Nita Gandhi Forouhi, PhD profile page

Professor Nita Gandhi Forouhi is a physician-scientist, head of the Nutritional Epidemiology Programme and a professor of population health and nutrition at the MRC Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge. She is also an NIHR Senior Investigator and the co-lead of the NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre Theme on Nutrition, Obesity, Metabolism and Endocrinology. She is an honorary consultant with the UK Office for Health Improvement and Disparities. Her research focuses on defining the link between diet, nutrition and type 2 diabetes, obesity and related conditions, and in informing strategies for their prevention in global populations. She is a principal investigator of large cohort studies and has published more than 350 scientific articles with over 149K citations. Her research has been cited in influential policy reports and in dietary guidelines. She collaborates extensively and is also series adviser on the British Medical Journal’s Food for Thought series, a commissioner for the EAT-Lancet Commission, has served on national and international health related committees, including the World Health Organization’s food-based guidelines committee. She is also the Director of Organisational Affairs at the University of Cambridge Clinical School, championing a positive research culture and promoting equality, diversity and inclusion. Nita Forouhi trained in medicine, diabetes and endocrinology in Newcastle and Edinburgh, completing her MBBS and MRCP. She also obtained a first class honours BMedSci degree in immunology. As a Wellcome Research Fellow, she obtained a masters and PhD in epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and specialised in public health medicine in London and Cambridge. She obtained membership of the Faculty of Public Health Medicine (MFPHM) and later was elected as a Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health (FFPH). In 2024, she was elected as a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (FMedSci).