Dr. Laura Busert

I am a postdoctoral researcher at the Chair of Public Health Nutrition with a background in epidemiology and public health.My research focuses on maternal and child nutrition and health, particularly in disadvantaged populations and low-income countries. Most recently, I investigated the relationship between paternal labor migration and the growth of children left behind in Nepal.I have expertise in child nutrition and growth in low-income settings, labor migration, cohort study analysis, systematic reviews, and evidence synthesis. The regional focus of my work lies in South and Central Asia.

CV

• Since 05.2025: Postdoctoral researcher, Chair of Public Health Nutrition, University of Bayreuth
• 2023-2025: Freelance research consultant for the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) in Tajikistan and the German Development Cooperation (GIZ) in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan
• 2014-2016: Research associate in the working group Evidence-Based Public Health (Prof. Eva Rehfuess), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München

Degrees

• 2023: Graduate research degree (PhD) at the Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, University College London. Title: The association between paternal labour migration and the growth of the left-behind children in the plains of Nepal (UCL Discovery)
• 2014: Master of Public Health, Ludwigs-Maximilians-Universität München
• 2012: B.A. Media and Communication Studies and Political Science, Freie Universität Berlin

Selected publications

• Busert-Sebela L, Cortina-Borja M, Paudel V, Devakumar D, Wells JCK, Manandhar DS, Saville NM. Determinants of Infant Growth in a Birth Cohort in the Nepal Plains. Matern Child Nutr. 2025 Feb 26:e70004. doi: 10.1111/mcn.70004. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40007510. (Online, open access)
• von Philipsborn P, Stratil JM, Burns J, Busert LK, Pfadenhauer LM, Polus S, Holzapfel C, Hauner H, Rehfuess E. Environmental interventions to reduce the consumption of sugar‐sweetened beverages and their effects on health. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2019, Issue 6. Art. No.: CD012292. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD012292.pub2. (Online, open access)
• Fellmeth G, Rose-Clarke K, Zhao C, Busert LK, Zheng Y, Massazza A, Sonmez H, Eder B, Blewitt A, Lertgrai W, Orcutt M, Ricci K, Mohamed-Ahmed O, Burns R, Knipe D, Hargreaves S, Hesketh T, Opondo C, Devakumar D. Health impacts of parental migration on left-behind children and adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet. 2018 Dec 15;392(10164):2567-2582. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(18)32558-3. Epub 2018 Dec 5. PMID: 30528471; PMCID: PMC6294734. (Online, open access)
• Busert LK, Mütsch M, Kien C, Flatz A, Griebler U, Wildner M, Stratil JM, Rehfuess EA; Cochrane Public Health Europe. Facilitating evidence uptake: development and user testing of a systematic review summary format to inform public health decision-making in German-speaking countries. Health Res Policy Syst. 2018 Jul 9;16(1):59. doi: 10.1186/s12961-018-0307-z. PMID: 29986706; PMCID: PMC6038322. (Online, open access)
• Busert LK, Neuman M, Rehfuess EA, Dulal S, Harthan J, Chaube SS, Bhandari B, Costello H, Costello A, Manandhar DS, Saville NM. Dietary Diversity Is Positively Associated with Deviation from Expected Height in Rural Nepal. J Nutr. 2016 Jul;146(7):1387-93. doi: 10.3945/jn.115.220137. Epub 2016 Jun 15. PMID: 27306894; PMCID: PMC4926845. (Online, open access)

All publications on PubMed

Awards

• Chadwick Trust Travelling Fellowship (2018)
• Stiftung fiat panis Hermann Eiselen-Doktorandenförderung (2017)
• Royal College of Paediatrics International Child Health Group Research Fund (2017)
• University College London Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health Doctoral Research Scholarship (2016-2019)
• Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München Forscherpreises für exzellente Studierende (2014)
• Else Kröner-Fresenius Global Public Health Award (2014)

Contact

• Mail address: Chair of Public Health Nutrition, University of Bayreuth (Campus Kulmbach), Fritz-Hornschuch-Strasse 13, D-95326 Kulmbach, Germany
• E-mail: Laura.Busert-Sebela@uni-bayreuth.de
• Phone: +49 (0)9221 / 4071005 (Secretariat)