Dr Harvinder telah menjadi penyelidik dan ahli akademik selama 13 tahun di Universiti Perubatan Antarabangsa (IMU) dan Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). Bidang tugas utama beliau termasuk pengurusan berat badan, gaya hidup pemakanan pesakit diabetes, pemakanan pesakit buah pinggang, persekitaran makanan obesogenik dan kesihatan tempat kerja. Sebagai penyelidik yang aktif, Dr Harvinder telah menyelia ramai pelajar lepasan ijazah dan sarjana muda. Penyelidikan beliau menjurus dalam penilaian hubungan diet-penyakit dan juga program kesihatan. Dr Harvinder telah bekerjasama dengan industri untuk menjalankan pelbagai kontrak penyelidikan dan telah menerima Geran Cabaran Obesiti pada 2018. Dr Harvinder telah menerbitkan pelbagai jurnal terindeks peringkat teratas kebangsaan dan antarabangsa dalam bidang pemakanan dan dietetik.
Dr Harvinder started her career as a dietitian in the community. She has been a researcher and academician for past 13 years with the International Medical University (IMU) and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). Her key area of work includes weight management, diabetes lifestyle nutrition, renal nutrition, obesogenic food environment and workplace wellness. An active researcher, Dr Harvinder has supervised many postgraduate and undergraduate students. Her research interests include evaluating diet-disease relationships and also wellness programs. She approaches to answer research questions in these areas through the conduct of cross-sectional studies, metabolic studies, and randomized clinical trials. She has collaborated with the industry to conduct various contract research and she was the receipt of Obesity Challenge grant in 2018. She has received competitive internal and external grants as a principal-investigator and is a team member in other externally funded projects. She has presented her scientific findings extensively in numerous regional and international conferences and has received multiple awards for her research work. She has been consistently invited to speak in major diabetes and obesity forums and symposiums. She has provided training and consultancy to industry for special acquired skills. She has published in top-tiered indexed national and international journals in nutrition and dietetics. She has peer-reviewed for national journals including Malaysian Journal of Nutrition, and Malaysian Journal of Health Sciences. She is a member of the Malaysian Association for the Study of Obesity, Malaysian Diabetes Educators Society, and the Malaysian Dietitians’ Association.