K (Kamalita) Pertiwi PhD

I obtained my BSc diploma in 2009 from Bogor Agricultural University, Indonesia (Institut Pertanian Bogor) majoring in Food Technology with a minor in Functional Management. After working for 5 years in the food industry, I decided to do an MSc in Nutrition and Health (specialization in Epidemiology and Public Health) in Wageningen University, the Netherlands (2014-2016). For my PhD position in the Nutrition and Disease group (2016-2020), I received a grant from the NWO (Dutch Research Council) through its Graduate Programme on Food Structure, Digestion and Health.  

My PhD project focussed on the role of dietary fatty acids in coronary heart disease. I investigated the relation of dietary with plasma fatty acids, and their relations to cardiometabolic diseases (cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes). Specifically, I am interested in the use of plasma fatty acids as biomarker of fatty acid intake in epidemiological studies of patients with a history of myocardial infarction. I mainly analyzed the data from the Alpha Omega Cohort, a cohort of 4837 Dutch post-myocardial infarction patients. Additionally I collaborated with investigators from South-West University, South Africa for analyses using the data from the Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology (PURE) South Africa study and the Fatty Acids & Outcomes Research Consortium (FORCE). My PhD project was supervised by Prof. Dr JM (Marianne) Geleijnse and Dr Leanne Küpers. I defended my PhD thesis on January 13, 2021.        

During my PhD I was active in the editorial board of Newtrition (2016-2019), a newsletter for postgraduate studies in the Division of Human Nutrition and Health, and I was appointed the PhD representative in the Supervisory board of the Studium Generale Wageningen University (2019-2020). Currently I am involved in teaching on campus courses as well as nutrition Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) on edX and research with a primary interest on fatty acids and cardiovascular disease.