Liza Oates

Liza’s research focuses on pesticide exposure and the health and wellness effects of organic diets. As part of her PhD she ran a biomonitoring study entitled ‘Intrapersonal variation in pesticide residues in response to an organic diet' which demonstrated that a week-long organic diet significantly reduces urinary pesticide metabolites. Her research has also explored the beliefs of organic consumers, and she has developed a dietary assessment tool for quantifying organic food consumption and conducted several online surveys. The findings suggest organic food has multidimensional benefits that include reduced pesticide exposure and psychological, social and contextual factors.
Liza is currently working with Professor Marc Cohen on the ‘Children’s Health, Behaviour & Environmental Exposures’ study, which is investigating the cognitive function, health symptoms, behaviour and food habits of Australian children. The research project will examine the levels of pesticides and environmental chemicals in the children’s urine, heavy metals in their hair and the genetic variation in detoxification enzyme pathways.