

Prado, E. L., Alcock, K. J., Muadz, H., Ullman, M. T., & Shankar, A. H. (2012). Maternal multiple micronutrient supplements and child cognition: a randomized trial in Indonesia. Pediatrics, 130(3), e536-546.

Tags