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Clinical and Experimental Nutrition

 

 

  

       Group Secretary   
       Bente Rams

 

       Phone:   353 32487

       E-mail:    

 

 

       Group staff            

 

What is our research focus?
Clinical nutrition is concerned with nutrition for patients. Sick individuals have altered nutritional requirements because disease, or its medical treatment, may cause eating problems (nausea, loss of appetite, difficulties in swallowing or digestion of food), and because whole body metabolism may be changed. Nutritional support can be part of the treatment in both acute and chronic diseases and may be essential to prevent patients from relapse.

 

Nutrition intervention studies using human patients are often difficult to control and justify. To support the clinical nutrition research on patients and the intervention studies,  we use studies on cells and tissues obtained from animals. At present, we focus on the use of piglets as models for liver and gastrointestinal diseases in children.

 
Which questions do we try to answer?

 

• Which nutritional changes occur in the body during specific diseases?
• What are the effects of nutrition therapy with dietary supplements (energy, protein, vitamins, minerals, bioactive nutrients) on disease progression and recovery?
• What are the effects of preventive dietary changes on disease development?
• What are the causes for loss of appetite?
• Validation of bed-side physiological methods to record quality of life for patients

Within clinical experimental nutrition, we try to answer the following questions:

 

• Uptake of nutrients in fetuses, in newborns and during the first phase of life.
• Diet effects on infection and inflammation in the intestine after birth and weaning
• Diet effects on the liver and intestine after surgery and chemotherapy
• Effects of total parenteral (intravenous) nutrition versus enteral (oral) nutrition
• Influences of the gut bacteria on intestinal function and health

Who are we?
The research group was founded in 2006 and at present consists of 2 full Professors, 1 part-time professor, 2 Associate Professors, 1 Assistant Professor, 1 post doc, 1 scientific assistant, 9 PhD students 2 lab technicians, ½ secretary and ½ service assistant. The head of the research group is Professor Per Sangild.
 
How do we work?
New projects are continuously implemented within the subject area, clinical and experimental nutrition. We seek collaborative projects with people that have common interests. Within the clinical nutrition area we have a close collaboration with hospitals, especially Rigshospitalet (National University Hospital in Copenhagen). We welcome participation of industrial partners (food industry, clinical nutrition) in our projects. Our experimental clinical nutrition focuses on intestinal diseases, mainly using pig models. Isolated cells and tissues from both healthy and sick animals are subject to clinical disease evaluation as well as detailed biochemical analyses (digestive function, inflammation, immunology). The experimental studies are carried out in co-operation with a number of national collaborators (Rigshospitalet, Odense Universitetshospital, Panum Institute, Veterinary Institute and Biocentrum, Technical University of Denmark and international institutions (Children’s Nutrition Research Centre, Houston; Memphis University; University of Hong Kong). We seek to couple the studies on human patients with our studies on animal disease models and basic studies on isolated cells.

 

Ph.D.’s graduated from the group and their background degree (since 2005)

• Charlotte Bjørnvad (DVM): “Nutrition of the Compromized Gut”, 2005
• Thomas Thymann (DVM): “Nutritional and Intestinal Transitions in Early Life”, 2006
• Stine Brandt Bering (MSc Human Nutrition): “The effect of Lactobacillus Plantarum 299V and lactic acid on iron bioavailability”, 2006
• Richard Harvey Siggers (MSc Animal Science): “Effects of bacterial colonization on the growth and development of the preterm gastrointestinal tract", 2007
• MSc Jayda Lee Ann Siggers (MSc Nutrition Toxicology): “Nutrition, microbiota, and immune system interplay in preterm neonates susceptible to necrotizing enterocolitis”, 2009.

Present Ph.D. students and their program title

• Lene Holm Jakobsen (MSc Human Nutrition): ”Increased protein intake and physiological function”
• Malene Skovsted Cilieborg (MSc Clinical Nutrition): “Probiotics in early life”
• Janice Marie Sorensen (MSc Clinical Nutrition): ”Model for development of functional foods for undernourished patients”
• Andreas Vegge (DVM): “Development of porcine animal models for patients with a compromised digestive function”
• Pernille Lund (MD): “Colostrum neutraceutical for compromised guts in adult short-bowel patients”
• Michael Ladegaard Jensen (DVM): “Animal models for nutrition In patients with reduced digestive function”
• Mette Viberg Østergaard (MSc, Human Biology): “Nutritional control of intestinal inflammation”
• Kia Halschou Hansen (MSc Clinical Nutrition): “Intestinal disaccharidases, carbohydrates and insulin resistance”
• Peter Pontoppidan (MSc MD): “Nutrition of infants with cancer and after chemotherapy”

Past and current affiliated PhD students (enrolled at other institutions but with major parts of the work done at LIFE) 

• Hanne Møller (MSc Molecular Biology): “Immunomodulatory effects of milk bioactives on the intestinal immunesystem”
• Ann Cathrine Støy (MSc Human Nutrition): “Colostrum neutraceuticals for the compromised gut”
• Lise Aunsholt (MD): “Colostrum for recovery of the intestine in resected infants
• Els Van Haver (DVM): “Stereological analysis of the intestine following inflammation and preterm birth”
• Marijke Oste (DVM): Immunohistochemical analysis of the formula-fed newborn intestine
  Ping Ping Jiang (MSc Chemistry): “A proteomic analysis of the small intestine following formula-induced inflammation in preterm newborns”.
• Chet Liangqiang (MSc Animal Science): Effects of prematurity, birth weight and GLP-2 on the developing small intestine”.