Congratulations to Nele Steenackers, University of Leuven, selected by the Belgium Nutrition Society, for being awarded the champion of the 2nd International Nutrition Student Research Championships. 

Nele's research entitled 'Nutritional Deficiencies After Bariatric Surgery' was presented during the Championships at the Royal Society of Medicine on 4 December 2017 to an audience consisting of researchers, health professionals and academics from a broad range of Universities and organisations from across UK and Europe. 

The Championships were launched in 2016 by the Nutrition Society's International Affairs and Science Committees, in collaboration with the French, German and Belgain Nutrition Societies.  The Championships, financially supported by DSM Nutritional Products, allowed selected nutrtion students from different parts of the world to meet, collaborate and compete in a supportive atmosphere.  Each Society selected one student to represent their Society.  The Nutrition Society was represented by two students (one from the UK, and one from Ireland, selected by the Nutrition Society Irish Section).

Participating students included:

2nd International Nutrition Student Research Champion:
Belgian Nutrition Society Candidate

Nele Steenackers, University of Leuven, Belgium
Research entitled: Nutritional Deficiencies After Bariatric Surgery

The Nutrition Society (Irish Section) Candidate
Dr Aoife Hayes, University College Cork, Ireland
Research entitled: A food first approach towards tackling inadequacy of vitamin K intake in the population: insights gained from vitamin D biofortification of foods.

The Nutrition Society (UK) Candidate
Amy Morgan, University of Chester, UK
Research entitled: A Novel Approach for Measuring DNA Methylation: Implications for Cancer and Ageing

French Nutrition Society (SFN) Candidate
Dr Carolina Munoz-Gonzalez, Centre for Taste and Feeding Behaviour, France
Research entitled: Does human saliva drive flavour perception?

German Nutrition Society (DGE) Candidate
Dr Lukas Schwingshackl, German Institute of Human Nutrition, Germany
Research entitled: Generating the evidence for risk reduction – a contribution to the future of Food based dietary guidelines

The Nutrition Society would like this initiative to continue to stimulate collaboration and co-operation between Societies, inspire young scientists to present their data both nationally and internationally, and encourage friendly competition among early career researchers world-wide.