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Dr Annett Klinder, Daphne Jackson Fellow
Researching the links between colon cancer and probiotics and prebiotics
Dr Annett Klinder has begun a Daphne Jackson Fellowship, funded by the Elizabeth Nuffield Educational Fund, at the University of Reading after a career break of four years. She has joined Professor Glenn Gibson’s research group – a group internationally recognised for its work on probiotics and prebiotics.
Annett, who lives with her partner, a theoretical physicist, and their three-year-old son, became highly interested in the health benefits of commonly occurring food ingredients when – after a PhD in cell and molecular biology – she worked on the effects of a combination of probiotics and prebiotics in colon cancer at the University of Jena in Germany. Probiotics are defined as live microbial food ingredients beneficial to health, mostly lactic acid producing bacteria that can be found in probiotic dairy products. Prebiotics are food ingredients which selectively stimulate the growth of those beneficial bacteria, and are usually non-digestible carbohydrates that occur naturally, e.g. in onions, leek, soybeans, or wheat flour.
After the birth of her son, Annett gave up her career in Germany to move to London with her partner. While at home she continued to follow research about probiotics and prebiotics, preparing four publications on the results of her work in Jena. She also wrote two chapters for a German textbook on the subject, occasionally working as a scientific writer for a company producing probiotic yoghurt.
In her current research project she will study the beneficial health effects of probiotics and prebiotics, especially with regard to colon cancer development. Several studies with animal models have demonstrated the preventative effects of these food ingredients in carcinogen-induced tumourigenesis. However, most of the underlying mechanisms between colon tumour cells and probiotics and prebiotics remain to be elucidated.
It was always Annett’s wish to return to the laboratory after her career break should it be possible. Now, thanks to the Elizabeth Nuffield Educational Fund and the Daphne Jackson Trust, Annett is back doing the research that she loves.
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Last Updated Wed, 17 May 2006