About us

The Hugh Sinclair Human Nutrition Group is part of the Department of Food Biosciences. It has an international reputation for its research into the relationship between diet and the risk of chronic disease such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, neurodegenerative disease and cancer. We collaborate with centres of excellence throughout the world and have strong links with food companies.

The Nutrition Group is named
after the eminent scientist Professor Hugh Sinclair, whose Trust
provided an endowment to the University of Reading to set up  a major
centre for nutrition research.

Hugh Sinclair and the origins of the Hugh Sinclair Nutrition Unit (HSNU)

During 1995 the International Nutrition Foundation, originally set up by the renowned Professor Hugh Sinclair, endowed the Department of Food Science and Technology (now the School of Food Biosciences) at the University of Reading with the proceeds of the estate of Professor Sinclair. As a first step in the establishment of a major new centre for human nutrition research at Reading the university established a Chair in Human Nutrition and appointed Christine Williams as the first Sinclair Professor of Human Nutrition. In 2006, Professor Williams was promoted to Dean of the Faculty of Life Sciences and in 2007, Professor Ian Rowland was appointed as her successor.

Along with the Sinclair endowment, the University also acquired the Hugh Sinclair Archive. A qualified archivist was appointed in May 2008 to list and catalogue the Archive- this is due to be completed in 2010. For further details please contact Hayley Whiting: h.whiting@reading.ac.uk or tel: 0118 3788670

Current Hugh Sinclair Nutrition Group

The group consists of ten academic staff members, our group secretary, clinical unit manager and research nurse, and typically 10-15 Postdoctoral Fellows, 5 research assistants, 15-20 PhD students, and 3-5 visiting scientists or placement students.

Aims of the Hugh Sinclair Group

• To strengthen the scientific base for population-based dietary recommendations for prevention of degenerative chronic diseases:

- Cardiovascular disease

- Neurodegenerative disease

- Diabetes

- Cancer

• To collaborate with industry to develop food ingredients with health promoting properties (Functional foods).

The activities of the group may be broadly divided into the following research themes

• Dietary fat composition and lipoprotein metabolism
• Macronutrient intake and insulin sensitivity
• Vascular function and reactivity
• Dietary flavonoids, cell signalling and cognitive function
• Nutrigenetics and nutrigenomics
• Phytochemical composition and oxidative status
• Nutrition and immune function
• Nutrition status, cognition and food choice
• Plant bioactives and cancer
• Food production and processing, and enhanced food composition
• Probiotics, prebiotics and health
• Nutrition support for the critically ill

The academic and postdoctoral staff actively lecture, run tutorial and laboratory sessions and act as personal tutors to BSc and MSc, Nutrition & Food Science, Food Science, Agriculture and Biomedical students. For further details of the courses we teach please see the  Food Biociences Home Page