Gary Williamson
G.Williamson@leeds.ac.uk
+44 (0)113 3438380
| KEYWORDS
diet and health |
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Gary Williamson is the Professor of Functional Food in the Procter Department of Food Science, joining the Department in 2007. Gary had previously been Head of the Nutrient Bioavailability Group at the Nestle Research Center, Switzerland, since March 2002, and before that head of group at the BBSRC Institute of Food Research (IFR) in Norwich, UK, where he had worked for 15 years. Gary’s research interests are:
- Understanding aspects of absorption and metabolism of dietary plant secondary metabolites, particularly the flavonoids and phenolic acids, and how the metabolism influences biological effects
- Understanding how interactions between food components can modify bioactivity and bioavailability, especially between flavonoids and antioxidants such as vitamin C
- Utilisation of the techniques of food processing to enhance bioavailability of flavonoids and phenolic acids from plant-based foods, ultimately leading to development of novel foods with enhanced health-related properties
Other interests related to functional food and training for students are:
- Assess evidence and work towards a polyphenol DRI (daily recommended intake), to contribute to information leading to allowed claims, and to put down spurious claims
- To develop top class students who will be leading innovators, researchers and sought after by top companies in the future
Gary has published over 240 refereed scientific publications, and is an ISI highly cited author in Agricultural Sciences. He is Visiting Professor of Food Safety at University of Surrey, UK, and has a Honorary Chair at Harbin Medical University, China. Gary has a wide range of scientific experience including more than 100 invited research seminars at International scientific conferences and Research Centers/Universities, and successful supervision of 19 PhD students, with involvement in more than 20 human intervention studies. He was co-ordinator of multinational projects on phytochemicals and health and Director of a Europe-wide training programme for PhD students in phytochemicals at IFR, and was responsible for ~3.5 million pounds (per year) worth of research at Nestlé Research Center between 2002 and 2007, mainly on nutrient bioavailability. He is now scientific advisor on Nutrient Bioavailability especially polyphenols spending ~1 week per month at the Nestlé Research Center.
The research laboratories of the Food Biochemistry Group have recently been up-graded with SRIF funding of around £800,000 and now provide new facilities for cell culture and state-of-the art analytical facilities. In addition to standard equipment that would be expected in biochemical and nutritional laboratories, there is normal and fast high resolution chromatography, with diode array and coularray detectors, sophisticated LC-MS/MS equipment, facilities for protein purification, and ELISA plate readers. Access to the Food Technology Laboratory and facilities for taste panels allows the direct incorporation of food processing techniques into the research.
The research of the Biochemistry Group has been funded by the BBSRC, the UK Food Standards Agency, the EU, Industry and others. The Group has always has a very healthy group of home, EU and International PhD students, often funded by Government bodies, and post-doctoral researchers and visiting workers funded from a number of different sources.
Links in this section open a new window
Inaugural lecure presentation (14MB PDF)
Prof Williamson is a participant in the Plant food supplement Levels of Intake, Benefit and Risk Assessment, (PlantLIBRA) project funded by the EU.