Dr. Laurie Twells

Interim Associate Dean Dr. Laurie Twells is the academic unit head of the Division of Population Health and Applied Health Sciences. She is responsible for providing academic leadership in education and research relating to population and applied health research and professional public health practice and supporting the Faculty of Medicine’s social accountability mandate.

Dr. Twells was appointed as Interim Associate Dean in April 2024. She holds an MSc in Epidemiology and Health Policy from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (2000) and a PhD in Medicine (Clinical Epidemiology, 2008) from Memorial University.

Dr. Twells served as the Assistant Dean of Clinical Research in the Faculty of Medicine from 2021 to 2024 and was the Scientific Director of the CIHR funded NL Support Unit from 2018 to 2019. Dr. Twells has been a full-time faculty member at Memorial University since 2007, beginning her career with a joint appointment in the School of Pharmacy and the Faculty of Medicine. She was promoted to full professor in 2020, and in 2021 became a full-time faculty member in the Faculty of Medicine.

Dr. Twells established two significant research programs. She co-chaired an interdisciplinary research team focused on infant nutrition and health. This work included the first province-wide birth cohort study, the Feeding Infants in Newfoundland and Labrador (FiNaL) Study, which involved 1,258 mother-child pairs. This research has been widely published and disseminated through various forums and conferences.

In 2011, Dr. Twells launched a second research program, leading a multidisciplinary team investigating laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy, an innovative procedure for treating severe obesity. She collaborated with academic researchers, surgeons, and decision-makers, building relationships with Obesity Canada and other provinces. Her expertise in obesity research led to an appointment on the science and steering committees for the 2020 Clinical Practice Guidelines for obesity management in Canada. Dr. Twells is currently a co-co-principal investigator of the Memorial Fertility Research Group. 

Dr. Twells has published 118 peer-reviewed publications and given over 60 presentations at national and international conferences. Dr. Twells is currently teaching in the Clinical Epidemiology Program.