Sherly is a Paediatric Dietitian with a PhD in Nutritional/Genetic Epidemiology (University of Cambridge). She has over 7 years of experience in nutrition, spanning:

- Clinical practice (specialist paediatric dietitian at Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge)
- Public health policy (nutrition policy/epidemiology at the Victorian Department of Health)
- Nutrition advocacy (Cancer Council Victoria)
- Nutrition Epidemiology research (University of Cambridge, Cancer Council Victoria/University of Melbourne, Murdoch Children's Research Institute)

She has obtained over $430,000 in grants and awards and contributed to over $1.2 Million worth of successful grants.

Research focus
Her research interest is in supporting policy development by addressing the nutrition levers that enable prevention of chronic diseases, such as cancer and cardiovascular diseases, from childhood. This includes investigating the impact of children’s nutritional intake on adult disease risk and the role of commercial determinants of unhealthy diets for children, including processed foods and unhealthy food marketing. She is passionate about advancing research in this field to drive evidence-informed policies.

She has advanced research skills in Nutritional and Genetic Epidemiology and experience working on large cohorts and consortium projects, including the EPIC-InterAct consortium (9 cohorts), the US National Cancer Institute Diet Cancer Pooling Project consortium (>30 cohorts) and the i3C Consortium (7 cohorts). She works closely with public health organisations and policy stakeholders to support evidence-informed policy decision-making.

She currently leads:
1. A suite of research investigating baby and toddler foods and drinks, to support regulatory change
2. Nutrition measure development for GenV
3. Research investigating childhood determinants of adult cancer
4. Co-leads the Healthier Start Initiative, aimed to accelerate prevention of cardiovascular disease from childhood.