Members Biographies
Dr Ann Prentice (Chair)
Director, MRC Human Nutrition Research, Cambridge. Dr Prentice’s main research interests are nutritional aspects of bone health and osteoporosis; dietary requirements for human growth, pregnancy and lactation, and old age with particular reference to micronutrients. She has published extensive peer-reviewed articles, book chapters and reports. Dr Prentice was President of the Nutrition Society (from 2004 to 2007) and has served on a number of national and international advisory committees, including COMA’s Subgroup on Nutrition and Bone Health.
Professor Peter Aggett
Honorary Professor, School of Medicine and Health, Lancaster University, Professor Aggett is interested in trace element metabolism in health and disease. He has served on national and international advisory committees relating to clinical nutrition, public health and preventative medicine including nutritional safety and risk assessment, including the EC Scientific Committee on Food, the Committee on Toxicology, Advisory Committee for Novel Foods and Processes and Expert group on Vitamins and Minerals. He was a member of COMA for seven years, and is a past chair and secretary of the European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition’s Committee on Nutrition and is currently chair of the Standing Committee on Nutrition for the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.
Mrs Christine Gratus
Mrs Gratus has a background in advertising, marketing and market research. She was a Director and International Vice-President of J Walter Thompson advertising agency until establishing her own Consultancy in 1990. As a qualitative researcher, Mrs Gratus has spent a lifetime listening to consumers talking about every aspect of their lives, with food high on the list and is now involved mainly with health and health research. She is an honorary Senior Research Fellow of the University of Birmingham, a member of the National Cancer Research Institute’s Consumer Liaison Group, and a lay member of both the Herbal Medicines Advisory Committee and the London regional funding committee of the National Institute Health Research Networks’ Research for Patient Benefit programme.
Dr Paul Haggarty
Dr Paul Haggarty (BSc, PhD) is Head of Nutrition & Epigenetics and Senior Lecturer at Rowett Institute of Nutrition and Health, University of Aberdeen, and Honorary Clinical Scientist in Grampian NHS Trust. His research interest is in the way diet and environment interacts with genes to determine human health. This involves the study of epigenetics in pregnancy, cancer, cognition and cardiovascular disease. He has research experience in B vitamins, lipids and genetics and has an interest in the role of deprivation in the link between nutrition and health. He is a member of the Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and the North of Scotland Research Ethics committee.
Professor Timothy Key
Deputy Director, Cancer Epidemiology Unit, University of Oxford. Professor Key studied veterinary medicine, nutrition and epidemiology. He has special interests in the interactions between nutrition and hormones, cancer and cardiovascular disease. He is the lead investigator of the Oxford component of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer (EPIC), which is a European-wide collaborative study, chair of the EPIC Working Group on Nutrition and Prostate Cancer, and chair of the Endogenous Hormones and Breast Cancer Collaborative Group.
Professor Susan Lanham-New
Reader in Nutrition at the University of Surrey and a Registered Public Health Nutritionist. She will take over as the Head of the Nutritional Sciences Division at Surrey from the 1 August 2010. Her research focuses on the area of nutrition and bone health, for which she has won a number of awards including the Nutrition Society Silver Medal. She is Editor of the first academic textbook on ‘Nutritional Aspects of Bone Health’ (NAoBH. She is a member of the Nutrition Forum for the NOS and the Scientific Advisory Group of British Nutrition Foundation and the 2008 BNF Taskforce on ageing. She was Honorary Communications Officer of the UK Nutrition Society from 2000-2006. Susan is on the Editorial Board of Osteoporosis Review and Osteoporosis International. She is Editor-in-Chief of the Nutrition Society Textbook Series.
Professor Julie Lovegrove
Julie Lovegrove is Professor of Metabolic Nutrition in the Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences and the Deputy Director of the Institute for Cardiovascular and Metabolic Research at the University of Reading. Professor Lovegrove’s main areas of research interest are the investigation of nutritional influences on the metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease risk, including nutrient/gene interactions. Of particular interest are the effects of dietary fats, carbohydrates and phytochemicals on vascular reactivity, insulin resistance and lipid metabolism in different population groups. Professor Lovegrove also has experience and interest in ethical issues associated with human research and serves on a number of research ethics committees.
Professor Ian Macdonald
Ian Macdonald is Professor of Metabolic Physiology at the University of Nottingham and Director of Research in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. His research interests are concerned with the nutritional and metabolic aspects of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease, with additional interests in nutrition and metabolism in exercise. His research involves studies in healthy subjects and various patient groups, and combines whole body physiological measurements, molecular investigation of tissue samples, and dietary interventions. Ian Macdonald is presently President of the Nutrition Society, Editor to the International Journal of Obesity and Chair of the International Association for the Study of Obesity Finance Committee.
Professor Harry McArdle
Professor McArdle is Deputy Director of Science and the Director of Academic Affairs at the Rowett Institute of Nutrition and Health, University of Aberdeen. His main research interests involve micronutrients and the critical role they play in growth and development. Current work concentrates on understanding the mechanisms underpinning micronutrient transport across the placenta. Professor McArdle’s studies iron and copper metabolism, trying to understand how the fetus and placenta work together to ensure an adequate supply, even if the mother is deficient; a frequent occurrence even in developed society. At the same time, Professor McArdle and his team are trying to identify why iron deficiency during pregnancy results in hypertension in the adult offspring in animal models and whether the results can be extrapolated to humans.
Dr David Mela
Science Leader at Unilever R&D Vlaardingen, The Netherlands. Dr Mela joined Unilever in 1998, following an academic research career in the US and UK. His main expertise is in the biological and behavioural aspects of food choice, eating behaviour and energy balance, from consumer research through energy metabolism. In Unilever, he is mainly involved with research programmes to identify and substantiate the benefits of product formulations and ingredients. He also provides input for the management of specific technical and regulatory issues and represents Unilever on various external academic and trade groups.
Professor Hilary Powers
Professor of Nutritional Biochemistry, Head of Human Nutrition Unit, Deputy Head of Department of Oncology in the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health, University of Sheffield, Professor Hilary Powers conducts research into the role of B vitamins in health and disease, with specific focus on folate and cervical/colorectal/breast cancer, and functional importance of interactions between B vitamin status and common genetic polymorphisms.
Professor Powers is a former or current member of grants panels for Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (Agri-Food, Diet and Health Research Industry Club); she is currently Chair of grant panel for World Cancer Research Fund; a member of Expert Panel for the World Cancer Research Fund/Association for International Cancer Research Report into links between diet, physical activity and cancer and subsequent Policy Report. She is also an advisor to the Food Standards Agency for Biochemical Methodology for National Surveys of the Nutritional Status of the British Population and an advocate for the 2009 review of the Food Standards Agency’s Nutrition research portfolio.
Professor Angus Walls
Angus Walls is Professor of Restorative Dentistry and Director of Research, School of Dental Sciences, Newcastle University. Professor Walls’ research interests focus on the oral health care problems of an ageing population at a time of marked change in oral health status. The relationships are between diet and oral diseases such as tooth wear, decay and soft tissue pathology, and the number and functional capacity of the residual dentition and foods choice. His work has embraced basic epidemiology and the development of dietary interventions to address specific problems.
Dr Stella Walsh
Dr Walsh has a long-standing interest in the subjects of food and nutrition and is an experienced consumer representative having served on several government and industry Committees and replied to consultations on behalf of consumers. She was the Secretary of the National Federation of Consumers (NFC) and has been a representative for the NFC on the Institute of Grocery Distributors, and other FSA and Defra Committees. She has published several refereed articles for academic and professional journals, book chapters and conference papers on consumer issues linked to her role as a Postgraduate Programme Leader at Leeds Metropolitan University.
Dr Anthony Williams
Reader in Child Nutrition and Consultant in Neonatal Paediatrics, St George’s University of London. Dr Williams was the Chair of COMA’s Panel on Child & Maternal Nutrition and a member of COMA. He was a member of the Food Standards Agency’s Expert Group on Vitamins and Minerals and cross-represented SACN on the Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes between 2003 and 2007. Between 2006 and 2008 he chaired the NICE Centre for Public Health Excellence Programme Development Group producing guidance on maternal and child nutrition in low-income families. Since 2009 he has represented SACN on the project board of the Diet and Nutrition Survey of Infants and Young Children.
Professor Ian Young
Ian Young is Professor of Medicine and Director of the Centre for Public Health at Queen’s University Belfast. In addition, he is also Associate Medical Director (Research and Development) and Consultant Chemical Pathologist at the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust. Professor Young’s main clinical and research interests are in lipid metabolism, carbohydrate metabolism and antioxidants, particularly in relation to the prevention of cardiovascular disease. He is an author of over 250 published research papers and is on the editorial boards of a number of leading international journals. In addition, he is Vice-Chair of the Scientific Division of the International Federation for Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine. He frequently speaks at national and international meetings on lipid management and topics related to laboratory medicine.
