Qualifications 

• PhD in Biochemistry (Newcastle University, UK) 
• BSc (Hons) Biochemistry with Immunology (Newcastle University, UK)  

I am a Research Associate based within the Human Nutrition Research Centre (HNRC) at the Population Health Sciences Institute,Newcastle University. I studied for my undergraduate thesis at the University of Tubingen, Germany, where I was exposed to the fields of immunogenetics and molecular biology. Upon my return to the UK I worked briefly for a haemostasis diagnostics industry.  

I returned to Newcastle University to complete a PhD in the fields of nutritional biochemistry, molecular biology, and veterinary medicine. The overall theme of the thesis was to molecularly characterise bio-mineral tissue development, and establish links between nutrition and the molecular development of skeletal physiology. The use of the pig as a model also allows for the findings to be applicable to the fields of human medicine. 

I am currently working on Innovate UK-funded projects with Professor Tom Hill, exploring the barriers associated with maximising the commercial potential of bio-fortified food products. Our work has established the scientific basis behind a leading UK brand, and we continue to work closely with our industrial colleagues to drive fundamental impact across multiple sectors.  

Interests 

• Bone Development 
• Vitamin A/D metabolism 
• Immunology and Nutrigenetics
• Food Fortification and Biofortification 
  

Projects 

Demonstrator for UGR laboratory sessions in: Haemostasis, Molecular Medicine, Experimental Human Nutrition, and DNA Sequencing. 

Marking UGR coursework for the above module laboratory sessions 

Supervision of BSc and MSc nutrition students towards submission of a thesis 

One on one tutoring for students with special needs 

• Lietz G, Oxley A, Finney K, Clark A, Giles T, Foster N, Southam A, Jankevics A, Lloyd G, Winder C, Dunn W. Effects of Chronic Hypervitaminosis A on Global Plasma Metabolome Changes and Liver Gene Expression. Current Developments in Nutrition 2019, 3.
• Clark A, Kyriazakis I, Giles T, Foster N, Lietz G. The Influence of Vitamin A on Molecular Bio-mineral Tissue Development in Pigs. Current Developments in Nutrition 2019, 3(1).
• Clark A, Kyriazakis I, Giles T, Foster N, Lietz G. The Molecular Basis of Humpy-Back Disease in Pigs. In: 68th Annual Meeting of European Federation of Animal Science. 2017, Tallinn, Estonia.
• Hoang TV, Hoan NX, Clark A, Gerlach F, Toan NL, Song LH, Bock CT, Kremsner PG, Velavan TP. JAK/STAT pathway and susceptibility to hepatitis B virus infection and related liver diseases. In: International Liver Congress 2015 – 50th Annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of the Liver. 2015, Vienna: Elsevier BV.
• Clark A, Gerlach F, Tong HV, Hoan NX, Song LH, Toan NL, Bock CT, Kremsner PG, Velavan TP. A trivial role of STAT4 variant in chronic hepatitis B induced hepatocellular carcinoma. Infection, Genetics and Evolution 2013, 18.