Newcastle University

Qualifications

March 2007/ – Attended development course “Good Clinical Practice: Principal Investigator Training” at the Clinical Research Facility, RVI, Newcastle upon Tyne.

2008 -  Completed PI development programme at Newcastle University over six day-long sessions

August 2010 -  Completed GCP training, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Gateshead.

2010- 2011 - completed a PGCert in "Teaching and Learning for Higher Education" at Sheffield Hallam University 

Honours and Awards

Received "Best Abstract" travel grants awards two years running (2002 and 2003) from the United European Gastroenterology Week.

Professional Membership

2008-present: The UK Physiological Society

2008-present: The UK Nutrition Society

2010-present: American Chemical Society

2012-present: The Singapore Institute of Food Sciences and Technology

Research Interests

Dietary fibre in health and disease
The role of diet in the progression/severity of major health issues

Other Expertise

Colonic physiology
Mucus and mucins of the gastrointestinal tract and airways
Seaweed, diet and health and disease

Current Work

Wholegrain foods and their influence on health

The effect of diet on rheumatoid arthritis severity

The occurrence of reflux in the normal population 

Future Research

Dietary interventions benefitting health 

The effect of diet on rheumatoid arthritis severity

The effect of diet and physical activity on reflux

The role of reflux in diseases of the aerodigestive tract

Research Roles

Sept 1999 – January 2003 / – PhD in Molecular Physiology at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne (UK) – thesis entitled “The Interactions of Dietary Fibre and Colonic Mucus”. This was a BBSRC-CASE studentship, and involved 1 month’s work in the sponsor’s (Reckitt-Benckiser) main industrial laboratories.

January 2003 – May 2005/ - Research Associate in the Institute for Cell & Molecular Biosciences, Newcastle University; involved in biochemical analysis of clinical samples from sinusitis and lung transplant patients. This included use of membrane-based ELISA methodologies for detection of human proteins (pepsin) in mixed biological samples.

May 2005 – June 2005/ – Participated in the FINGEN study, and received 1-month’s training for volunteer-based nutrition studies prior to co-ordinating the current project.

June 2005 –  August 2008 - Research Associate and project co-ordinator of the WHOLEheart study – a two-centre, large-scale controlled dietary intervention trial testing the effect of inclusion of wholegrain foods in the diet on risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Roles within the study include: establishment of standard operating procedures; obtaining and maintaining Ethical Approval for the study; recruitment of volunteers (including telephone interview); organising and managing volunteer visits using the University’s Clinical Research Facility; laboratory analysis of samples, using automatic clinical analysers and HPLC Coularray analysis. Managerial roles include line management of half-time administrative assistant, supervision of placement students and research nursing staff, organising Steering Group meetings and coordinating activities between the two centres.

August 2008 - August 2010 - Co-investigator and project co-ordinator on a BBSRC-DRINC (Diet and Health Research Industry Club)-funded project entitled "Bioactive alginates and obesity". Along with developing a range of in vitro methods to assess how viscous polysaccharides affect rates of digestion, I also worked alongside food industry partners to design tasty and highly acceptable food products with potential health benefits. I also designed human intervention studies to test the proof of principal of these products. This project is still on-going.

Esteem Indicators

Author of 2 reports to the Food Standards Agency 

Current reviewer for c.20 international journals

Named inventor on one patent "Inhibition of pancreatic lipase" (patent application # 0920633.5 with GB Intellectual property office 

Presenter of eighteen invited/peer-reviewed oral communications at national and international meetings 

Co-chaired session entitled "Cereal ingredients for cardiovascular and gut health" at 2008 American Association of cereal Chemists Summer Meeting

Gave 2 local radio interviews relating to diet and heart disease (BBC Newcastle, November 2005 and Metro Radio, January 2007).
Gave interview by the local press (The Chronicle) in relation to diet and heart disease in the North East.
Gave interview an international food & health magazine (Eating Well, March 2006) with regards to functional dietary fibres in foods.
Has presented 15 posters at international Gastroenterology and Basic Science meetings.

Funding

Research Councils 

Co-applicant on BBRSRC-DRINC project grant BB/G00563X/1 "Bioactive Alginates and Obesity", worth c.£500,000 commencing October 2009.

PhD Studentships

2009 – 2013 - £84,540 (BBSRC DRINC-CASE with FMC Biopolymer) Dietary Fibre Regulation of Digestive Enzyme Activity (25%)2010 – 2014 - £72,540 (BBSRC-DRINC studentship) Modelling the action/properties of dietary fibres in vitro and in humans (25%)2010 - 2014 - £84,540 (Newcastle University-funded with sponsorship from Technostics. The impact of dietary intake on reflux (25%).

Industrial Relevance 

Assessment and treatment of reflux and reflux-associated disease

Wholegrain foods and health

Seaweeds, seaweed isolates and health

Potential health benefits of novel foods and foodstuffs

Food and gastrointestinal health

2010-2011 -  "Public Health Nutrition" and "Nutrition, Health and Lifestyles" (both BSc (Hons)), as well as an MSc in "Nutrition with Public Health Management" at Sheffield Hallam University

August 2011 - present - Food and Human Nutrition BSc (Hons) at Newcastle University (Singapore)

• Brownlee IA, Kuznesof S, Moore C, Jebb SA, Seal CJ. The impact of a 16-week dietary intervention with prescribed amounts of whole-grain foods on subsequent, elective whole grain consumption. British Journal of Nutrition 2013, 110(5), 943-948.
• Balasubramaniam V, Mustar S, Mustafa Khalid N, Abd Rashed A, Mohd Noh MF, Wilcox MD, Chater PI, Brownlee IA, Pearson JP. Inhibitory activities of three Malaysian edible seaweeds on lipase and α-amylase. Journal of Applied Phycology 2013, 1-8. In Press.
• Ross AB, Macharia HN, Kochhar S, Jebb SA, Brownlee IA, Seal CJ. Can we consider plasma alkyresorcinols as a potential biomarker of whole-grain food? Reply. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2012, 96(5), 1151-1152.
• Kuznesof S, Brownlee IA, Moore C, Richardson DP, Jebb SA, Seal CJ. WHOLEheart study participant acceptance of wholegrain foods. Appetite 2012, 59(1), 187-193.
• Ross AB, Bourgeois A, Macharia HN, Kochhar S, Jebb SA, Brownlee IA, Seal CJ. Plasma alkylresorcinols as a biomarker of whole-grain food consumption in a large population: Results from the WHOLEheart Intervention Study. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2012, 95(1), 204-211.
• Brownlee IA, Aseeri A, Ward C, Pearson J. From gastric aspiration to airway inflammation. Monaldi Archives for Chest Disease 2010, 73(2), 54-63.
• Brownlee IA. The physiological roles of dietary fibre. Food Hydrocolloids 2011, 25(2), 238-250.
• Pearson JP, Brownlee IA. The Interaction of Large Bowel Microflora with the Colonic Mucus Barrier. International Journal of Inflammation 2010, Article ID 321426.
• Brownle IA, Forster DJ, Wilcox MD, Dettmar PW, Seal CJ, Pearson JP. Physiological parameters governing the action of pancreatic lipase. Nutrition Research Reviews 2010, 23, 146-154.
• Bulmer DM, Ali MS, Brownlee IA, Dettmar PW, Pearson JP. Laryngeal Mucosa: Its Susceptibility to Damage by Acid and Pepsin. Laryngoscope 2010, 120(4), 777-782.
• Brownlee IA, Moore C, Chatfield M, Richardson DP, Ashby P, Kuznesof SA, Jebb SA, Seal CJ. Markers of cardiovascular risk are not changed by increased whole-grain intake: the WHOLEheart study, a randomised, controlled dietary intervention. British Journal of Nutrition 2010, 104(1), 125-134.
• Brownlee IA, Knight J, Dettmar PW, Pearson JP. Action of reactive oxygen species on colonic mucus secretions. Free Radical Biology and Medicine 2007, 43(5), 800-808.
• Seal CJ, Brownlee IA. Whole grains and health, evidence from observational and intervention studies. Cereal Chemistry 2010, 87(2), 167-174.
• Seal CJ, Brownlee IA, Jones AR. Grains and health: The "whole" picture. Quintessence International 2007, 38(6), 498-503.
• Viswanathan H, Brownlee IA, Pearson JP, Carrie S. MUC5B secretion is up-regulated in sinusitis compared with controls. American Journal of Rhinology 2006, 20(5), 554-557.
• Brownlee IA, Allen A, Pearson JP, Dettmar PW, Havler ME, Atherton MR, Onsoyen E. Alginate as a source of dietary fiber. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition 2005, 45(6), 497-510.
• Brownlee IA, Havler ME, Dettmar PW, Allen A, Pearson JP. Colonic mucus: Secretion and turnover in relation to dietary fibre intake. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society 2003, 62(1), 245-249.
• Robertson AGN, Griffin SM, Bredenoord AJ, Brownlee I, Aseeri A, Stovold R, Brodlie M, Forrest IA, Dark JH, Corris PA, Pearson JP, Ward C. Aspiration and allograft injury secondary to gastro-oesophageal reflux occurs in the immediate post-lung transplantation period. Annals of Surgery 2013, (Accepted for publication). Submitted.