Pathology (Nutrition and Infection Unit)

Department of Pathology, Nutrition and Infection (former Department of Pathology) was established in 2019 by Professor S.Cox (NU School of Tropical Medicine & Global Health (TMGH)) and is separate from the Department of Global Health Development Policy Sciences.

Members

Professor
Sharon Cox

Activities

We are interested in how nutrition underpins human health and may mediate interactions between infections and non-communicable diseases such as diabetes. The research aims to provide an evidence base to support nutrition-based interventions to improve health outcomes and includes young children, adolescents, pregnant women and adults in low-and middle-income countries. Much of the current work is focused on Tuberculosis(TB), undernutrition and diabetes in TB patients in the Philippines, with research studies in both inpatient and outpatient populations. We collaborate with investigators from San Lazaro Hospital, Manila, the Nutrition Centre of the Philippines and the National TB programme. Professor Cox is the principle investigator of a large Filipino TB treatment cohort (the St-ATT cohort) (ISRCTN16347615), with active follow-up of patients until 2 years post-treatment. The cohort also includes 3 nested PhD student research projects with collaborators at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). Professor Cox is also a co-investigator on a new, UK-funded, multi-country study investigating the role of the pancreas in long-term effects of malnutrition occurring in child- and adulthood, with data collection in Philippines, India, Tanzania and Zambia, led by Prof Suzanne Filteau at LSHTM.

Recent main research achievement

  1. Edwards et al. J Tuberc Lung Dis 2020;24(7):712-719.
  2. Miyazaki et al. Trans R Soc Trop Med & Hyg 2020;114(6):401-407.
  3. White et al. Sci Rep 2020;10(1):4100.
  4. Lee et al. PLoS ONE 2019;14(6):e0218193.
  5. White et al. PLoS ONE 2019;14(5):e0215968.