Strong Children's Research Center

Seychelles Child Development Study

Maxine Bonham, Ph.D.

Dr. Maxine Bonham is a Research Fellow in the Northern Ireland Centre for Food and Health (NICHE).  Dr. Bonham graduated from the University of Loughborough in 1994 with a BSc Hons degree in Human Biology and went on to obtain a MMedSci in Human Nutrition from the University of Sheffield in 1995 and was awarded a Ph.D. from the University of Ulster in 2002.  She has worked full time on the Seychelles Child Development Studies since 2001, firstly as part of an NIEHS grant and now under funding from the EU VIth Framework programme.  Her main research interests are in the assessment of biological markers of nutritional status including long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, iron, choline and selenium.  She also works extensively with dietitians and the Nutrition Unit in the Ministry of Health, Seychelles to facilitate dietary surveys in pregnant women, children and adolescents.  This has involved the modification and design of a number of dietary assessment tools suitable for use in Seychelles. 

Other research interests include the assessment of vitamin D status in the population to try and identify dietary reference values for vitamin D intakes in different age groups as currently none exist. Funding for this area of research interest has been procured from the Food Standards Agency.  In addition, Dr. Bonham is also involved with a NICHSA grant which aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a fitness intervention in school children. 

Dr. Bonham’s earlier research interests were involved primarily with trace element metabolism, especially copper and zinc and the effect of their intervention on markers of oxidative stress, haemostasis, immune function and bone health.  New funding from FUSION and the Marine Functional Research Initiative will help to continue her interest in trace element and bone metabolism.