Instructor

Professor Nicola Lowe

Nicola is Professor of Nutritional Sciences, and Director of the Research Centre for Global Development at UCLan. She has a BSc in Biochemistry/Applied Zoology and a PhD in trace mineral metabolism and has worked in the field of global nutrition for much of her career. Her primary research interest is trace mineral metabo-lism, with a particular focus micronutrient deficiency, known as “hidden hunger”. From 2018 to 2021, she was seconded to the role Challenge Leader for Food Systems portfolio of the Global Challenges Research Fund at UKRI, where she provided strategic oversight for new funding calls and future impact of the funding pro-gramme.

Nicola is also the research director and a trustee for the Abaseen Foundation, a Lancashire based charity that received the Queens Award (MBE) for Voluntary Service in 2017. The Abaseen Foundation is working alongside community members in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in north west Pakistan, to improve education and health care provision. She has been collaborating with researchers in Pakistan for over 15 years, conducting research aimed at tackling malnutrition in marginalised communities. She is currently the Principal Investigator for re-search in Pakistan to investigate novel biomarkers of zinc status, and the potential for wheat biofortification to alleviate zinc deficiency (BIZIFED study).

Nicola is a Fellow of the Association for Nutrition and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and is commit-ted to research that embraces equitable partnerships.