Third year project students' work published

Third year project students, recognised as the 'SoBHCS Student Team' have contributed to a new paper in the journal Nutrition & Diabetes. The study suggests that consumption of juice obtained via a commercially available nutrient extractor results in blood glucose levels the same or lower than seen with whole fruit. This unexpected finding offers a possible dietary alternative enabling consumption of normally dietary-restricted fruit juice. You can read more about the work here.

New Scientist Live Event - the interview

In an earlier Blog, I mentioned that one of our lecturers, Tina Joshi, was at the New Scientist Live event ("Ask a Biologist") organised by the Royal Society for Biology. Here is the link to her interview.

New Scientist Live! event

One of our new lecturers, Tina Joshi, will talking at the #askabiologist event at the Royal Society of Biology stand at the New Scientist Live event in London on Saturday 29th September between 10am and 1.30pm. Public at the event will be able to talk to her about her research area and ask "Could Microwaves Save my Life?". She will have props at the table to demonstrate concepts.

Tina's research focuses on the development of a hand held detector able to rapidly detect antibiotic resistant bacteria within infected patients/environment. Antibiotic resistance in microorganisms is a global crisis as we have fewer and fewer ways left to treat dangerous infections. The approach utilises bespoke microwave technology to break open bacteria in five seconds and electrochemistry to detect the bacteria itself.

Welcome party for first years

Yesterday the faculty held its annual welcoming party for new first years in the marquee on the Hoe. Below are a few photos from the evening. The top two show various staff, whom I am sure wish to remain anonymous. The ones below were kindly taken by Matthias Futschik (one of our new lecturers) and show Ansgar Poetsch (also a new lecturer) with some first year undergraduates (my apologies for not recognising them yet).

Nutrition Society Student Conference

Julia Jaczo -- a Nutrition, Exercise and Health student -- writes about her experience, and that of her colleagues, at a recent Nutrition Society Student Conference.

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As part of my second year summer research bursary, I had to the chance to investigate the relationship between dietary intake and chronic disease risk. I used data from the EarlyBird cohort study, examining energy and nutrient intake according to gender, BMI and body fat and related the data to glucose tolerance test values.

After finishing the research, I had the opportunity to attend the Nutrition Society Student Conference in Reading during the first week of September.  Two other students, James Wallis and Rachel Hine, also joined me, alongside our tutors, Dr Gail Rees and Kathy Redfern, to represent the university and present our research findings.

The conference exceeded my expectations every way possible. It was great meeting students from around the world with similar interests and listening to their research findings. As part of the conference, we also had the chance to find out details about emerging and ongoing research in the field of nutrition, such as different dietary fats and their effects on risk of heart disease; changes in the immune system during aging and how diet can modulate the gut microbiome and effect health.

The conference also focused on providing support for future graduates and registered nutritionists. We had talks on how to prepare for a public speech, how to build our CVs and prepare for job interviews and we also heard useful tips of how to work freelance.

Overall, it was a great experience attending the conference and I am grateful for the university for making it possible for us. I have made some new connections with people I would have never met otherwise and gathered lots of useful information both regarding future careers and nutrition science.

Rachel commented:

“The student conference was a great opportunity to present my research, network with other students and professionals and learn more about career possibilities. Completing the summer studentship has allowed me to gain confidence and new skills in research and I look forward to attending more Nutrition Society events in the future.”

James also agreed:

“Undertaking the vacation research scholarship has improved many skills such as conducting primary research, analytical skills and communication skills. Not only this, but being able to present our projects at the Nutrition Society conference was an amazing experience and a great opportunity to network and talk to people at different levels of their career.”

Below:  Julia (right) with Rachel Hine and James Wallis

Students write a book

Nutrition, Exercise and Health students Becky Thomas and Rachel Hine worked with arts, business and education students here at Plymouth to produce a book aimed at improving the health of young children: A Taste of the World with Bertie. Read more about this fascinating venture by following this link.

Students present project posters

On Tuesday, the final year undergraduates presented posters on their research projects. Here are a few.

Laura Fryer (BSc Nutrition, Exercise and Health)

Callum Hayes (BSc Health and Fitness)

Luke Michael (Health and Fitness)

Jessica Burns (NEH)

George Dukes (H and F talking to Neil Avent)

Enver Keleszade (NEH)