Boosting immunity: what role do nutraceuticals and supplements play?

Set against the growing interest in supplements which has been heightened by the Covid-19 pandemic, this podcast will look at what role nutraceuticals and supplements might play in boosting immunity and the potential benefits this could bring to the health system.

What is the right advice to give to consumers and what role can industry play? Do nutraceuticals and supplements act as a good resource for boosting immunity? We explore the science behind the headlines and how industry, academia and policy makers can work together to deliver the right solutions that will help consumers and potentially benefit the wider public health agenda and system.

Professor Mairead Kiely, Professor of Human Nutrition and Head, School of Food and Nutritional Sciences, University College Cork

Mairead is co-chair of the Cork Centre for Vitamin D and Nutrition Research at UCC and led a Pan-EU project on vitamin D requirements, food fortification and health outcomes until early 2018. She leads the Maternal and Child Nutrition Programme at the INFANT Research Centre.

Mairead has more than 25 years experience in human nutrition and health research and she has worked on vitamins, minerals and bioactive food constituents throughout her career. She is a registered public health nutritionist with the Association for Nutrition and is currently the chair of the Irish Section of the Nutrition Society.

Professor Susan Lanham-New, Head of the Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Surrey

Professor Susan Lanham-New is head of the Department of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Surrey and is a registered Public Health Nutritionist (RPHNutr). She completed her BSc in Exercise Physiology at the University of Chicester and her MSc in Human Nutrition and Metabolism and PhD in Nutrition and Bone at University of Aberdeen. As a PhD student, Sue was awarded a PhD Scholarship by the Nutritional Consultative Panel, and has three times won the Young Investigator Award at the World Osteoporosis Conference, at the National Osteoporosis Society Conference, and at the Joint Meeting of ECTS and IBMS. Currently, Professor Lanham-New’s research focusses on the nutritional aspects of bone health, including specific projects such Interaction between diet and sunlight exposure on vitamin D status in Caucasian and Asian women (D-FINES) study, Extent of vitamin D deficiency in Saudi Arabian women and boys and girls, Impact of veiling on Vitamin D status in Kuwait adolescent girls: impact on bone mass and Protein and bone health: systematic review and meta-analysis. Professor Lanham-New is a member of the Academic Assembly Policy Committee, an Editor-in-Chief of the Nutrition Society Textbook Series and a member of NS Publications Committee.

Professor Judith Buttriss, Director General, The British Nutrition Foundation

Judy studied Nutrition and Dietetics at the University of Surrey. She worked as a research dietitian in Professor John Waterlow’s obesity unit for about a year before returning to Surrey to study for a PhD concerning vitamin C and hepatic drug metabolism, which combined the disciplines of nutrition, biochemistry and toxicology. Equipped with a doctorate, Judy worked in various labs as a postdoc researcher, in particular on vitamin E and selenium at Guy’s Hospital Medical School. In 1985 she decided to leave the lab environment and joined the National Dairy Council (NDC) as Senior Nutritionist, where she stayed until 1998 when she joined the BNF as Science Director. She became the BNF’s Director General in October 2007.

Rob Hobson, Nutrition Consultant

As a registered nutritionist (Association for Nutrition), Rob's worked with many of the UK’s largest food and health companies and with training in public health (MSc public health nutrition). He also works with organisations including schools, care homes, government agencies and the NHS. With over a decade of work experience in the field of nutrition, Rob has also established an impressive network of health media and those working in the food and health industry including nutritionists, chefs, personal trainers and PR that have proven to be an invaluable resource.