Nutrition Day - 15 March 2012

Prof Martin Wickham, Head of Nutrition, Leatherhead Food Research
Martin is the Head of Nutrition at Leatherhead Food Research. Martin was previously the head of the Model Gut Platform at the Institute of Food Research where his research interests were centred on understanding human gut physiology with particular emphasis on the human response to complex food and pharmaceutical systems. He is a BBSRC/ Royal Society of Edinburgh Enterprise Fellow, has a PhD from the University of East Anglia and has an MBA from the University of Dundee. Martin also holds a visiting Professorship at the Pharmaco-Biological Department, University of Messina, Italy and an Adjunct Faculty Position at The New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research, NZ.

Dr Paul Berryman, Chief Executive, Leatherhead Food Research
Dr Berryman was appointed Chief Executive of Leatherhead Food Research on 1st January 2008, following two years as Leatherhead’s Research Director. A Chartered Chemist and Biologist, he has 30 years' experience in food science and food law, working in five different scientific consultancies including the Birmingham Public Analyst Laboratory, Clayton Environmental Consultants Ltd and Hampshire County Council's Scientific and Trading Standards Services. Paul sits on three BBSRC panels including Bioscience for Industry and DRINC – a £12m initiative to fund industry-relevant nutrition research at Universities. He also chairs the Government Chemist Advisory Group which oversees the referee food analysis function of the LGC.

Dr Julian Stowell, Science Director, Danisco Health and Nutrition
Julian is currently Science Director for Danisco Health and Nutrition. In this capacity he has overall responsibility for Danisco Sweeteners Scientific, Technical and Regulatory Affairs, including Applications Development. He graduated with a BSc in Biochemistry from the University of Birmingham, MSc in Enzyme Chemistry from the University of Kent at Canterbury and PhD in Biotechnology from the University of Hertfordshire, all in the UK. His career has encompassed R&D, manufacturing, commercial and scientific roles in the food and pharmaceutical sectors. He currently specializes in health and nutrition, investigating how consumers can reduce disease risk by improving the nutritional profile of their diets. He chairs Danisco's Health and Nutrition Network. From 2003 to 2005 Dr Stowell chaired the Calorie Control Council, a US based organization working on behalf of the reduced calorie foods and ingredients industry. He chairs the ILSI Europe Dietary Carbohydrates Task Force and has also chaired the IFIC Fat Replacers Committee, Society for General Microbiology Fermentation Group and Technology Group of the European Citric Acid Manufacturers Association. 
In 2005 Julian became chairman of the Leatherhead Food Research Forum on Nutrition & Health. He has recently been elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine.

Dr Roberta Re, Nutrition Research Manager, Leatherhead Food Research
Roberta graduated in 1995 from the University of Palermo Italy, where she completed a Doctorate in Pharmacy, after which she spent a year at the University of California Berkeley before commencing a PhD in Biochemistry at King's College London at the Wolfson Centre for Age-Related Diseases. In 2001 she joined the MRC-HNR as a Survey co-ordinator of the National Diet and Nutrition Survey. Having spent several years in a research environment, her interest has focused on the investigation of functional foods and their relationship to a number of health related issues.  Prior to joining Leatherhead in 2007, Roberta spent several years working as a Business Manager for a biotech company associated with the University of Cambridge where she gained business and marketing experience.  She is now the manager of the Nutrition Research department which performs human intervention studies for efficacy and health claim substantiation, in the areas of satiety, glycaemic response and weight management as well as routine GI testing.

Sarah Hull, Principal Scientist and Forum Liaison Officer, Nutrition Research, Leatherhead Food Research
Sarah joined the Nutrition & Health department at Leatherhead in 2004, after graduating from the University of Bristol with a degree in Chemistry. She is heavily involved in the forum research programme, both as a project leader and in her role as Forum Liaison Officer. She is responsible for the running of several forum, confidential and collaborative research projects. Her primary responsibilities include organising the Nutrition & Health Forum activities, running Leatherhead’s Human Nutrition Research Unit, including its glycaemic index testing service, and satiety studies.

Sarah Kuczora, Nutritionist: Nutrition Research, Leatherhead Food Research
Sarah Kuczora is a Nutritionist within Leatherhead’s Nutrition Research team. She graduated with a BSc (Hons) Sport and Exercise Science degree from The University of Birmingham in 2007 and completed a Masters in Human Nutrition at The University of Sheffield in 2010. She joined Leatherhead in 2010 and has been involved in running a number of confidential human nutrition intervention studies, responding to Member enquiries and conducting a number of literature reviews. She is experienced in blood sampling and analysis, in particular the use of ELISA for quantification of gut hormones, anthropometry measurements and analysis of food diaries. She is also responsible for the ‘cereal fibre and vascular function’ forum research project.

Sonia Pombo, Senior Nutritionist: Nutrition Research, Leatherhead Food Research
Sonia Pombo is a Senior Nutritionist within Leatherhead’s nutrition unit. She graduated in 2007 with a BSc (Hons) in Molecular Medicine from the University of Sussex and continued on to Kings College London, where she obtained a Master’s in Nutrition. She joined the Nutrition team at Leatherhead in 2008, where she has been involved in a wide variety of nutritional intervention studies. She is a fully qualified phlebotomist and is experienced in blood sampling and analysis of various macro and micronutrients. She is involved in a variety of laboratory and desk based nutrition projects, including practical human nutrition intervention studies. She has extended expertise around the areas of satiety and weight management, including food diary analysis, food composition and anthropometry measurements, and is responsible for a number of forum and confidential studies. She is responsible for the running of Leatherhead’s GI testing service.