New Lecturer grant winners announced
Nutrition
The winners of the Rank Prize Nutrition Committee New Lecturer grant for 2025 have been announced. Three ‘next generation’ researchers have been awarded funds to help them establish an independent research project and further their career: Dr Adam Bentham, Dr Aygul Dagbasi, and Dr Natasha Yelina.
Dr Adam Bentham, Durham University: AI-Driven Engineering of Plant Immune Sensors for Durable Crop Protection
Each year, plant diseases eliminate up to 40% of global crop yields, representing losses of more than $220 billion. These impacts are intensifying with climate change and present a major constraint on global food security. There is therefore an urgent need for innovative, durable approaches to crop protection. Adam’s project will apply artificial intelligence to design novel plant immune receptors. Unlike conventional breeding or chemical pesticides, these receptors can be tailored to recognise and block rapidly evolving pathogens, offering a means of protection that can adapt in step with disease threats. By establishing proof-of-concept for this strategy, the project aims to demonstrate its potential to deliver sustainable resistance.
The immediate outcome will be new resistance mechanisms against priority crop pathogens. More broadly, this research establishes a framework for resilient, low-input agriculture, contributing to improved harvest stability, sustainable food production, and enhanced global nutrition.
Dr Aygul Dagbasi, Imperial College London: Understanding the role of Gastrointestinal Tract in the Appetite Reduction of Older Adults (Anorexia of Ageing)
The world population is ageing. While the older population is increasing, the number of healthy years being lived by this population is not, meaning there will be more pressure on health systems around the world. Anorexia of ageing (AoA) is a disorder that affects around 30% of adults over the age of 65. AoA results in appetite reduction, and it is associated with under-nutrition and increased risk of disease and death. Currently there are no effective treatments for AoA, partly because we do not understand the cause and mechanism behind the development of AoA.
Aygul’s project will start to explore the mechanisms behind AoA, with the hope that increased understanding will lead to the development of dietary and pharmaceutical interventions that can prevent or treat AoA. Ultimately, this will increase the healthy years lived by older adults, improve their quality of life, and help to reduce pressure on healthcare systems.
Dr Natasha Yelina, University of Leeds: Novel Approaches for Precision Breeding in Pea
Feeding a growing global population requires highly yielding nutritious crops. Gene editing – described as “molecular scissors” to make precise changes in DNA – offers a powerful tool to develop improved crops much faster and more accurately than traditional breeding. Yet gene editing remains difficult in some crops, including pea, a major UK legume and a high-protein food for human diets. To unlock the full potential of pea for human nutrition, improvements in its protein digestibility and removal of off-flavours is needed, changes that could be achieved by editing just a small number of genes.
Natasha’s project will pioneer a fast, simple, and accessible approach to pea gene editing which, unlike conventional gene editing, will require no/minimal transgenics to deliver components of gene editing machinery. The outcomes will support healthier diets and enable pea crop improvement beyond its nutritional qualities leading to more sustainable food production in the UK and worldwide.
