I am honoured to be appointed as a member of SACN. The work of the committee is so important in ensuring Public Health England, other public bodies, and the UK government receive the very best assessment of scientific evidence in nutrition.
Professor Kevin Whelan, Head of Department of Nutritional Sciences.
18 November 2021
Professor Kevin Whelan appointed to government nutrition advisory committee
Professor Kevin Whelan from the School of Life Course & Population Sciences has been appointed to the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN).
SACN advises UK government organisations on nutrition and related health matters, on everything from how much Vitamin D we should be getting, nutrient requirements in the military, and more recently on the role of nutrition in COVID.
Professor Whelan, who is a Fellow of the British Dietetic Association, was appointed due to his expertise in carbohydrates including fibre.
He added, “Even as a student dietitian I remember how critical the advice and recommendations made by SACN and previous committees were. All these years later, I feel privileged to be able to now make my own contribution to the committee.
Professor Whelan is the Professor of Dietetics and Head of Department of Nutritional Sciences at King’s. He has undertaken extensive research on probiotics, prebiotics, fibre and dietary interventions in gastrointestinal health and disease. He has published over 170 papers in peer-reviewed journals and was recently named in the 2021 list of Highly Cited Researchers for publishing multiple highly cited research studies ranking in the top 1% of all papers. He is also the Series Editor of the Advanced Nutrition and Dietetics book series from the British Dietetic Association.
Professor Whelan also uses his platform to advocate for dietetic research and evidence-based practice and challenge pseudo-science in nutrition.
Professor Whelan has held previous membership of the ILSI Expert Panel on Prebiotics, the NIHR/HEE Clinical Academic Programme Awards Panel and the NICE Quality Standards Group for Inflammatory Bowel Disease.
In 2012 he was awarded the Nutrition Society Sir David Cuthbertson Medal in recognition of research that has advanced clinical nutrition and impacted on patient care and in 2017 he was appointed a Fellow of the British Dietetic Association.
Andy Burman, BDA CEO, said: “We are absolutely delighted to see dietitian and BDA Fellow, Professor Kevin Whelan, become a member of SACN.
“Professor Whelan will be a strong addition to the SACN team. He is committed to high standards in nutrition and dietetics throughout his career and is an inspiration to many in the dietetic profession.
“I have no doubt the skill and experience he brings to SACN, as a Professor of Dietetics, will only serve to strengthen the important work of the committee.”
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Professor of Dietetics