About the Institute

  Senior Management Group

Professor Peter Morgan - Director

Professor Morgan is the Director of the Rowett Institute of Nutrition and Health (RINH) and Vice Principal at the University of Aberdeen. He is responsible for the scientific strategy and organisation of the RINH within the College of Life Sciences. He took up his post on formation of the new Institute on 1July 2008.

Professor Morgan is a member of several key committees related to scientific strategy and implementation. These include the Scottish Science Advisory Committee, Steering Group of BBSRC DRINC, the Scientific Committee of the German Human Nutrition Institute, Potsdam, Germany and the Governing Council of NuGO (an EU funded Network of Excellence in Nutrigenomics) as well as the Executive Committee of the NuGO Association. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh as well as the Institute of Biology. He continues to maintain an active research group at the Institute (Molecular Endocrinology) focused upon the physiological regulation of body weight and the role of biological timing systems on physiological regulation.

Professor Harry McArdle - Deputy Director (Science)

Professor McArdle is Deputy Director (Science) and his role is to support the Director in the implementation of science strategy, to manage the Scientific Support Services and to contribute to financial and personnel management of the Institute. He represents senior management on a number of Institute committees and the Institute on SEERAD and other outside committees and on several Twinning/Memorandum of Understanding arrangements. He is also Head of the Scientific Support Division.

Apart from being Deputy Director and Head of Scientific Support Division, Professor McArdle is also an Honorary Professor of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Aberdeen and Special Professor of Biosciences at the University of Nottingham. He is Treasurer of the Nutrition Society and is Deputy Chair of the Board for Theme VII (Development and Disease) for the Biochemical Society. Additionally, he is Secretary/Treasurer for TEMA and is a representative of the Placental and Perinatal Special Interest Group for the Physiological Society. He is also the partner co-ordinator and convenor of Work Package 3 (Life stage nutrition) for the Nutrigenomics Network of Excellence funded by the European Union FP VI.

Professor McArdle's research concerns the role of micronutrients in growth and development. He is primarily interested in the interactions between iron and copper and the effect of altered iron status on fetal and post-natal development. Apart from core funded support, Professor McArdle's research is supported by Scottish Executive flexible funding, the European Union Framework VI and COST networks and the International Copper Association.

Mr. David Blair - Deputy Director

Mr Blair is accountable to the University Court and University Secretary, through the Deputy Secretary, with operational responsibility to the Director of the new Institute, for the legal, contractual, financial, personnel, farm, security and technical services of the Institute.

Professor Harry Flint - Head of Gut Health Progamme

Professor Flint is responsible for coordinating research on the roles of the gut and of gut microorganisms in human and animal health and nutrition. This involves strategic planning, monitoring and discussion of SEERAD core-funded research, and management of core and externally funded scientists within the Division. His role is also to encourage collaborative links, pursuit of opportunities for outside funding, and communication of the Division's work to the scientific community and to potential end-users. His own particular research interests include understanding the mechanisms by which gut microorganisms derive energy from dietary components, molecular approaches for analysing gut microbial communities, and the occurrence and consequences of gene transfer between microorganisms in the gut. From a background mainly in ruminant research, these interests are moving strongly towards human health in line with the new emphasis of the Division.

Professor Julian Mercer - Head of Obesity and Metabolic Health Programme

Professor Julian Mercer joined the Institute in 1989. He took over as Head of the then Division of Energy Balance and Obesity in 2003. Professor Mercer has worked in a number of research areas related to the regulation of food intake and body weight, including gastrointestinal hormones, gut-brain signalling, adipose tissue biochemistry and latterly brain energy balance circuitry. In addition to Institute core funding,Professor Mercer has been in receipt of funding from the Leverhulme Trust, the European Commission and major pharmaceutical companies. Professor Mercer was coordinator of a pan-European Framework 5 research project funded by the European Commission, entitled ‘Dietary and genetic influences on susceptibility or resistance to weight gain on a high fat diet’, which embraced the molecules to models to man approach to obesity research that is now one of the unique features of the Division. Professor Mercer also applied for funding for and coordinated the organisation of the 2003 European Commission obesity workshop, a meeting of leading European obesity researchers established with the ambition of increasing the impact of European obesity research and laying the foundations of future research networks. Professor. Mercer is now a partner in the Framework 6 Integrated Project DIABESITY. Professor. Mercer’s major research interests currently lie in characterising the involvement of known brain signals and peripheral hormonal feedback in physiological body weight regulation, including the involvement of hedonic or reward systems, the identification of new components of these regulatory processes, and their interactions with diet.