Prof Tilakavati Karupaiah was formerly Head of the Dietetics Program, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and now Strategic Research Interests (SRI) Professor at Taylor’s University since 2017. She is an Accredited Practicing Dietitian (APD) with the Dietitians’ Association of Australia.
Prof Karupaiah’s contributes towards legislation, clinical practice, education and research in the field of cardiovascular and renal nutrition in Malaysia. Prof Karupaiah was the recipient of the United States National Kidney Foundation- Council on Renal Nutrition (CRN)’s Joel D Kopple International Award for 2017. She is experienced in conducting investigator-initiated clinical trials. Given her experience of the causative factors for NCDs in Malaysia she is now collaborating in food environment analysis with INFORMAS (International Network for Food and Obesity / non-communicable diseases Research, Monitoring and Action Support). She has published more than 100 scientific papers and abstracts.
She believes very strongly in the need for developing advanced renal nutrition expertise globally and closing the gaps in kidney nutrition care management through capacity building initiatives where there is limited access to dietitians. Her expert roles are as:
• Evaluation Advisory Committee (EAC) member of the Bloomberg Global Food Studies Program, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA.
• Chairperson, Dietary Fat Panel for Revision of RNI 2017 for Malaysians, Ministry of Health.
• Consultant to the Ministry of Health, Malaysia, on Food Marketing Targeting Children.
• Nutrition/ Malaysian Dialysis and Transplant Registry (MDTR), National Renal Registry, Malaysian Society of Nephrology, Ministry of Health.

• Chairperson, Key message for oils and fat - Malaysian Dietary Guidelines 2020, Ministry of Health. 

• Reviewer for CPG for Management of Dyslipidemia 2017, NHAM-MOH. 

• Reviewer for research grants to the Hong Kong Government Grants Committee for Public Health Research. and the Canadian Government- IDRC Grants Committee.