Faculty & Staff
Dr. Rebecca Kuriyan Raj
MSc, MPhil, PhD
Professor and Head, Division of Nutrition, St. John’s Research Institute ; Professor, Department of Physiology, St. John’s Medical College ; Head, Clinical Nutrition Service, St. John’s Medical College Hospital
Languages
English, Hindi, Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam
- Overview
- Projects
- Publications
- Other Contributions
Dr. Rebecca Kuriyan Raj is a senior clinical nutritionist, researcher, and academic with over 30 years of experience spanning clinical practice, nutrition research, and teaching. Her work focuses on infant, child, and adolescent health, with particular expertise in body composition and energy expenditure.
She currently leads landmark longitudinal studies on growth and body composition from birth through early childhood. By establishing a cohort of 10,000 urban South Indian schoolchildren, her research has resulted in the first waist circumference and body composition percentile curves for South Indian children, filling a critical gap in regional reference data.
Dr. Kuriyan has been instrumental in developing advanced research infrastructure in India. She and her team established a state-of-the-art whole body potassium counter, the only facility of its kind in Asia with support from the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India, enabling precise estimation of body cell mass for clinical and public health research.
Her division is the only Collaborating Centre of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Asia, where she leads work on stable isotope techniques to measure body composition and energy expenditure in infants and children.
A deeply committed mentor, Dr. Kuriyan has guided generations of nutrition and medical students and has served as Course Director of the International Nutrition Research Methods program under the Nutrition Research Course to Translate and Utilize Research Findings into Practice (NURTURE) and Bangalore Boston Nutrition Collaborative (BBNC) since 2010. Through BBNC and NURTURE, she has helped train over 800 young scientists and physician-researchers, strengthening public health nutrition capacity in India.
She is a recognized PhD guide for multiple universities and is currently mentoring doctoral scholars. As Head of the Clinical Nutrition Unit at St. John’s Medical College Hospital, she oversees medical nutrition therapy across the life course and leads training for registered dietitians.
Dr. Kuriyan was listed among the Top 2% of Scientists in Medical Research worldwide in 2023 and 2024 (Stanford University) and is a Fellow of the International Union of Nutritional Sciences (IUNS). She is also the Associate Editor of the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition and Convener of the Nutrition Society of India (Bangalore Chapter).
Dr. Rebecca has always been committed to mentoring students and has mentored several nutrition and medical students from St. John’s Medical College and Hospital in their research work. She has been the course director for a 2-week short term course in International Nutrition Research Methods since 2010, which is a part of the Bangalore Boston Nutrition Collaborative (BBNC). The main purpose of the BBNC is to improve the state of public health in India by training a new generation of Indian scientists and physician researchers in the field of nutrition. The BBNC has trained over 600 students since 2010.
She is a recognized PhD guide for two Indian universities and is currently mentoring 4 students in their doctoral work. As the head of the clinical nutrition unit, she is actively involved in providing medical nutrition therapy for infants, children and adults with different medical problems. The clinical nutrition unit, St. John’s Medical College Hospital is a recognized training center for the registered dietician course and is actively involved in training dieticians in patient care.
Dr. Rebecca has authored over 152 peer-reviewed publications in national and international journals.
Qualification/ Education
Women’s, Christian College, Chennai, India Women’s, Christian College, Chennai, India Avinashilingam Deemed University, Coimbatore, IndiaS. No. Institution Degree Awarded Year Field of Study 1. BSc May 1991 Nutrition 2. Women’s, Christian College, Chennai, India MSc May 1993 Food and Nutrition 3. MPhil May 1994 Food and Nutrition 4. PhD May 2006 Food Science and Nutrition
Experience
1998 2025 2023 Till dateS. No. Institution Position From (Date) To (Date) 1 St. John’s Research Institute Head March 2019 Till date 2 St. John’s Medical College Head, Clinical Nutrition Services 3 St. John’s Medical College Professor Jan 2018 Till date 4 St. John’s Research Institute Professor Jan 2018 Till date 5 St. John’s Medical College Associate Professor June 2012 Dec 2017 6 St. John’s Research Institute Associate Professor June 2011 Dec 2017 7 St. John’s Medical College Assistant Professor June 2006 June 2012 8 St. John’s Research Institute Assistant Professor June 2005 May 2011 9 St. John’s Medical College Tutor (Nutrition) March 2000 May 2006 10 St. John’s Medical College Core Nutritionist 1994 Feb 2000
Areas of interest
- Infant, child, and adolescent nutrition and health
- Growth, growth trajectories, and longitudinal assessment across the life course
- Body composition assessment and energy expenditure
- Development of population-specific body composition and anthropometric reference standards
- Early life origins of health and disease
- Stable isotope techniques for body composition assessment in infants and children
- Clinical nutrition and medical nutrition therapy across the life cycle
- Nutrition research methods and capacity building in public health nutrition
- Translation of nutrition research into clinical and public health practice
Fellowship & Membership
- Convenor (Sept 2022- till date)
Nutrition Society of India - Conferred the title of IUNS Fellow by the International Union of Nutritional Sciences (IUNS) (2025)
- Associate Editor, European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2020
- Member, Expert Committee, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) (2020)
- Member, Technical Expert Committee, Department of Biotechnology, Government of India
- Recognised PhD Guide, Manipal Academy of Higher Education (2019)
- Recognised PhD Guide, University of Mysore (2016)
- Best Poster Presentation, 45th National Conference of the Nutrition Society of India, NIN–ICMR, Hyderabad (2013)
- The Dean Louis & May Monteiro Research Prize for Best Research Work (2008–2009; Awarded 2010)
- Radha Practicing Dietician Award, 36th National Convention of the Indian Dietetic Association, Chennai (2003)
| S. No. | Institution | Position | From (Date) | To (Date) |
| 1 | St. John’s Research Institute | Head | March 2019 | Till date |
| 2 | St. John’s Medical College | Head, Clinical Nutrition Services | 1998 2025 | 2023 Till date |
| 3 | St. John’s Medical College | Professor | Jan 2018 | Till date |
| 4 | St. John’s Research Institute | Professor | Jan 2018 | Till date |
| 5 | St. John’s Medical College | Associate Professor | June 2012 | Dec 2017 |
| 6 | St. John’s Research Institute | Associate Professor | June 2011 | Dec 2017 |
| 7 | St. John’s Medical College | Assistant Professor | June 2006 | June 2012 |
| 8 | St. John’s Research Institute | Assistant Professor | June 2005 | May 2011 |
| 9 | St. John’s Medical College | Tutor (Nutrition) | March 2000 | May 2006 |
| 10 | St. John’s Medical College | Core Nutritionist | 1994 | Feb 2000 |
- Infant, child, and adolescent nutrition and health
- Growth, growth trajectories, and longitudinal assessment across the life course
- Body composition assessment and energy expenditure
- Development of population-specific body composition and anthropometric reference standards
- Early life origins of health and disease
- Stable isotope techniques for body composition assessment in infants and children
- Clinical nutrition and medical nutrition therapy across the life cycle
- Nutrition research methods and capacity building in public health nutrition
- Translation of nutrition research into clinical and public health practice
No groups and associations specified.
Predicting total body water in infants aged 0.5–24 months and the implications for measuring breast milk intake: a secondary analysis of isotope dilution data.
de Sévaux MA, Kæstel P, Haisma H, da Costa TH, Vázquez-Vázquez A, Thomas T, Biesma R, Kuriyan R, Munthali G, Diana A, Santos IS, Hills AP, Wickramasinghe VP, Ariff S, Lucas MN, Costa CS, Norris SA, Jain V, Mulol H, Feucht U, Thorisdottir B, Thorsdottir I, Davies PS, Loechl CU, Wells JC. Energy expenditure and obesity across the economic spectrum.
McGrosky A, Luke A, Arab L, Bedu-Addo K, Bonomi AG, Bovet P, Brage S, Buchowski MS, Butte N, Camps SG, Casper R, Cummings DK, Krupa Das S, Deb S, Dugas LR, Ekelund U, Forrester T, Fudge BW, Gillingham M, Goris AH, Gurven M, Hambly C, Joosen A, Katzmarzyk PT, Kempen KP, Kraus WE, Kriengsinyos W, Kuriyan R, Kushner RF, Lambert EV, Larsson CL, Leonard WR, Lessan N, Löf M, Martin CK, Medin AC, Neuhouser ML, Pietilainen KH, Plasqui G, Prentice RL, Racette SB, Raichlen DA, Ravussin E, Redman L, Reynolds RM, Rimm EB, Roberts S, Rosinger AY, Samuels MH, Sinha S, Snodgrass JJ, Stice E, Uauy R, Urlacher SS, Verbunt JA, Wolfe B, Wood B, Zhang X, Murphy-Alford AJ, Loechl CJ, Rood J, Sagayama H, Schoeller DA, Westerterp KR, Wong WW, Yamada Y, Speakman JR, Pontzer H; IAEA DLW Database Consortium Exclusive Breastfeeding and Body Composition in Indian Infants: A Prospective Study.
Pai S, Farheen SA, Selvam S, Padmanabha R, Chandrakala BS, Kuriyan R. Vitamin B12 status and metabolic health in women of reproductive age: Population-based biomarker survey.
Guetterman, H. M., Crider, K. S., Fothergill, A., Bose, B., Johnson, C. B., Jabbar, S., Zhang, M., Pfeiffer, C. M., Rose, C. E., Qi, Y. P., Williams, J. L., Mehta, S., Kuriyan, R., & Finkelstein, J. L. Moderate to Vigorous Physical Activity Patterns and Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in Urban Indian Children.
Kausar A, Selvam S, Puttaswamy D, Kuriyan R. Predictive equation derived from 6,497 doubly labelled water measurements enables the detection of erroneous self-reported energy intake.
Bajunaid R, Niu C, Hambly C, Liu Z, Yamada Y, Aleman-Mateo H, Anderson LJ, Arab L, Baddou I, Bandini L, Bedu-Addo K, Blaak EE, Bouten CVC, Brage S, Buchowski MS, Butte NF, Camps SGJA, Casper R, Close GL, Cooper JA, Cooper R, Das SK, Davies PSW, Dabare P, Dugas LR, Eaton S, Ekelund U, Entringer S, Forrester T, Fudge BW, Gillingham M, Goris AH, Gurven M, El Hamdouchi A, Haisma HH, Hoffman D, Hoos MB, Hu S, Joonas N, Joosen AM, Katzmarzyk P, Kimura M, Kraus WE, Kriengsinyos W, Kuriyan R, Kushner RF, Lambert EV, Lanerolle P, Larsson CL, Leonard WR, Lessan N, Löf M, Martin CK, Matsiko E, Medin AC, Morehen JC, Morton JP, Must A, Neuhouser ML, Nicklas TA, Nyström CD, Ojiambo RM, Pietiläinen KH, Pitsiladis YP, Plange-Rhule J, Plasqui G, Prentice RL, Racette SB, Raichlen DA, Ravussin E, Redman LM, Reilly JJ, Reynolds R, Roberts SB, Samaranayakem D, Sardinha LB, Silva AM, Sjödin AM, Stamatiou M, Stice E, Urlacher SS, Van Etten LM, van Mil EGAH, Wilson G, Yanovski JA, Yoshida T, Zhang X, Murphy-Alford AJ, Sinha S, Loechl CU, Luke AH, Pontzer H, Rood J, Sagayama H, Schoeller DA, Westerterp KR, Wong WW, Speakman JR Connecting precision nutrition with the Food is Medicine approach.
Sinha S, Huey SL, Shukla AP, Kuriyan R, Finkelstein JL, Mehta S Infant growth and body composition from birth to 24 months: are infants developing the same?
Norris SA, Nyati LH, Murphy-Alford A, Lucas N, Santos IS, Costa CS, Kuriyan R, Wickranasinghe VP, Ariff S, Jayasinghe S, Kurpad AV, Ismail LC, Hills AP; Multi-center Infant Body Composition Reference Study (MIBCRS). Local Sources of Protein in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: How to Improve the Protein Quality?
Vissamsetti N, Simon-Collins M, Lin S, Bandyopadhyay S, Kuriyan R, Sybesma W, Tomé D. Body composition from birth to 2 years.
Hills AP, Norris SA, Byrne NM, Jayasinghe S, Murphy-Alford AJ, Loechl CU, Ismail LIC, Kurpad AV, Kuriyan R, Nyati LH, Santos IS, Costa CS, Wickramasinghe VP, Lucas MN, Slater C, Yameen A, Ariff S; Multi-center Infant Body Composition Reference Study (MIBCRS). Anthropometric prediction models of body composition in 3 to 24month old infants: a multicenter international study.
Wickramasinghe, Vithanage Pujitha; Ariff, Shabina; Norris, Shane A.; Santos, Ina S.; Kuriyan, Rebecca; Nyati, Lukhanyo H.; Varghese, Jithin Sam; Murphy-Alford, Alexia J.; Lucas, Nishani; Costa, Caroline; Ahuja, Kiran D. K.; Jayasinghe, S.; Kurpad, Anura V.; Hills, Andrew P. Body cell mass estimation by whole body potassium counter and its association with protein energy wasting in Indian children with chronic kidney disease
Arpana Iyengar, Rebecca Kuriyan, Sumitra Selvam, Kishor G. Bhat, Anil Vasudevan & Anura V. Kurpad Nutritional Status and Body Composition at Diagnosis, of South Indian Children with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL)
Deepa Puttaswamy, Vaishnavi Ramesh, Tony Raj, Kishor G Bhat, Sumithra Selvam, Vandana Bharadwaj, Anand Prakash, Alexia J Murphy-Alford, Rebecca Kuriyan Potential mechanisms of precision nutrition-based interventions for managing obesity
Neel H Mehta, Samantha L Huey, Rebecca Kuriyan, Juan Pablo Pena-Rosas, Julia L Finkelstein, Sangeeta Kashyap, Saurabh Mehta Comparison of growth patterns in the first year of life between term small for gestational age and appropriate for gestational age South Indian infants
Shruti R Pai, Ramya Padmanabha, Sanjana Kamalakar, Jini V Aravind, Deepa Puttaswamy, Suman PN Rao, Srinivas K Jois, Asha Kamath, Rebecca Kuriyan Examining the impact of maternal experiences of domestic violence on adolescent mental health disorders in India
Amritha Gourisankar, Preethi Ravi, Ameeta S Kalokhe, Rachel Waford Hall, Nilakshi Vaidya, Eesha Sharma, Bharath Holla, Debasish Basu, Rose Dawn Bharath, Amit Chakrabarti, Sylvane Desrivieres, Matthew Hickman, Kamakshi Kartik, Krishnaveni Ghattu, Kumaran Kalyanaraman, Rebecca Kuriyan, Pratima Murthy, Dimitri Papadopoulos Orfanos, Meera Purushottam, Sunita Simon Kurpad, Rajkumar Lenin Singh, Roshan Lourembam Singh, Bhagyalakshmi Nanjayya Subodh, Mireille B Toledano, Vivek Benegal, Gunter Schumann, Kartik Kalyanram, cVEDA Consortium Childhood adversities characterize the heterogeneity in the brain pattern of individuals during neurodevelopment
Rajan Kashyap, Bharath Holla, Sagarika Bhattacharjee, Eesha Sharma, Urvakhsh Meherwan Mehta, Nilakshi Vaidya, Rose Dawn Bharath, Pratima Murthy, Debashish Basu, Subodh Bhagyalakshmi Nanjayya, Rajkumar Lenin Singh, Roshan Lourembam, Amit Chakrabarti, Kamakshi Kartik, Kartik Kalyanram, Kalyanaraman Kumaran, Ghattu Krishnaveni, Murali Krishna, Rebecca Kuriyan, Sunita Simon Kurpad, Sylvane Desrivieres, Meera Purushottam, Gareth Barker, Dimitri Papadopoulos Orfanos, Matthew Hickman, Jon Heron, Mireille Toledano, Gunter Schumann, Vivek Benegal, Consortium on Vulnerability to Externalizing Disorders and Addictions Vitamin D Status, Anthropometry, and Body Composition in Women of Reproductive Age
Ximena E Palma Molina, Saurabh Mehta, Heather M Guetterman, Amy Fothergill, Christina B Johnson, Yan Ping Qi, Charles E Rose, Jennifer L Williams, Rebecca Kuriyan, Krista S Crider, Julia L Finkelstein Anthropometry-based indicators of body composition in children: 3 to 24-month multicenter study
Shabina Ariff, Shane Norris, Ina Santos, Rebecca Kuriyan, Lukhanyo Nyati, Jithin Varghese, Alexia Murphy-Alford, Nishani Lucas, Caroline Santos Costa, Kiran Ahuja, Sisitha Jayasinghe, Anura Kurpad, Andrew Hills, Vithanage Wickramasinghe Prevalence and Correlates of Double and Triple Burden of Malnutrition Among Children and Adolescents in India: The Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey
Naiwen Ji, Abhishek Kumar, William Joe, Rebecca Kuriyan, Vani Sethi, Julia L Finkelstein, Saurabh Mehta Body composition of infants at 6 months of age using a 3-compartment model
Rebecca Kuriyan, Andrew P Hills, Alexia Murphy-Alford, Ramya Padmanabha, Lukhanyo H Nyati, Nuala M Byrne, Anura V Kurpad, Shane Norris Infant body composition at 6 and 24 months: what are the driving factors?
Ina S Santos, Caroline S Costa, Andrew P Hills, Shabina Ariff, V Pujitha Wickramasinghe, Shane Norris, Alexia J Murphy-Alford, Christine Slater, Nishani Lucas, Lukhanyo H Nyati, Anura V Kurpad, Kiran DK Ahuja, Rebecca Kuriyan Do cardiometabolic risk factors mediate the relationship between body composition and bone mineral content in South Indian children aged 5 to 16 years?
Sayeeda Arshiya Farheen, Poorvikha S, Sumithra Selvam, Deepa Puttaswamy, Jini V Aravind, Rebecca Kuriyan The proportion of weight gain due to change in fat mass in infants with vs without rapid growth
William Johnson, Lukhanyo H Nyati, Shabina Ariff, Tanvir Ahmad, Nuala M Byrne, Leila I Cheikh Ismail, Caroline S Costa, Ellen W Demerath, Divya J Priscilla, Andrew P Hills, Rebecca Kuriyan, Anura V Kurpad, Cornelia U Loechl, M Nishani Lucas, Ina S Santos, Christine Slater, V Pujitha Wickramasinghe, Shane A Norris, Alexia J Murphy-Alford, Multicenter Infant Body Composition Reference Study (MIBCRS) Correction: Do cardiometabolic risk factors mediate the relationship between body composition and bone mineral content in South Indian children aged 5 to 16 years?
Sayeeda Arshiya Farheen, Poorvikha S, Sumithra Selvam, Deepa Puttaswamy, Jini V Aravind, Rebecca Kuriyan NURTURE Regional Training Capsule, Assam
Dr. Rebecca Raj served as a panellist for the session “Strategies to Address Public Health Nutrition Challenges in the Northeast” on 21 January 2026, as part of the NURTURE Regional Training Capsule, …
NURTURE Regional Training Capsule, Assam
Dr. Rebecca Raj was invited to speak on “Monitoring of Infant Growth Using Body Composition”on 20 January 2026, during the NURTURE Regional Training Capsule, Assam.
NURTURE’s first regional training capsule in Assam
Dr. Rebecca Raj served as the Course Director and led NURTURE’s first regional training capsule in Assam, held from 19–21 January, in collaboration with Assam Agricultural University and the ICMR–Nati…
Body Composition Assessment
Dr. Rebecca Raj conducted an elective course titled “Body Composition Assessment” from 5th January 2026 to 16th January 2026, at St. John’s Research Institute, Bangalore. The course was attended by te…
Important Points to Note in Diet and Nutrition of Older Persons
Dr. Rebecca Raj was invited as a Resource Person for the Online Training Programme for Caregivers of Older Persons, where she delivered a session on “Important Points to Note …
Frailty, Food and Function: Rethinking Nutrition in Vulnerable Older Adults
Dr. Rebecca Raj was invited to deliver a talk titled “Frailty, Food and Function: Rethinking Nutrition in Vulnerable Older Adults” at the St. John’s Geriatric Centre Conference 202…