Oxford Brookes Centre for Nutrition and Health

About us

The Centre for Nutrition and Health was founded as the first research centre dedicated to researching functional food in the United Kingdom. Our mission at the Centre is to help improve the health and well-being of the global population by undertaking leading edge research focusing on tackling overweight and obesity, improving glycaemic control and reducing inflammation. We support the food and health industry by delivering a range of highly valued services underpinned by our research.

Alongside our commercial work, we have developing and thriving applied research within the centre. Our research investigates the impact of nutrition on health and wellbeing, with a focus on diet across the lifespan, diet and metabolic health and eating behaviour.

Commercial Services

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Part of

School of Sport, Nutrition and Allied Health Professions

Related research units

Centre for Healthy Living Research

Related courses

Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Research impact

Our centre includes academics with a range of research interests and expertise, and this diversity allows for a multi-disciplinary research approach with significant clinical and public health impact. The role of nutrition in maintaining health and quality of life is of increasing public health importance. Our research actively engages in the most current and world leading evidence base in nutrition science and policy.

Our collaborations with both international and UK stakeholders contribute significantly to applied research activities, helping to develop our global reputation as a nutrition research institute. Together with our numerous esteem indicators, our grant funding success, high quality publication and dissemination outputs, and research experience and integrity, we contribute to the increasing impact and sustainability of our research.

Projects

Project title and description	Investigator(s)	Funder(s)	Dates
Banking on Health In this co-created project, we set out to provide long lasting knowledge exchange to local members of the community, specifically young people and their families who may be in the low socio-economic category, to provide engaging and interactive education on preparing nutritious, high-nutrient, and delicious recipes at a low cost. By doing so, the project aims to provide them with the basic knowledge of a low-cost, highly nutritious diet to ultimately improve health outcomes and therefore life chances. The multi-stage project has been developed in collaboration with Good Food Oxfordshire as well as the Jericho Pantry and Oxfordshire Food Hub. Through working together to co-create initiatives to build knowledge of the importance of nutrition amongst young people by reaching out to local schools and other community outreach programmes, the collaboration aims to engage and empower young people themselves.	Dr Shelly Coe	ESRC, UKRI	From: September 2024

Project title and description	Investigator(s)	Funder(s)	Dates
Flavonoid-rich pure cocoa to reduce fatigue in people with Multiple Sclerosis Dietary changes may be a simple, cost effective and safe therapy for improving symptoms experienced in people with MS (Multiple Sclerosis), and thus for increasing quality of life. Many people with MS have expressed their interest in dietary therapies to manage their symptoms; however scientific evidence for these therapies is lacking. The aim of this project is to undertake a feasibility study to determine whether flavonoid-rich cocoa has the potential to improve fatigue in pwMS in order to inform a follow-on trial. Results showed a small effect on fatigue and a moderate effect on fatigability (tendency to get tired or lose strength easily). The study therefore demonstrates the potential to improve fatigue and fatigability in people with MS.	Dr Shelly Coe, Professor Helen Dawes	MS Society	From: September 2015 Until: December 2018
Co-creating guidelines for a sustainable nutrition strategy for The Gambia The Centre collaborated with the University of The Gambia to co-create sustainable nutrition guidelines. The Gambia is a West African nation facing the double burden of malnutrition and rising prevalence of diet-related non-communicable diseases (NCDs). This is driven by climate-related challenges to local food production and increased availability of imported, energy-dense foods. Partnering with the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Agriculture in The Gambia, the project identified native Gambian produce that have potential to address diet-related non-communicable diseases and undernutrition in children and adults across different life stages. The project provided new insights on incorporating native foods like millet, baobab, and other plant-based products into daily Gambian diets. This project demonstrated the co-creation of evidence-based sustainable nutrition guidelines which can be disseminated via various channels (including a dedicated website) and used to guide nutrition policies in The Gambia.	Dr Sangeetha Thondre		From: April 2024 Until: July 2025