Dr Sanjoy Deb

Sanjoy is an accomplished academic and researcher specialising in nutrition and exercise, with diverse expertise that covers nutraceuticals, functional foods, nutritional physiology and behaviour change.

Driven by a passion for improving health, performance and wellbeing through nutrition and exercise, he collaborates with a range of interdisciplinary partners to develop innovative scientific solutions.

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Background

Before coming to ARU, Sanjoy worked as an academic at the University of Westminster. During his time there, he took on leadership roles in both teaching and research. This included working as a course leader and having a key role in validating new health-related courses.

He was also a principal investigator at the Centre for Nutraceuticals (University of Westminster) and continues to closely collaborate with this group.

Sanjoy's research involves leading mixed methods studies with an emphasis on interdisciplinary research. His main expertise lies in designing and managing human clinical trials to assess the impact of nutraceuticals and functional foods on human health, wellbeing, and performance.

Sanjoy is also a strong advocate for patient-centred research, using participatory methods to inform research and design practical interventions.

Recently, his funded research has explored the effects of nutraceuticals on functional recovery, mood, and cognition during physiological and psychological stress. The main focus of this includes understanding the effectiveness and acceptability of oral nutritional interventions to support rehabilitation of stroke patients.

Sanjoy is a member of the Cambridge Centre for Sport and Exercise Sciences (CCSES).

Research interests

Sanjoy's main research can be defined by two intertwined themes:

• Investigating the impact of nutrients and functional foods on health, wellbeing and performance
• Changing nutrition behaviours to support health, wellbeing and performance through challenging occupational challenges (examples include saturation divers, police officers and NHS doctors/nurses).

Areas of research supervision

Sanjoy's current/previous PhD supervision includes:

Theme 1: Nutraceuticals, functional foods and dietary supplements:

• Novel insights into the interaction between iron and curcumin and its physiological consequences on gut permeability.
• The effect of iron supplementation on cognitive function in female athletes.
• Evaluating the impact of novel plant protein isolates on glycemic and appetite regulation.
• Exploring the effectiveness and acceptability of oral nutritional interventions in stroke rehabilitation.

Theme 2: Occupational and digital health:

• Healing the healer: developing nutrition and physical activity guidance to improve health and well-being in NHS healthcare workers.
• The use of digital health to promote nutrition and exercise behaviours.

Applicants who are interested in PhD or summer undergraduate/postgraduate projects in the above fields are welcome to get in touch.

Teaching

BSc (Hons) Sport and Exercise Science

Qualifications

• Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Nutritional Physiology, Edge Hill University
• Master of Science (MSc) in Sport and Exercise Nutrition, Leeds Beckett University
• Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Sport and Exercise Science, University of Birmingham.

Research grants, consultancy, knowledge exchange

Research funding awarded

2022: The effect of novel nutraceutical supplement on stress, cognition and well-being.

2022: The co-production of lifestyle-enhancing digital health behaviour intervention for mid-life women. Public Participatory Research Funding Award.

2021:Novel insights into the interaction between iron and curcumin and their physiological consequences. Funded by Pharmako Biotechnology LTD, Australia.

2019: Research to Practice: Optimising Evidence-Based Nutritional Recommendations to preserve health and performance in Professional Saturation Divers. Funded by Equinor, Norway.

2019: Healing the healer: developing nutrition and physical activity guidance to improve health and well-being in doctors. PhD studentship.

2018: Holiday Hunger Camps Impact Evaluation. Tower Hamlets Council, UK.

Selected recent publications

Sediva, H, Robertson, C., Cartwright, T., Deb, S. K. (2022) 'Behaviour change techniques in digital health interventions with midlife women: Systematic review of behaviour interventions', JMIR mHealth and uHealth. Available at: https://doi.org/10.2196/37234

Allen, K., Safi, A., Deb, S. K. (2022) 'An exploration into the impact that shift work has on the nutritional behaviours of UK police officers', British Journal of Nutrition. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007114522002999

Deb, S. K., Dolan, E., Catherine, H., Speakman, J., Eftedal, O., Zariwala, M. G., Eftedal, I. (2021) 'The Assessment of Daily Energy Expenditure of Commercial Saturation Divers Using Doubly Labelled Water', Frontiers in Physiology. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2021.687605

Brown, D. R., Cappozzo, F., De Roeck, D., Zariwala, M. G. and Deb, S. K. (2021) 'Mouth Rinsing With a Pink Non-caloric, Artificially-Sweetened Solution Improves Self-Paced Running Performance and Feelings of Pleasure in Habitually Active Individuals', Front. Nutr. Available at https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2021.678105

Tiekou, H., Deb, S. K., Begum, G., Renshaw, D. M. and Zariwala, M. G. (2021) 'Comparative Assessment of the Acute Effects of Whey, Rice and Potato Protein Isolate Intake on Markers of Glycaemic Regulation and Appetite in Healthy Males Using a Randomised Study Design', Nutrients. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13072157

Full list of publications available on Sanjoy's ResearchGate profile.