Meet the team
Our multidisciplinary team works with organisations to develop, test and validate products, ingredients and health interventions through robust, independent research.
Academic expertise combined with commercial mindset
From human intervention studies and evidence generation to consumer insight and sensory evaluation, we combine academic expertise with a commercial mindset to help organisations answer complex questions, reduce development risk and generate meaningful evidence.
Whether you're exploring a new product concept, evaluating efficacy or seeking independent scientific support, our team can help guide your project from design through to delivery.
Professor Emma Stevenson
Emma specialises in nutrition, exercise and healthy ageing research. She works with organisations to develop and evaluate interventions that support brain health, exercise recovery, muscle function and long-term health outcomes, with extensive experience leading human intervention studies and collaborative research programmes.
Areas of expertise: healthy ageing • human intervention studies • brain health • exercise performance and recovery • appetite regulation • functional foods
Professor Bernard Corfe
Bernard is Director of Newcastle University's Human Nutrition and Exercise Research Centre and an expert in nutrition and health research. His work focuses on understanding how nutrients influence health and disease, with particular expertise in gut health, cancer prevention, dietary fibre, probiotics and vitamin D. He works with organisations to develop robust research programmes that generate evidence to support product innovation and health interventions.
Specialisms: gut health • cancer prevention • dietary fibre • probiotics • vitamin D • human nutrition research
Dr Anthony Watson
Anthony leads industry-funded nutrition research, helping organisations develop, test and validate products through human intervention studies. His expertise includes functional foods, dietary supplements, protein nutrition, sustainable food innovation and decentralised trial delivery.
Areas of expertise: human intervention studies • dietary supplements • protein nutrition • sustainable foods • decentralised trials
Dr Oliver Shannon
Oliver is a researcher in human nutrition and healthy ageing, with extensive experience designing and delivering human intervention studies. His work focuses on the role of nutrition in supporting health, cognitive function and ageing, and he has worked with industry partners on clinical trials, evidence reviews and data-led research projects.
Specialisms: healthy ageing • human intervention studies • dietary assessment • cognitive testing • evidence synthesis • data analytics
Dr Matt Knight
Matt is the team's sensory and consumer research lead. He helps food and ingredient companies understand product quality, consumer preferences and sensory performance. His work combines sensory evaluation with food composition and analytical techniques to support product development, optimisation and innovation.
Specialisms: sensory analysis • consumer research • food quality • product development • food composition • analytical food science
