Andrew Prentice BSc PhD
- Room 139c
- LSHTM
- Keppel Street
- London
- WC1E 7HT
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Andrew Prentice joined the Nutrition and Public Health Intervention Research Unit in January 1999 to create a new MRC International Nutrition Group. Born in Uganda, he studied in East Africa and the UK obtaining a BSc in biochemistry followed by a PhD in Nutrition from Darwin College, Cambridge. He worked in the MRC Dunn Nutrition Unit's rural field station in Keneba, The Gambia from 1978-83, and has since maintained close research links conducting numerous projects on nutrition in pregnancy and lactation. In 1983 he returned to the Dunn Clinical Nutrition Centre in Cambridge to become Head of Human Energy Metabolism where he specialised in studying the regulation of energy balance with a particular focus on obesity. In 1998 he became scientific director of the MRC Keneba fieldstation and of the Nutrition Programme for MRC Laboratories, The Gambia, a role he still maintains.
Affiliation
Teaching
MSc Nutrition for Global Health.
Research
His current research focuses on early life programming of immune function, nutrient-gene interactions (especially in relation to iron and infectious diseases), reproductive nutrition, and consequences of the nutrition transition in developing countries. He has a special interest in hepcidin, iron and infection. MRC ING has research collaborations in Gambia, Kenya and Tanzania. He has been a member of numerous national and international advisory committees, and held senior posts in several academic associations. He is a member of The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's Global Health Discovery Expert Advisory Group and Chairs the NIH/NICHD/Gates Iron and Malaria Research Review Committee. His work has been recognised by national and international awards, most recently the EV McCollum International Award from the American Society of Nutrition 2010/11. Please see www.ing.mrc.ac.uk for further detail.
Research areas
- Child health
- Food
- Immunisation
- Innate immunity
- Maternal health
- Micronutrients
- Perinatal health
Disciplines
- Biochemistry
- Genomics
- Immunology
- Nutrition
Disease and Health Conditions
- Malnutrition
Regions
- Sub-Saharan Africa (all income levels)
- Sub-Saharan Africa (developing only)
- World
Countries
- Gambia, The
- Kenya
- Tanzania
Other interests
- Immune Programming
- Iron
- MARCH
- Nutritional Immunology,nutrientgene Interactions
- hepcidin
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Selected publications
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Long-chain PUFA supplementation in rural African infants: a randomized controlled trial of effects on gut integrity, growth, and cognitive development.
van der Merwe, L.F.; Moore, S.E.; Fulford, A.J.; Halliday, K.E.; Drammeh, S.; Young, S.; Prentice, A.M.;
Am J Clin Nutr, 2013; 97(1):45-57
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Hepcidin is the major predictor of erythrocyte iron incorporation in anemic African children.
Prentice, A.M.; Doherty, C.P.; Abrams, S.A.; Cox, S.E.; Atkinson, S.H.; Verhoef, H.; Armitage, A.E.; Drakesmith, H.;
Blood, 2012; 119(8):1922-8
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DNA methylation profiling at imprinted loci after periconceptional micronutrient supplementation in humans: results of a pilot randomized controlled trial
Cooper, W.N.; Khulan, B.; Owens, S.; Elks, C.E.; Seidel, V.; Prentice, A.M.; Belteki, G.; Ong, K.K.; Affara, N.A.; Constancia, M.; Dunger, D.B.
Faseb Journal, 2012; 26(5):1782-1790
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Periconceptional maternal micronutrient supplementation is associated with widespread gender related changes in the epigenome: a study of a unique resource in the Gambia
Khulan, B.; Cooper, W.N.; Skinner, B.M.; Bauer, J.; Owens, S.; Prentice, A.M.; Belteki, G.; Constancia, M.; Dunger, D.; Affara, N.A.
Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2012; 287(8):1-16
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Nutritional status, hospitalization and mortality among patients with sickle cell anemia in Tanzania.
Cox, S.E. ; Makani, J. ; Fulford, A.J. ; Komba, A.N. ; Soka, D. ; Williams, T.N. ; Newton, C.R. ; Marsh, K. ; Prentice, A.M. ;
Haematologica, 2011; 96(7):948-53
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Effect of supplementation with zinc and other micronutrients on malaria in tanzanian children: a randomised trial.
Veenemans, J. ; Milligan, P. ; Prentice, A.M. ; Schouten, L.R. ; Inja, N. ; van der Heijden, A.C. ; de Boer, L.C. ; Jansen, E.J. ; Koopmans, A.E. ; Enthoven, W.T. ; Kraaijenhagen, R.J. ; Demir, A.Y. ; Uges, D.R. ; Mbugi, E.V. ; Savelkoul, H.F. ; Verhoef, H. ;
PLoS Med, 2011; 8(11):e1001125
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