5th National GI Dietetic Symposium

Emma Stennett has worked in the NHS for over decade with most of that time spent in gastroenterology and hepatology.  She has been working on digital transformation of IBS pathways with a focus on implementing digital triage tools to increase capacity and reduce waiting lists. Emma is Chair of the Gastroenterology Specialist Group of the BDA and is currently working to standardise and improve IBS care across South East London.

Christian Shaw is an Advanced Clinical Practitioner Dietitian at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals, having obtained a master’s in advanced practice at Sheffield Hallam University in 2023. He covers advanced practice clinics in IBS and the urgent suspected cancer pathway. He has a special interest in disorders of gut brain interaction, having contributed to several research studies on the role of dietary therapies in IBS and a member of the BDA IBS guideline working group. He is an advocate for advanced practice and a supplementary prescriber.

Heidi Staudacher is an Advanced Accredited Practising Dietitian with >15 years’ clinical experience gastroenterology, and specifically DGBI. She is an Associate Professor and Lead of the Diet, Gut and Brain Group at Monash University in Melbourne. Her research examines how diet can modulate the gut–brain axis to improve management of common gastrointestinal and mental health conditions. Heidi’s research has significantly expanded knowledge on irritable bowel syndrome treatment and underpins clinical guidelines globally.

Sien Hoekx began her career as a clinical dietitian at University Hospitals Leuven in 2019. Since 2021 she has been a member of the IBD Leuven unit, where she is one of the IBD specialized dietitians. In this role, she provides comprehensive nutritional care for patients with inflammatory bowel disease and contributes to clinical research on nutrition in IBD, under the supervision of Prof. Dr. João Sabino, MD, PhD.  Sien specializes in research on body composition in individuals with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. Her work examines how factors such as muscle mass, fat mass, and overall nutritional status change throughout the course of IBD and how these alterations may affect clinical and surgical outcomes. Her research also focuses on the impact of GLP-1 agonists on body composition and disease-related outcomes in patients with obesity or overweight with comorbidities.

Briege McCue is a Hepatology Specialist Dietitian working in the Regional Liver Unit in the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast. For the past five years, she has worked in hepatology, supporting patients with liver disease through evidence-based nutritional interventions. Briege is particularly passionate about patient engagement, placing emphasis on ensuring that all nutritional advice is personalised, practical, and sustainable.

 Emma Noble qualified as a dietitian in 2006 and early on in her career developed a strong interest in artificial nutrition support. Initially specialising in colorectal surgery, Emma went on to join the Leeds Intestinal Failure Team in 2014 and since then has focussed on the management of patients receiving both inpatient parenteral nutrition and home parenteral support. She has been the Clinical Lead Dietitian for Intestinal Rehabilitation at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust since 2019.

Dr Alison Culkin is a Consultant Dietitian in Intestinal Rehabilitation at St Mark’s Hospital, London where she has worked since 1998. She specialises in severe intestinal failure, intestinal rehabilitation and home parenteral nutrition (HPN). She completed her PhD in 2010 investigating the manipulation of amino acids in HPN on patient outcomes as well as patient knowledge and behaviour change. In addition, she investigated the immune status of patients requiring HPN specifically their dendritic cell and gut homing lymphocyte function. She has written chapters on intestinal failure for several textbooks, papers and abstracts and teaches nationally and internationally. She is the course lead for the British Dietetic Association Parenteral and Enteral specialist Group (PENG) Masters level clinical update course and represents Dietitians on national and international committees. In March 2017 she became the first registered dietitian to qualify as a non-medical prescriber and is chair of the BDA Prescribers subgroup.

Dr Rosie Satherley is a Senior Lecturer in Clinical Health Psychology at the University of Surrey. Her research focuses on understanding the psychological impact of coeliac disease in both adults and children, and on developing supportive, evidence-based interventions to help people live well while maintaining a gluten-free diet. Most recently, she has received NIHR funding to co-design integrated dietetic and psychological support for adults with coeliac disease, bringing together clinicians, researchers, and people with lived experience to shape care that truly works for people with coeliac disease.

Dr Yvonne Jeanes is the Head of Research and Impact at the British Dietetic Association.  For over 10 years her research has focused on the nutritional adequacy and accessibility of a gluten free diet. She has led studies that explore the rapidly evolving healthcare provision for adults with coeliac disease inclusive of digital provision.

Nick Trott: obtained an honours degree in Nutrition and Dietetics the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff. Post graduate training, Nick has worked in a variety of clinical areas within the NHS including critical care, oncology and haematology. Currently Nick works as a gastroenterology dietitian, covering the specialist coeliac clinic at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield. His areas of particular clinical interest include coeliac disease, gluten ataxia, non-coeliac wheat sensitivity and the low FODMAP approach to functional bowel disorders. Nick was presented with the Complete Nutrition Coeliac Professional of the year award in 2016. In 2017 Nick attained a Masters Degree in Clinic Research from the University of Sheffield.

Hannah Hunter is a specialist adult allergy dietitian at Guy’s Hospital in London. Her undergraduate training was at King’s College London and she completed the MSc Allergy at Imperial College London in 2017 with the Dean’s Award. Her clinical practice is combined with research and specific interests include the dietary management of eosinophilic oesophagitis, adult oral immunotherapy, and plant food allergy. She is Treasurer for the Food Allergy Specialist Group (FASG) of the British Dietetic Association (BDA), member of the BSACI Dietitians Strategic Group and board member of the Allied Health and Primary Care Section of EAACI.

Dr Eirini Dimidi is a Reader in Nutritional Sciences at King’s College London. She has been a registered dietitian and nutritionist since 2011, after completing a BSc in Nutrition and Dietetics and a MSc in Clinical and Public Health Nutrition. This was followed by the completion of a PhD from King’s College London where she investigated the effectiveness of probiotics in people with chronic constipation.

She is leading research on nutrition-based interventions, including fibre, prebiotics, probiotics, plant foods, and plant-based diets in gut function and dysfunction. She is also investigating the mechanisms through which nutritional interventions may affect immune and mental health via the gut microbiome. Dr Dimidi led the development of the first ever UK national dietary guidelines for the management of chronic constipation, which have been endorsed by the British Dietetic Association.

Dr Dimidi was awarded the 2023 Cuthbertson Medal by the Nutrition Society, and the 2022 ISAPP Glenn Gibson Early Career Research Prize for her research on the effect of diet in gut health. She also received the 2021 Rising Star and 2020 Elizabeth Washington awards by the British Dietetic Association.”

Lee Martin is a registered dietitian with 18 years of clinical experience across primary, secondary, and tertiary care, as well as academia. In 2018 he was appointed the UK’s first Neurogastroenterology Dietitian at University College London Hospitals (UCLH). Working closely with the GI Physiology Unit and Neurogastro consultants, Lee provides specialist inpatient and outpatient dietetic care. His clinical and research interests focus on the assessment and management of refractory disorders of gut–brain interaction (DGBI) and motility disorders. Lee welcomes contact from colleagues regarding complex neurogastro dietetic cases: lee.martin1@nhs.net