Beyond Weight: Nutritional Insights and New Evidence for Catch-Up Growth

Aydan Kansu, MD

Professor, Ankara University, School of Medicine
Head of Department of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition
Ankara, Turkey 

Dr Aydan Kansu is a distinguished expert in pediatric gastroenterology, hepatology, and nutrition. She completed her fellowship in Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition at Ankara University, School of Medicine in 1995. Since 2009, she has been serving as the Head of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition at the same institution. Her main areas of interest include celiac disease, focusing on its prevalence in Turkey, diagnostic methods, and its effects on bone metabolism; chronic viral hepatitis B, particularly treatment modalities and side effects; cow’s milk allergy, with an emphasis on awareness tools and treatment; inflammatory bowel diseases, especially early-onset cases and nutritional status; and malnutrition, including diagnostic approaches and management of treatment. Professor Dr Kansu has over 100 publications and more than 1500 citations, reflecting her significant contributions to the field.

Mandy YL Ow, PhD, BPharm

Senior Clinical Scientist
Abbott Nutrition Research & Development
Asia-Pacific Center, Singapore 

Mandy is a Senior Clinical Scientist at Abbott Nutrition Research & Development, Asia-Pacific Centre. She specializes in clinical research on oral nutritional supplementation, focusing on undernourished children and individuals with diabetes. At Abbott Nutrition and in her previous role at Suntory Beverage and Food Asia, Mandy leads the generation of clinical evidence across various study types, including clinical trials, meta-analyses, and retrospective analyses of cohort studies, providing scientific direction from protocol design through to publication. 

Mandy holds a PhD in Health Economics and Outcomes Research and a Bachelor’s degree in Pharmacy from the National University of Singapore (NUS). Before joining the industry, she held technical positions in the public sector and academia, conducting scientific evaluations as a Regulatory Specialist at the Health Sciences Authority (Singapore) and leading research projects as an Instructor at the Duke-NUS Medical School Centre of Regulatory Excellence (CoRE).