Nutrition, food and health
The Nutrition, food and health theme focuses on the promotion of good health through food and nutrition and the primary prevention and management of nutrition related illness in the population. Imperial College leads the way in world-class research in nutrition linked to Cancer, Cardiovascular Disease, Global Health, Diabetes and Obesity through Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Natural Science and the Imperial College Business School.
UK Obesity rates are the highest in Europe with more than 60% of the population overweight or obese. If trends continue 40% of the UK population will be obese by 2025 and this creates a huge burden on the NHS as obesity-related conditions currently cost the NHS on average £5bn a year. Many interventions deployed by health systems have failed to improve healthy behaviour in a sustained way over the life cycle. The vast majority failed to account for the individual genotype specificities and biological environmental factors. Few attempts have been made to systematically link and triangulate different sources of biological, socioeconomic, and behavioural data to look at the overall processes and simultaneously for the interplay of genetic, epigenetic, psychological, behavioural, socio-economic and long-term consequences of an intervention on nutrition and metabolic health.
In order for basic biological research into nutrition to be used to maintain and improve health and wellbeing, it is key to understand how food and nutrition interplay with physiology, preferences, psychology, socio-economic variables, behaviour and policy interventions. Research in the social and behavioural sciences has not yet, for example fully engaged with the so-called ‘epigenetics revolution’ in biology, that is, the growing evidence that differences in genetically identical individuals may be explained by epigenetic alterations in DNA and its accompanying proteins.
Leveraging on the interdisciplinary research at Imperial College we undertake high quality multidisciplinary research at the interface between the social and biological sciences, to develop sustainable strategies fully embedded in the healthcare ecosystem to fight the obesity epidemic, promoting the wellbeing of the population, mitigating its impact on the economy including on the financial sustainability of health systems.
The vision of the nutrition, food and health research programme is to improve the global health through a new understanding of how food interacts with metabolism.
Key Imperial infrastructure: , Surgery and Cancer, National Heart and Lung Institute, School of Public Health, Department of Chemistry, Department of Life Sciences, Centre for African Research and Engagement (ICCARE), Centre for Digestive and Gut Health, Centre for Engagement and Simulation Science
Theme lead
Professor Gary Frost
Professor Frost has an international reputation for his work on the metabolic effect of dietary carbohydrates and the clinical management of obesity. His work was the first to describe that dietary carbohydrate could influence adipocyte metabolism and subsequently whole body insulin sensitivity and the positive effect of low glycaemic index carbohydrate on high density lipoprotein cholesterol. More recently Professor Frosts work has supported the development of the hypothesis that fermentable carbohydrate limits weight gain and has beneficial effects on body composition and neurological signalling.
Further information on Professor Frost
Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction
Dr Suzanne Barr

Dr Suzanne Barr
Senior Clinical Teaching Fellow
Professor Sir Steve Bloom

Professor Sir Steve Bloom
Head of Division for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism
Dr Edward Chambers

Dr Edward Chambers
Research Fellow - Dietary Fibre and Health
Professor Waljit Dhillo

Professor Waljit Dhillo
Professor of Endocrinology and Metabolism
Professor Jorge Ferrer

Professor Jorge Ferrer
Chair in Medicine and Genetics
Professor Philippe Froguel

Professor Philippe Froguel
Chair in Genomic Medicine
Professor Gary Frost

Professor Gary Frost
Chair in Nutrition and Dietetics
Dr Isabel Garcia Perez

Dr Isabel Garcia Perez
Lecturer in Precision & Systems Medicine
Dr James Gardiner

Dr James Gardiner
Reader in Molecular Physiology
Professor Nigel Gooderham

Professor Nigel Gooderham
Professor of Molecular Toxicology
Dr Saira Hameed

Dr Saira Hameed
NIHR Clinical Lecturer
Dr Aylin Hanyaloglu

Dr Aylin Hanyaloglu
Senior Lecturer
Professor Ailsa Hart

Professor Ailsa Hart
Professor of Practice
Professor Elaine Holmes

Professor Elaine Holmes
Professor of Chemical Biology
Dr Channa Jayasena

Dr Channa Jayasena
Clinical Senior Lecturer in Endocrinology
Professor Desmond Johnston

Professor Desmond Johnston
Vice Dean (Education) for the Faculty of Medicine
Dr Aaron M. Lett

Dr Aaron M. Lett
Research and Teaching Fellow
Professor Adrian Lim

Professor Adrian Lim
Consultant Radiologist
Professor Julian Marchesi

Professor Julian Marchesi
Professor of Digestive Health
Dr Alexander Miras

Dr Alexander Miras
Clinical Senior Lecturer
Professor Kevin Murphy

Professor Kevin Murphy
Professor of Endocrinology & Metabolism
Professor Jeremy Nicholson

Professor Jeremy Nicholson
Chair in Biological Chemistry, Head of Department
Professor Nicholas Oliver

Professor Nicholas Oliver
Wynn Chair in Human Metabolism (Clinical)
Dr Joram Posma

Dr Joram Posma
Lecturer in Cancer Informatics
Professor Guy Rutter

Professor Guy Rutter
Chair in Cell Biology and Head of Cell Biology
Dr Victoria Salem

Dr Victoria Salem
NIHR Clinical Lecturer
Dr Jonathan Swann

Dr Jonathan Swann
Reader in Microbiomics and Human Development
Professor Simon Taylor-Robinson

Professor Simon Taylor-Robinson
Professor of Translational Medicine
Professor Mark Thursz

Professor Mark Thursz
Professor of Hepatology
Kevin Walsh

Kevin Walsh
Research Postgraduate
Professor Julian Walters

Professor Julian Walters
Professor of Gastroenterology
Department of Chemistry
Dr Nick Brooks

Dr Nick Brooks
Research Lecturer, Chemistry
Professor Tony Cass

Professor Tony Cass
Professor of Chemistry
Professor Oscar Ces

Professor Oscar Ces
Professor in Chemistry
Dr Ian Gould

Dr Ian Gould
Reader in Computational Biology
Professor David Klug

Professor David Klug
Professor of Chemical Biology
Professor Alan C Spivey

Professor Alan C Spivey
Professor of Synthetic Chemistry
Professor Ed Tate

Professor Ed Tate
Professor of Chemical Biology
Dr Rudiger Woscholski

Dr Rudiger Woscholski
Reader in Chemical Biology
Professor Sophia Yaliraki

Professor Sophia Yaliraki
Professor of Theoretical Chemistry
Department of Surgery and Cancer
Mr Duncan Boak

Mr Duncan Boak
Manager of the Centre for Engagement & Simulation Science
School of Public Health
Dr Dagfinn Aune

Dr Dagfinn Aune
Research Associate
Dr Amanda Cross

Dr Amanda Cross
Reader in Cancer Epidemiology
Professor Paul Elliott

Professor Paul Elliott
Chair in Epidemiology and Public Health Medicine
Dr Rachel Gibson

Dr Rachel Gibson
Research Dietitian and Teaching Fellow
Dr Lesley Hoyles

Dr Lesley Hoyles
MRC Intermediate Fellow in Data Science
Professor Neena Modi

Professor Neena Modi
Professor of Neonatal Medicine
Dr Linda Oude Griep

Dr Linda Oude Griep
Junior Research Fellow
Professor Elio Riboli

Professor Elio Riboli
Director, School of Public Health
Dr Sonia Saxena

Dr Sonia Saxena
Reader in Primary Care
Dr Alex Shaw

Dr Alex Shaw
Research Associate
Dr Mireille B Toledano

Dr Mireille B Toledano
Reader in Epidemiology
Dr Konstantinos Tsilidis

Dr Konstantinos Tsilidis
Senior Lecturer in Cancer Epidemiology
National Heart and Lung Institute
Professor Andrew Bush

Professor Andrew Bush
Professor of Paediatric Respirology
Professor Adnan Custovic

Professor Adnan Custovic
Clinical Chair in Paediatric Allergy
Dr Ramzi Khamis

Dr Ramzi Khamis
Consultant Cardiologist
Professor Claire Shovlin

Professor Claire Shovlin
Professor of Practice (Clinical and Molecular Medicine)
Professor Philippe Steg

Professor Philippe Steg
Professor of Cardiology
Professor David Wood

Professor David Wood
Garfield Weston Professor
Institute of Clinical Sciences
Professor David Carling

Professor David Carling
Professor of Biochemistry
Professor Irene Miguel-Aliaga

Professor Irene Miguel-Aliaga
Professor of Genetics and Physiology
Department of Infectious Disease
Dr Raheelah Ahmad

Dr Raheelah Ahmad
NIHR Knowledge Mobilisation Fellow
Professor Margaret Dallman

Professor Margaret Dallman
Associate Provost (Academic Partnerships) and Professor of Immunology
Professor Paul Freemont

Professor Paul Freemont
Chair in Protein Crystallography
Professor Alison Holmes

Professor Alison Holmes
Professor of Infectious Diseases
Professor Beata Kampman

Professor Beata Kampman
Professor of Paediatric Infection & Immunity
Dr Kirsty Le Doare

Dr Kirsty Le Doare
Clinical Senior Lecturer in Paediatric Diseases
Professor Michael Levin

Professor Michael Levin
Chair in Paediatrics & International Child Health
Dr Elizabeth Powell

Dr Elizabeth Powell
Clinical Research Fellow
Dr Kathleen Sim

Dr Kathleen Sim
Honorary Clinical Research Fellow
Professor Rob Wilkinson

Professor Rob Wilkinson
Professor in Infectious Diseases
Professor Tom Williams

Professor Tom Williams
Chair in Haemoglobinopathy Research
Department of Brain Sciences
Dr Tony Goldstone

Dr Tony Goldstone
Senior Clinical Research Fellow
Dr Adam Hampshire

Dr Adam Hampshire
Senior Lecturer in Restorative Neurosciences
Professor Paul Matthews

Professor Paul Matthews
Edmond and Lily Safra Chair and Head of Brain Sciences
Dr Anna C Need

Dr Anna C Need
Lecturer in Neuropsychiatric Genetics