Dr Athanasios Tektonidis

PhD, MSc, BSc | FHEA | RD(gr), RNutr(gr)

Lecturer in Nutrition

School of Sport, Nutrition and Allied Health Professions

Role

I re-joined OBU in 2022 as a Lecturer in Nutrition after completing a Doctorate in Nutritional Epidemiology at OBU, UK (2020), a Masters with distinction in Human Nutrition at the Karolinska Institute, Sweden (2014), and a Bachelors (Hons) in Nutrition & Dietetics at the Harokopio University, Greece (2012).

Professionally, I am a Registered Nutritionist and Dietitian in Greece and qualified and eligible to register with the Association for Nutrition and the Health and Care Professions Council in the UK. Moreover, I hold a Fellowship with the Higher Education Academy, UK.

Current Roles:

- Full-time Lecturer in Nutrition teaching across the nutrition programme including BSc(Hons) Nutrition, BSc(Hons) Nutrition Science, MSc Applied Human Nutrition and MSc Applied Sport and Exercise Nutrition.

- Active Researcher in diet and health research, with main focus on nutritional epidemiology - see Research tab.

- Course Coordinator of the Final Year Entry programme "BSc(Hons) Nutrition Science". This programme has been developed to cover food science, the clinical and social/behaviour aspects of nutrition, health/wellbeing and professional conduct to equip students for a career in the area of nutrition.

- Module Coordinator of the Continuous Professional Development (CPD) 20-credit bearing Level 7 module "Fundamentals of Human Nutrition".

- Admissions Lead of the MSc Dietetics (pre-registration) - subject to accreditation and validation.

Teaching and supervision

Courses

Modules taught

Scientific Skills for Health Scientists (UG - Y1/L4) - Module Lead
Research Methods for Nutrition and Health Sciences (UG - Y2/L5) - Module Lead
Energy Regulation and Obesity (UG - Y3/L6) - Module Lead
Fundamentals of Human Nutrition (PG - L7) - Module Lead
Nutritiontal Biochemistry and Metabolism (UG - Y2/L5) - Guest Lecturer
Research Project (UG - Y3/L6) - Guest Lecturer
Health Promotion and Professional Practice across the Lifespan (PG - L7) - Guest Lecturer

Supervision

- Currently supervising one PhD student at the University of Hertfordshire "Exploring the role of diet in managing psoriasis: dietary behaviours, symptom response and potential health impacts of following popular diets without professional guidance" (2021 - 2024).

- To supervise one PhD student at OBU exploring the "Assessment of nutritional status, body composition, motor- and neurodevelopment in preterm and term children aged 3-5 years - INTERGROWTH: an international, multicentre study" (2024 - 2027).

- Internal examiner for the PhD thesis "Dietary bioactive compounds and possible health benefits of dragon fruit and star fruit", Mildred Flores Verastegui (2023).

Research

My research focuses on elucidating the role of dietary patterns and diet quality in prevention and management of chronic diseases and in promoting healthy aging. My expertise spans nutritional epidemiology, diet-health associations, dietary modelling, and statistical analysis of large cohort studies.

Some projects I have worked are on the investigation of the relationship between adherence to healthful dietary patterns such as the Mediterranean diet or the Healthy Eating Index and outcomes including heart health, risk of heart failure, stroke, psoriasis, multiple sclerosis progression, physical functioning, and mortality.

Research Grants - (not in Converis)

Co-applicant: "Assessment of nutritional status, body composition, motor- and neurodevelopment in preterm and term children aged 3-5 years: an international, multicentre study". (01/06/2024 - 01/06/2027), funded internally by: Nigel Groome Studentship, Oxford Institute of Applied Health Research, funded amount received by Brookes: £70,002, full-time PhD studentship. Principal Investigator: Dr. Shelly Coe

Advisor: An exploration of clinic reports on daily activity, identity, and wellbeing from carers of patients referred to the Oxford Brain Health Clinic. (23/06/2023 - 23/11/2023), funded externally by: Alzheimer's Research UK, funded amount received by Brookes: £5,000, Principal Investigator: Jackie Parsonage-Harrison

Co-applicant: "Exploring the role of diet in managing psoriasis: dietary behaviours, symptom response and potential health impacts of following popular diets without professional guidance". (15/10/2021 - 15/10/2024), funded internally by: Centre for Agriculture, Food & Environmental Management Research (CAFEM) – University of Hertfordshire, £62,145 full-time PhD studentship. Principal Investigator: Dr. Rosalind Fallaize

Co-applicant: "Exploration of perceptions, knowledge and experiences regarding diet of people living with psoriasis: a qualitative study in the UK." (01/06/2021 - 01/08/2021), funded internally by: Centre for Health Services & Clinical Research (CHSCR) - University of Hertfordshire, £1,500 summer research project. Principal Investigator: Dr. Rosalind Fallaize

Projects as Co-investigator

Exploring the prospective relationships of Dietary Inflammatory Index scores on clinical progression in people with multiple sclerosis.(09/05/2023 - 31/07/2024), funded by: Multiple Sclerosis Society, funding amount received by Brookes: £47,870, funded by: Multiple Sclerosis Society

Publications

Esmaeil Yousefi Rad, Somayeh Saboori, Thanasis G. Tektonidis, Steve Simpson-Yap, Jeanette Reece, James R. Hebert, Richard Nicholas, Rod Middleton, Jonathan Tammam, Lucinda Black, Shelly Coe, A systematic review and meta-analysis of Dietary Inflammatory Index and the likelihood of multiple sclerosis/ demyelinating autoimmune disease
Clinical Nutrition ESPEN 62 (2024) pp.108-114 ISSN: 2405-4577 eISSN: 2405-4577
Eduard Martinez Solsona, Thanasis Tektonidis, Jeanette C. Reece, Steve Simpson-Yap, Lucinda J. Black, Esmaeil Yousefi Rad, Shelly Coe,, Associations between diet and disease progression and symptomatology in multiple sclerosis: A systematic review of observational studies.
Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders 87 (2024) ISSN: 2211-0348 eISSN: 2211-0356 Associations between diet and disease progression and symptomatology in multiple sclerosis: A systematic review of observational studies. Open Access version on RADAR
Hawkins P, Earl K, Tektonidis TG, Fallaize R, The Role of Diet in the Management of Psoriasis: A Scoping Review
Nutrition Research Reviews Online first (2023) ISSN: 0954-4224 eISSN: 1475-2700 The Role of Diet in the Management of Psoriasis: A Scoping Review Open Access version on RADAR
Coe S, Tektonidis TG, Coverdale C, Penny , Collett J, Chu BTY, Izadi H, Middleton R, and Dawes H, A cross sectional assessment of nutrient intake and the association of the inflammatory properties of nutrients and foods with symptom severity, in a large cohort from the UK Multiple Sclerosis Registry.
Nutrition Research 85 (2020) pp.31-39 ISSN: 0271-5317 A cross sectional assessment of nutrient intake and the association of the inflammatory properties of nutrients and foods with symptom severity, in a large cohort from the UK Multiple Sclerosis Registry. Open Access version on RADAR
Tektonidis T, Coe S, Esser P, Maddock J, Buchanan S, Mavrommati F, Izadi H, Schott JM, Richards M, Dawes H, Longitudinal Changes in Diet Quality over Adulthood and Physical Function in Older Life: Findings from a British Birth Cohort
Current Developments in Nutrition 4 (2020) ISSN: 2475-2991 eISSN: 2475-2991
Tektonidis TG, Coe S, Esser P, Maddock J, Buchanan S, Mavrommati F, Schott JM, Izadi H, Richards M, Dawes H, Diet quality in late midlife is associated with faster walking speed in later life in women, but not men: findings from a prospective British birth cohort
British Journal of Nutrition 123 (8) (2019) pp.913-921 ISSN: 0007-1145 eISSN: 1475-2662 Diet quality in late midlife is associated with faster walking speed in later life in women, but not men: findings from a prospective British birth cohort Open Access version on RADAR
Bellavia A, Tektonidis TG., Orsini N, Wolk A, Larsson SC, Quantifying the benefits of Mediterranean diet in terms of survival
European Journal of Epidemiology 31 (5) (2016) pp.527-530 ISSN: 0393-2990 eISSN: 1573-7284
Larsson SC., Tektonidis TG., Gigante B, Akesson A, Wolk A, Healthy Lifestyle and Risk of Heart Failure: Results From 2 Prospective Cohort Studies
Circulation: Heart Failure 9 (4) (2016) ISSN: 1941-3289 eISSN: 1941-3297
Tektonidis TG, Akesson A, Gigante B, Wolk A, Larsson SC, Adherence to a Mediterranean diet is associated with reduced risk of heart failure in men
European Journal of Heart Failure 18 (3) (2016) pp.253-259 ISSN: 1388-9842 eISSN: 1879-0844
Tektonidis TG, Akesson A, Gigante B, Wolk A, Larsson SC, A Mediterranean diet and risk of myocardial infarction, heart failure and stroke: A population-based cohort study
Atherosclerosis 243 (1) (2015) pp.93-98 ISSN: 0021-9150 eISSN: 1879-1484

Tektonidis TG, Coe S, Esser P, Maddock J, Buchanan S, Mavrommati F, Izadi H, Schott JM, Richards M, Dawes H. Longitudinal Changes in Diet Quality over Adulthood and Physical Function in Older Life: Findings from a British Birth Cohort. Curr Dev Nutr. 2020 May 29;4(Suppl 2):1495. doi: 10.1093/cdn/nzaa061_123. PMCID: PMC7258592.

Dr Athanasios Tektonidis

Role

Teaching and supervision

Courses

Modules taught

Supervision

Research

Research impact

Centres and institutes

Groups

Projects as Co-investigator

Publications

Journal articles