Prof Helen Roche discusses the current state-of-the-art thinking regarding nutrition and inflammation, looking at issues like precision nutrition and claims for anti-inflammation diets.

Prof Roche is full professor of nutrigenomics at the UCD Conway Institute & the UCD Institute of Food & Health, University College Dublin. Helen Roche's background is in human nutrition, dietetics and molecular nutrition. Her team focus on the impact of diet on metabolism and inflammation, obesity, T2D, NAFLD and obesity-related cancer. Nutrigenomics uses state-of-the-art 'omics' to investigate the molecular effects of diet on health. Diet and nutrition play a critical role in health and disease, however the mechanistic basis is not fully understood. A recent Science Foundation Ireland Frontiers Investigator Award entitled ‘Diet, Immune Training and Metabolism' will determine the impact of diet and metabolism on innate immune responses in obesity and NAFLD. She is PI in a number of multidisciplinary programmes, ‘ImmunoMet’ addresses interactions between nutritional status, metabolic health and the gut microbiome, in collaboration with Microbiome Ireland. She is PI in Precision Oncology Ireland examining the nature of the dietary environment and obesity to promote cancer risk. Prof Roche chaired the Scientific Advisory Board of the European Healthy Life Healthy Diet Joint Programming Initiative (HDHLJPI) 2015-2018.