Mary has been  Professor of Dietetics at the University of Plymouth since 2016. Her research  interests include all aspects of dietetic practice, sarcopenia and frailty,  hospital nutritional care, and nutrition in older people. She worked in the  NHS in various roles for over 23 years bringing extensive clinical experience  to her academic role. She is also passionate about supporting dietitians to  do high quality impactful research which enhances the profession’s evidence  base. She has supervised six dietitians to obtain their doctorate and she has  three more on that pathway. She is actively mentoring and supporting several  others to gain funding to do a PhD.    

Avril, who is an  Associate Professor and Academic Lead for the dietetics team, has worked at the  University of Plymouth since 2008. Her research interests focus on dietetic  practice both in primary and secondary care. She has worked in many different  specialities in the NHS for over 14 years; specialising in gastroenterology and  renal.  She now supports quality  teaching and research.  

The work Avril and  Mary are presenting in the Nutribytes webinar starts to form the evidence for  dietetic practice in primary care in the UK. They are seeking funding to  continue to develop this programme of research to ensure dietitians can work  effectively and efficiently in this setting.