Ashley Adamson

After earning her doctorate, Adamson worked as a dietitian in London in 1992. She spent three years in London before returning to Newcastle University.^[3] Here she developed Newcastle's research activity in Public Health Nutrition, and was made a Personal Chair in 2010. Her research considers the relationship between food choice, nutrient intake and public health.^[4][5] Adamson is Chair of FUSE, a Centre for Translational Research in Public Health.^[6] Fuse unites researchers across universities in North East England.^[6]

Obesity costs the UK economy almost £16 billion a year.^[5] In the United Kingdom, 40% of children finishing primary school are overweight, and 60% of adults.^[7] Adamson has argued it is possible to tackle childhood obesity through a sugar tax, reduced marketing to children and eliminating buy-one-get-one-free promotions. She has argued that it is possible to tackle childhood obesity by improving the quality of free school meals.^[8][9][10] She has investigated the health impacts of various diets, and shown that a Mediterranean diet was associated with lower dementia risk.^[11]

In 2022 she started working with Newcastle City Council to develop a Health Determinants Research Collaboration to tackle health inequalities.^[12]

In 2017 Adamson was made director of the National Institute for Health and Care Research School for Public Health Research. The school was awarded £25 million in 2022, with which they looked to improve child health and healthier neighbourhoods.^[13] Adamson was made NIHR Senior Investigator in 2018, and re-appointed in 2023.^[14]

• Michael Ej Lean; Wilma S Leslie; Alison C Barnes; et al. (5 December 2017). "Primary care-led weight management for remission of type 2 diabetes (DiRECT): an open-label, cluster-randomised trial". The Lancet. 391 (10120): 541–551. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(17)33102-1. ISSN 0140-6736. PMID 29221645. Wikidata Q47174377.
• Angela M Craigie; Amelia A Lake; Sarah A Kelly; Ashley J Adamson; John C Mathers (15 September 2011). "Tracking of obesity-related behaviours from childhood to adulthood: A systematic review". Maturitas. 70 (3): 266–284. doi:10.1016/J.MATURITAS.2011.08.005. ISSN 0378-5122. PMID 21920682. Wikidata Q37932781.
• Michael E J Lean; Wilma S Leslie; Alison C Barnes; et al. (6 March 2019). "Durability of a primary care-led weight-management intervention for remission of type 2 diabetes: 2-year results of the DiRECT open-label, cluster-randomised trial". The Lancet: Diabetes & Endocrinology. 7 (5): 344–355. doi:10.1016/S2213-8587(19)30068-3. ISSN 2213-8587. PMID 30852132. Wikidata Q92245135.