A career in nutrition: combining science with the big picture

Professor Christine Williams

I was approximately 17 when I decided to study nutrition at undergraduate level, when taking A levels in Biology, Chemistry and Physics at a grammar school in Cardiff. This was despite having very little idea about what career might follow, but aware that alternatives such as medicine or laboratory sciences did not provide a big pull for me. In retrospect it is clear that

I was beginning to form interests in particular aspects of Biology, fostered by an inspirational teacher who combined traditional teaching e.g. theories of evolution, with a molecular understanding of inheritance through DNA, RNA and protein synthesis and cell division.

She introduced us to whole body, tissue and cellular level metabolism, and the metabolic pathways by which food energy was converted to ATP - my first real introduction to nutritional metabolism.  

As well as my interest in science I was becoming aware that despite the NHS and welfare state, much nutritional and health inequality still existed in the UK and that there were huge gaps between developed and third world countries.

I had formed an interest in charities involved in famine relief in Africa, and if at that time I did have any sense of a nascent career, my aim might well have been to work overseas for a charity or government organisation involved in relief of famine.

In 1970 when I started at Queen Elizabeth College (QEC), London, the undergraduate programme provided an ideal background for someone interested in both the science and societal aspects of food and nutrition. I learnt a great deal about both, but I also learnt about critiquing emerging research, e.g. links between specific dietary nutrients such as fats, sugar and heart diseases.

I began to understand that I needed to carefully assess research data if I was not to be at risk of drawing naïve assumptions about diet-disease relationships.

My interest in undertaking postgraduate research in human lipid metabolism was stimulated by Professor Don Naismith at QEC who taught about how human metabolism adapts in response to different demands made on the body. He illustrated this by showing how in order to provide sufficient energy and essential fats to the rapidly growing baby, the mother lays down fat in early and mid-pregnancy and mobilises this in late pregnancy and during lactation. In 1975 this led to my taking up a PhD (and later postdoctoral research) at Guys Hospital Medical School. The project was to investigate the insulin resistance of human pregnancy and the role of changes in maternal lipid metabolism in pregnancy diabetes.

The ambitious nature of the project, involving a range of experimental studies of pregnant and non-pregnant patients using stable isotopes and studies of maternal adipose tissue, appeared daunting, but my motivation to achieve a good outcome was very high.

I had an interested but hands-off supervisor which meant I pretty much taught myself most aspects of the background and laboratory work needed to complete my PhD.

I relished the independence and confidence the work gave me but the generous guidance I received from other researchers was also vital. My earliest failure in research was when I floundered at my first talk to clinical staff, where I had been too ambitious with the volume and content of data and information I was presenting. The resulting pain meant I did not repeat this mistake again but it was a great lesson when I started teaching undergraduate and postgraduate students.

Lesson 1- aim at the audiences’ level and always have a narrative!

One of the most important steps in my career came in 1985 when I took up a lectureship position in nutrition at what was then the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Surrey where I was very happy establishing my ‘trade’ in teaching and research, but was surprised at how biochemistry or microbiology colleagues clearly regarded nutrition as a Cinderella discipline.

During these years I became very active in the Nutrition Society and encouraged my postdoctoral researchers and research students to join the Society. Opportunities for research collaborations were particularly fortuitous at Surrey due to their ongoing research on insulin and insulinotropic hormones and excellence in antibody-based analytical methods.

I was interested in the role of dietary fats and insulin in regulating levels of circulating postprandial triglycerides, which very few other research groups were studying.

Applying novel questions and Surrey’s analytical approaches I started to be successful in Research Council and EU grant applications, allowing further collaborations to be made and with funding to develop a strong research team.

When a new Chair appointment was advertised at the University of Reading in 1995, although I felt ready for bigger responsibilities, I was hesitant to apply due to the disruption this might cause to ongoing research. But the Chair post included five other academic positions, to be funded from the estate of Professor Hugh Sinclair. This opportunity, to set up a new nutrition group (including two of the key Surrey team) within a university with a very strong reputation for food science and agriculture, was very appealing. My interests and those of the Hugh Sinclair Unit had started to go beyond basic nutrition research - to wider considerations of the food chain and the influence that these sectors have on the quality of food we eat.

 Many experiences and opportunities became open to nutrition research at Reading. Colleagues across the campus, as well as other UK and European groups, were enthusiastic to the possibilities for collaborations in research and teaching.  Cinderella nutrition had flourished in this collaborative, cross-disciplinary environment and in 2004 the university’s first cross-disciplinary theme ‘Food chain and health’ was set up by Glenn Gibson and myself as a means of strengthening emerging links. These positive experiences fostered my interest in cross-disciplinary research and teaching and led me to take on strategic leadership roles, initially as Dean of Life Sciences (2006) and then as Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation (2008-2014).

The Committee Years 1998-2023. My time as President of the Nutrition Society (1998-2001), as well the experience of sitting on many UK/EU food and nutrition expert groups, grant panels and review groups, provided an important external lens as to how nutrition was perceived by other disciplines.  I could see how the multidisciplinary nature of nutrition science becomes a challenge in grant panels, where specialist disciplines focused on discovery science, tended to flourish best.  Other concerns were the rise in non-accredited teaching in nutrition and the emergence of social media and ‘influencers in nutrition’.

The need for greater co-joined leadership by organisations involved in research, teaching and professionalisation of the discipline was very clear.

In 2018-20 a group of like-minded individuals from the 4 main nutrition and food organisations (Association for Nutrition, British Dietetic Association, British Nutrition Foundation and Nutrition Society) got together to consider how we could bring our complementary strategies and skills to bear on some of our concerns.  

 In 2019, this led to the formation of the umbrella organisation, the Academy of Nutrition Sciences, which through its co-working activities, publications and blogs, has targeted the importance and understanding of evidenced-based nutrition and dietetic sciences, greater need for investment in nutrition, dietetic and food research and reinforcement of science-based communications in the media.