Alan Dangour MSc PhD RPHNutr

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Background

Alan is a senior lecturer and registered public health nutritionist with a background in biochemistry and biological anthropology.  Alan taught previously at University College London and the University of Cambridge, and joined LSHTM in 2001.  He has worked extensively in Guyana, Central Asia and Chile and his early research focused on child health.  Alan's current research deals mostly with nutrition in older people, and he is conducting a series of trials to determine the effectiveness of nutrition interventions for the maintenance of health and function in later life.

Teaching

Alan is actively involved in teaching, and organises the Term 1 MSc core unit Fundamental Public Health Nutrition. Alan also teaches on the Nutrition Related Chronic Disease module and the short course on Ageing, Health & Well-being in Older Populations.

Research

Alan's primary research focus is nutrition in older age, and he is conducting a series of trials to determine the effectiveness of nutrition interventions for the maintenance of health and function in later life. Alan is the principal investigator of the OPAL study which is a randomised controlled trial designed to determine the effect of daily supplementation with n-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids on cognitive and retinal function in older people, and of the OPEN study which is a randomised controlled trial designed to determine the effect of daily vitamin B12 supplementation on neurocognitive function in older people. Alan is co-investigator in a cost-effectiveness evaluation of the national programme of nutritional supplementation in older people in Chile (CENEX-Chile), and has just completed a project which defined the minimum income for healthy living in older people in the UK. Alan also heads an LSHTM team reviewing the available evidence on the nutrient composition of organic foods.

Selected publications

• Dangour, A.D.; Dodhia, S.K.; Hayter, A.; Allen, E.; Lock, K.; Uauy, R.; Nutritional quality of organic foods: a systematic review. Am J Clin Nutr, 2009;
• Friel, S.; Dangour, A.D.; Garnett, T.; Lock, K.; Chalabi, Z.; Roberts, I.; Butler, A.; Butler, C.D.; Waage, J.; McMichael, A.J.; Haines, A.; Public health benefits of strategies to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions: food and agriculture. Lancet, 2009; 374(9706):2016-25
• Dangour, A.D.; Albala, C.; Aedo, C.; Elbourne, D.; Grundy, E.; Walker, D.; Uauy, R.; A factorial-design cluster randomised controlled trial investigating the cost-effectiveness of a nutrition supplement and an exercise programme on pneumonia incidence, walking capacity and body mass index in older people living in Santiago, Chile: the CENEX study protocol [ISRCTN48153354]. Nutr J, 2007; 6(1):14
• Lim, W.S.; Gammack, J.K.; Van Niekerk, J.; Dangour, A.D.; Omega 3 fatty acid for the prevention of dementia. Cochrane Database Syst Rev, 2006; (1):CD005379
• Dangour, A.D.; Clemens, F.; Elbourne, D.; Fasey, N.; Fletcher, A.E.; Hardy, P.; Holder, G.E.; Huppert, F.A.; Knight, R.; Letley, L.; Richards, M.; Truesdale, A.; Vickers, M.; Uauy, R.; A randomised controlled trial investigating the effect of n-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid supplementation on cognitive and retinal function in cognitively healthy older people: the Older People And n-3 Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (OPAL) study protocol [ISRCTN72331636]. Nutr J, 2006; 5(1):20
• Dangour, A.D.; Allen, E.; Elbourne, D.; Fletcher, A.; Richards, M.; Uauy, R.; Fish Consumption and Cognitive Function among Older People in the UK: Baseline Data from the Opal Study. J Nutr Health Aging, 2009; 13(3):198-202
• Uauy, R.; Corvalan, C.; Dangour, A.D.; Conference on "Multidisciplinary approaches to nutritional problems". Rank Prize Lecture. Global nutrition challenges for optimal health and well-being. Proc Nutr Soc, 2009; 68(1):34-42
• Morris, J.; Wilkinson, P.; Dangour, A.D.; Deeming, C.; Fletcher, A.; Defining a minimum income for healthy living (MIHL): older age, England. Int J Epidemiol, 2007; 36(6):1300-7

Full publications listing (since 2001)