Research summary
Women have long been recommended to take iron and folic acid supplements during pregnancy to prevent anemia, sepsis, low birthweight and preterm birth. But recent evidence suggests that current Canadian and World Health Organization guidelines on supplementation may be outdated. As Canada Research Chair in Micronutrients and Human Health, Dr. Crystal Karakochuk is reassessing these policies to determine whether iron and folic acid supplements are safe, effective and necessary for women and children.
She and her research team have two key goals: to evaluate the risk versus the benefit of these micronutrient interventions, and to improve diagnostic methods and evaluate biomarkers for anemia and iron deficiency to support individual- and population-level assessment. Karakochuk’s research is bringing together clinicians, researchers and policy-makers to advance and apply innovative knowledge in human nutrition and to provide health, social and economic benefits to women, children and families.