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MARY PLAYDON

(She/Her)

Associate Professor

Nutrition & Integrative Physiology

Orcid identifier0000-0001-6082-0447 (opens in a new tab)⁠
  • Associate Professor
    Nutrition & Integrative Physiology
  • Adjunct Associate Professor
    Population Health Science
  • 801.213.6264 (Work)
  • University of Utah, Nutrition and Integrative Physiology, HCI Research South 4511, 2000 Circle of Hope Dr, Salt Lake City, UT, 84109, United States

BIO

Dr. Playdon is a nutritional and cancer epidemiologist. The overall goal of her research is to understand the role of diet and obesity in the development and prognosis of cancer. In particular, Dr. Playdon is interested in unraveling the metabolic factors underlying dietary relationships with cancer using metabolomics, and developing dietary biomarkers to better measure diet.

INSTITUTIONAL APPOINTMENTS

  • Associate Professor
    Nutrition & Integrative Physiology1 Jul 2025 - present
  • Adjunct Associate Professor
    Population Health Science1 Jul 2026 - present

NON-ACADEMIC POSITIONS

  • Registered Clinical Dietitian
    Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, Brisbane, Australia8 Jan 2025 - 31 Dec 2004
  • Registered Clinical Dietitian
    Ipswich Hospital, Brisbane, Australia8 Jan 2025 - present
  • Registered Clinical Dietitian
    Doncaster Royal Infirmary, Doncaster, United Kingdom1 Jun 2005 - 31 Dec 2005
  • Registered Clinical Dietitian
    Rotherham General Hospital, Rotherham, United Kingdom1 Jan 2005 - 30 Jun 2005
  • Professional Research Associate
    University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Department of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Diabetes, Aurora, United States1 Mar 2006 - 31 Dec 2007
  • Senior Research Associate
    Colorado State University, Fort Collins, United States1 Jan 2007 - 30 Jun 2012
  • Graduate Researcher and Graduate Teaching Fellow
    Yale University, Chronic Disease Epidemiology, New Haven, United States1 Aug 2012 - 31 May 2016

DEGREES

  • PhD, Chronic Disease Epidemiology
    Yale University, Public Health2016
  • BS, Nutrition and Dietetics
    Queensland University of Technology2003
  • M.Phil, Public Health
    Yale University2015
  • MPH, Public Health
    Queensland University of Technology2010

POSTGRADUATE TRAINING

  • Postdoctoral Fellowship
    National Cancer Institute, Metabolic Epidemiology2018

LANGUAGES

  • English

FIELDS OF RESEARCH