Professor Julie Lovegrove is a key member of the Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences and Head of the Hugh Sinclair Unit of Human Nutrition. She is Deputy Director of the Institute for Cardiovascular and Metabolic Research (ICMR) and President of the Nutrition Society.
Along with her teaching and research responsibilities, Julie is a member of a number of government advisory committees, including the Scientific Advisory Committee for Nutrition (SACN) and the Association for Nutrition (AfN).
Julie's award-winning research is focused on the impact of nutrition on public health. In 2022, she won the British Nutrition Foundation (BNF) Prize for her exceptional work in this field. The BNF Prize is awarded annually to an inspirational person or group for their outstanding achievement in the area of nutrition.
World-leading expertise
The Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences offers students a supportive environment where they can learn from our world-leading experts.
Julie teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students across all modules in our nutrition-focused degrees. She also convenes a module on nutrition health and disease.
Her current research in the Hugh Sinclair Unit of Human Nutrition feeds directly into her teaching – benefiting all of her students.
"It is really important that we have research active lecturers because we take our research right through to the student, where they can gain from up-to-date knowledge of research that's been performed not only within the Hugh Sinclair Unit of Human Nutrition but externally as well."
Research undertaken in the Hugh Sinclair Unit has vital real-word applications, informing the work of governments and the food sector.
"The nutrition research group within the Hugh Sinclair Unit of Human Nutrition has expertise in linking nutrition with the prevention of chronic diseases. Our ambition is to strengthen the evidence space for public health recommendations for the prevention of chronic diseases.
"We are particularly interested in addressing the impact of nutrition on cardiovascular metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, and cognitive function. We are also looking at diet inequalities in vulnerable groups and developing a subjective accurate dietary assessment tool."
Learning environment
All of our staff are actively engaged in cutting-edge research and tailor their teaching to reflect the changing trends and emerging technologies in nutritional science. Teaching is delivered through lectures, problem-based learning, group projects, and hands-on practical work in the laboratory.
The University also has strong links with organisations working in nutrition, including collaborations with the NHS and the Royal Berkshire Hospital. Julie is passionate that her students benefit from these close connections, which provide opportunities to develop knowledge and skills in a real-world environment.
"Our collaboration with the hospital is absolutely unique and gives students an amazing opportunity to work with health professionals in a clinical setting. This collaboration will give students the opportunity for networking to gain key skills that they can perhaps transfer to the University that they wouldn't get just working here. Students are also able to look at what careers they could go into and what positions would be available to them to take nutrition into the clinical setting."