Research

For over 100 years, the Rowett Institute has carried out research aimed to help in solving the nutritional problems of the age. In the beginning, staff at the Institute concentrated on the diseases of malnutrition, identifying links between nutritional insufficiencies and disease processes. After the Second World War, our emphasis shifted to examining health and nutrition in animals of agricultural importance, with a view to maximising production efficiency.

For example, we were responsible for many changes in cattle diet, which are still in use today. Along the way, we also identified the importance of many micronutrients in diet, identified protein metabolism pathways and discovered the role of bacteria in ruminant nutrition. Now, though, with the increasing problems in the human diet, our work returns to the relationship between what we eat and our health and wellbeing. This time, it is the problems of overconsumption, rather than under consumption, that are our main focus of attention.

To get a general overview of our research, watch this video.

Our main research themes:

• Nutrition, Obesity and Disease
• Microbiome, Food Innovation and Food Security
• Healthy Lifecourse and Nutrition Neuroscience