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Dr Elizabeth Opara (BSc, DPhil, RNutr, FHEA) is a Nutritional scientist. She is currently Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Applied and Human Sciences at the University of Kingston, UK.

Biography
Dr Opara studied for a BSc (Hons) in Medical Biochemistry at Royal Holloway between 1986 and 1989. As a PhD student at Oxford University (1989-1993) her research focused on amino acid metabolism and its role in clinical nutrition.

She worked as a post doc in the United States and at the Food Science Laboratory in Norwich. She has worked at the University of Kingston as an academic since 1998 and was promoted to the Head of Department in late 2016.

Research focus
Her research is focused on the biological activity of natural products including the anti-inflammatory and anti-carcinogenic properties of culinary herbs and spices.

Her research findings have challenged the effectiveness of so-called 'super foods'. She says "We found that while some compounds may have a local effect in the gut itself, in terms of the rest of the body the impact could be negligible."

At the University of Kingston, she is currently theme leader for the Sport, Exercise, Nutrition and Public Health Research Group and is a core member of the Cancer Research Group where her research focus in on 'Anti-cancer drugs, monoclonal antibodies and other therapeutics'.