IMU Nutrition and Dietetics Lecturer won Second Prize for Best Poster Award at Medical Conference

21 September 2014 – Dr Tan Sue Yee, lecturer of the Nutrition & Dietetics Department of International Medical University (IMU) won second prize for Best Poster Award at the recent Malaysian Paediatric Haematology & Oncology (MASPHO) 19th Annual Scientific Meeting, which was held from 20 – 21 September, at Boulevard Hotel, Kuala Lumpur. The theme for this year’s scientific meeting was ‘Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia’. The Annual Scientific Meeting was mainly attended by medical consultants and specialists, pharmacists and nurses working in the area of paediatric haemotology and oncology. Sue Yee’s poster presentation was entitled ‘Dietary and Physical Activity Patterns of Paediatric Patients with Acute Leukaemia Undergoing Active Chemotherapy’. The poster summarised the research findings on dietary patterns of leukaemic children undergoing induction and consolidation chemotherapy, reporting 2 possible dietary patterns – ‘mixed’ diet, characterised by the consumption of a myriad of food groups, and ‘milk and rice’ diet, characterised by high intake of milk and rice-based foods, but low intakes of vegetables, fruits or good-quality protein like eggs and fish, generated using factor analysis. In addition, physical activity levels and patterns of the leukaemic patients were also determined using accelerometers. The poster was among the top 5 posters shortlisted for a second level judging via a 7-minute oral presentation, in which the top 3 winners were then determined and announced. Sue Yee expressed honour to have made IMU and the Department of Nutrition & Dietetics proud. Moreover, she was pleased that nutrition-related research was received positively and recognised by the medical professionals in this scientific meeting. Sue Yee joined the IMU in February 2013. Previously, she was working as a nutritionist cum wellness consultant at a private wellness centre in Sri Hartamas from 2004 to 2006. She obtained her PhD in Nutrition from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), MSc (Merit) in Human Nutrition (Sports) from London Metropolitan University, via a scholarship programme by the London-based institute and BSc (Hons) in Nutritional Science from UKM. Sue Yee has previously won several academic awards including some for her research publications. She was also nominated for the IMU Teaching Excellence Award last year. Aside from that, Sue Yee is a council member of the Nutrition Society of Malaysia (NSM) since 2010. She is also presently a committee member of the Ministry of Health (MOH) Technical Working Group on Nutrition Guidelines. In August 2014, Sue Yee was invited to speak at the 3rd Regional Conference: Nutrition in Obstetrics and Gynaecology 2014, jointly organised by the Obstetrical and Gynaecological Society of Malaysia (OGSM), National Midwives Society of Malaysia, Nutrition Society of Malaysia (NSM) and Malaysian Dietitians’ Association (MDA). The conference was held from 22 – 24 August, at Hotel Istana. The topic of her presentation was ‘Is There A ‘Recipe’ To Making Healthy Babies? An Update On Essential Nutrients’. Aside from that, she was also a facilitator for the pre-conference workshop organised for nurses.