Dr Pamela von Hurst (PhD) is Professor Emerita in the College of Health, Massey University. She recently retired from a full time position as Professor of Human Nutrition. Pam is the immediate past-president of the Nutrition Society of New Zealand, and until recently was the New Zealand representative for the International Union of Nutritional Sciences (IUNS). She is the Honorary Secretary for the Federation of Oceanic Nutrition Societies and serves on the Registration Panel for the Nutrition Society of New Zealand.

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Although Pam’s largest and most well-known body of work has been in the role of vitamin D in health and disease, she has wide research interests including bone health and nutrition throughout the life cycle. She has taught undergraduate and postgraduate nutrition at Massey University during her career, supervising over 70 postgraduate students to thesis completion. Pam was the recipient of the Massey University Research Award – Supervisor 2024.
 

Ever since her mid-life career change, from marketing and business management to academia, Pam has been driven (and frustrated) in her quest to make evidence-based nutrition information available to the general public. She has run multiple symposia for health professionals and practitioners, spoken to many special interest groups, given radio interviews and provided webinars, while encouraging colleagues to do the same. Her Muriel Bell lecture will address the issues of achieving impact from research, specifically in human nutrition and the push-back from the multitude of social media “experts”.