Elaine Bannerman

Biography

Dr Elaine Bannerman  PhD, is a state registered dietitian (Health Care Professions Council (HCPC)) with over 19 years of experience in both clinical and public health nutrition education and research in higher education from the UK and Australia.  She undertook her PhD (1993-1997) looking at ‘Identification of poor nutritional status in non-institutionalised individuals >75 years old’ (Awarded Jan 1998, The Open University), stimulating her interests in the nutritional well-being of older adults.   Her, post-doctoral studies at the University of Edinburgh, (Gastrointestinal Unit, Western General Hospital) went on to look at both nutritional wellbeing and health-related quality of life in gastrostomy-fed patients.  In 1999 she moved to Australia, to take up appointment as Lecturer in Nutrition and Dietetics to Flinders University of South Australia, where in addition to development of her learning and teaching experience and skills, she developed research collaborations which included investigation of the dietary and nutritional management of patients after hip fracture (see publications Stoltz et al 2002; Daniels et al 2003; Miller et al, 2005a & b; Miller et al 2006a & b) and also the prognostic value of nutritional indices through secondary analyses of the Australian Longitudinal Study of Ageing (Crotty et al, 2001; Miller et al 2002; Bannerman et al. 2002). In 2002 she returned to the UK where she developed a number of nutrition education and training resources for a variety of health-care professionals including nurses and pharmacists (PACE, QMUC Edinburgh).  In 2003 she took up appointment as Senior Lecturer in Nutrition and Dietetics at the University of Chester where she had responsibility as programme leader for BSc (Hons) Dietetics.  In 2007 to 2008, she undertook a number of consultancies including Academic Advisor and Principal Author of a national nutrition education and training resource for the National Care Home Learning Network in Scotland, on behalf of The Scottish Executive.  She also was Food and Nutrition Advisor and Principal Author for the ‘National Nutrition and Catering Specification for Food in Hospitals’, The Scottish Government (Published 2008), which was rolled out to inform food service provision in all hospitals across Scotland. In 2007, Elaine was appointed Lecturer in Nutrition and Dietetics (Queen Margaret University) promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2009, with responsibility as joint programme leader for the BSc (Hons) in Nutrition.  Notable achievements during this appointment include development of an institutional case study for Enhancement Themes (2008 - 2011) ‘Graduate attributes for 21st Century’ and for her research being presented as an institutional impact case study for REF 2014 ‘Improving nutritional management of older people and in vulnerable groups.’   Further, during this appointment Elaine was invited on to a number of local and national committee and working groups, including Cross-Parliamentary Group on Coeliac Disease (2009 -2011), Advisor - NHS Health Improvement Scotland Improving Nutritional Care Advisory Group (Sept 2010-July 2011),  Lothian AHP Generic Clinical Outcome Measures Working Group  (April – July 2012); Lothian NMAHP Clinical Academic Research Scheme (CARC) Steering Group (Jan 2011 – April 2015); Steering Group for procurement of a National Nutrition Database for NHS Hospitals in Scotland (Health Facilities Scotland)  (Mar 2009 – Sept 2010). Elaine joined the University of Dundee Medical School in December 2015.

Research Interest

Elaine’s research interests and expertise are in the assessment, screening and early detection of nutrition-related geriatric conditions (malnutrition, sarcopenia and sarcopenic obesity) and strategies to optimize diet and food access to optimize health and health-related quality of life, with a particular interest in older adults and individuals with coeliac disease.  Elaine’s current research interests include identifying and assessing sarcopenia and sarcopenic obesity and trialling community based diet and lifestyle interventions to improve function, health and health-related quality of life.  Notable achievements include being presented as an institutional impact case study for REF 2014 ‘Improving nutritional management of older people and in vulnerable groups.’ (Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh).  Elaine has over 30 peer-reviewed publications and supervised four PhD completions.