Role
Lecturer/Senior Lecturer
Dr Hunter is a member of the Sport Science Academic Team. She is Module Leader of Aetiology and Management of Disease, Applied Nutrition, and Applied Health Promotion.
Career overview
Dr Hunter gained her PhD from the University of Aberdeen in the development of stable isotope techniques to study protein synthesis in humans. She went on to undertake a 3 year post-doctoral position at the Rowett Research Institute in which she coordinated a MAFF-funded project investigating the influence of dietary lipids on post-prandial haemostasis. Since then, she has coordinated the design and validation of two undergraduate degrees relating to nutrition at NTU and taught undergraduate and postgraduate modules relating to nutrition, metabolism, and health promotion.
Research areas
Dr Hunter is an active member of the Sport, Health and Performance Enhancement Research Group and the Biomedical, Life and Health Sciences Research Centre
Current Research Students:
- Kelly Johal
- Paul Lester
- Robert Needham
- Connor Parker
- Nicola Camp
Dr Hunter’s research focusses on the impact of nutrition on health and disease in humans. She has the following main areas of interest:
- Omega-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids in health and disease.
- Prebiotics in health and disease: the effects of prebiotic supplementation on gut, lung and brain health.
- Nutrition for performance and health in the workplace.
Opportunities arise to carry out postgraduate research towards an MPhil / PhD in the areas identified above. Further information may be obtained on the NTU Research Degrees website https://www.ntu.ac.uk/research/research-degrees-at-ntu.
External activity
Dr Hunter is a Scientific Advisor to the All Party Parliamentary Group: Human Gut Microbiome.
Sponsors and collaborators
Research is currently being conducted with the funding and/or support of:
Internal Collaborators:
- Dr Stephanie McCardle, Senior Research Fellow, Biosciences
- Dr Graham Sharpe, Principal Lecturer in Exercise Physiology
- Dr Mike Johnson, Senior Lecturer in Exercise Physiology
- Dr Alex Sumich, Reader in Biopsychology and Mental Health
- Dr Nadja Heym, Lecturer in Psychology
External Collaborators:
Publications
Prebiotics and probiotics: potential strategies for reducing travellers' diarrhoea in athletes competing abroad. Walton GE, Lim Y. Ng Y, Hannah R and Hunter K, Food Science and Technology Bulletin: Functional Foods, 2010, 6 (9), 105-114
Mushtaq, S., Heather Mangiapane, E. & Hunter, K. A. 2010. Estimation of cis-9, trans-11 conjugated linoleic acid content in UK foods and assessment of dietary intake in a cohort of healthy adults, British Journal of Nutrition, 103, 1366-74
See all of Kirsty Hunter's publications...