Members Biographies
Professor Alan Jackson (Chair)
Professor of Human Nutrition, School of Medicine at the University of Southampton. Professor Jackson's current work explores the extent to which modest differences in maternal diet and metabolic competence influence fetal development, predisposing to chronic disease in adulthood. Professor Jackson was a member of the Committee on Medical Aspects of Food and Nutrition Policy (COMA) for ten years and was a Consultant Adviser to the Chief Medical Officer on Nutrition from 1989 to 2002. Professor Jackson is a member of the EFSA Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies.
Professor Peter Aggett
Past Head of School, Lancashire School of Health and Postgraduate Medicine, Emeritus Professor of Child Health and Nutrition, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, Lancashire. 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 COT, ACNFP and EVM. He was a member of COMA for 7 years, and is a past chair and secretary of the ESPGHAN Committee on Nutrition and is currently chair of the Standing Committee on Nutrition for the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.
Professor Annie Anderson
Professor of Food Choice at the Centre for Public Health Nutrition Research, Department of Medicine, Ninewells Medical School, University of Dundee. Professor Anderson has represented the International Union against Cancer (UICC) on issues relating to diet and cancer prevention. In addition, she has participated as an expert advisor in a number of Department of Health, Food Standards Agency and Scottish Government Advisory Committees on topics ranging from nutrient standard of school meals to the Low Income Diet and Nutrition Survey. Her main research interests are dietary assessment methodologies, nutrition education and theory based, behaviourally focused dietary interventions in children and adults living in disadvantaged communities.
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 NIHR's 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 Peter Kopelman
Principal, St George's, University of London. Professor Kopelman has considerable experience, from a clinical perspective, in the delivery of diabetes care and the management of obesity to all age groups. He has worked closely with Health Authorities and national organisations in addressing nutritional matters and has chaired a large number of Committees within the university sector, the NHS, Health Authorities and the Royal College of Physicians.
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.
Dr David Mela
Senior Scientist and Expertise Group Leader, 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 manages a team responsible for identifying and substantiating the benefits of ingredients and products. He also contributes to strategic planning and acts as a scientific liaison with external academic and trade organisations.
Dr Ann Prentice
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.
Dr Anita Thomas
Consultant Physician in Acute Medicine Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust. Dr Thomas is chair of the CMO's Venous Thromboembolism (VTE) Implementation Working Group and CMO's representative on the Human Genetics Commission. She is a Board member of the Postgraduate Medical Education and Training Board (PMETB) and a member of the UK Panel for Research Integrity in Health and Biological Science. Dr Thomas is a lead assessor for the GMC Fitness to Practise Procedures.
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 represented COMA/PCMN on the Welfare Food Review Group. 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.