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Dr Andrew Prentice

MRC - Scientific Programme Leader*

United Kingdom

I joined LSHTM in 1999 as Professor of International Nutrition and founded the MRC International Nutrition Group. Now based in The Gambia, I am Theme Leader for Nutrition & Planetary Health at the MRC Unit The Gambia where I have been conducting research at the rural fieldstation at MRCG Keneba for over 4 decades.

Born, raised and schooled in East Africa, I studied biochemistry at Leeds followed by a PhD in Nutrition at Darwin College, Cambridge. Following 5–years of post-doctoral research in Keneba (1978-83) I returned to Cambridge to lead the Energy Metabolism and Obesity Group at the MRC Dunn Clinical Nutrition Centre prior to joining LSHTM.

My international roles include being a Council Member of both the International Union of Nutritional Sciences (IUNS) and the Federation of African Nutrition Societies (FANUS). I sit on the Professional Advisory Committee of HarvestPlus and am a board member of the educational foundation the Nestlé Nutrition Institute. I am a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences and a Member of the US National Academy of Science.

Affiliations

MRC Unit The Gambia at LSHTM

Centres

Centre for Maternal Adolescent Reproductive & Child Health

Teaching

I am co-organiser of the Maternal and Child Nutrition Module for the MSc in Nutrition for Global Health. I currently have 3 PhD students and am keen to support further African students.

Research

Our research covers a broad portfolio of nutrition-related disease with an emphasis on driving Africa-specific insights and interventions. Within this, my own chief interests are in the interplay between iron, infection and immunity, and on the impact of a mother's pre-conceptional diet and nutritional status on the emerging fetal methylome and downstream epigenetic influences on later-life diseases.
Research Area
Child health
Global Health
Maternal health
Medicine
Nutrition
Disease and Health Conditions
Diabetes
Malnutrition
Non-communicable diseases
Obesity
Cardiovascular diseases
Country
Gambia
Kenya
United Kingdom
Region
Sub-Saharan Africa (all income levels)

Selected Publications

Environmentally sensitive hotspots in the methylome of the early human embryo.
SILVER, MJ; Saffari, A; Kessler, NJ; Chandak, GR; Fall, CH D; ISSARAPU, P; Dedaniya, A; Betts, M; Moore, SE; Routledge, MN; Herceg, Z; Cuenin, C; Derakhshan, M; James, PT; Monk, D; PRENTICE, AM;
2022
eLife
DNA methylation signatures associated with cardiometabolic risk factors in children from India and The Gambia: results from the EMPHASIS study.
Antoun, E; ISSARAPU, P; Di Gravio, C; Shrestha, S; Betts, M; Saffari, A; Sahariah, SA; Sankareswaran, A; Arumalla, M; PRENTICE, AM; Fall, CH D; SILVER, MJ; Chandak, GR; Lillycrop, KA; EMPHASIS study group,;
2022
Clinical epigenetics
Gut microbiomes from Gambian infants reveal the development of a non-industrialized Prevotella-based trophic network.
De Goffau, MC; JALLOW, AT; Sanyang, C; PRENTICE, AM; Meagher, N; Price, DJ; Revill, PA; Parkhill, J; Pereira, DI A; Wagner, J;
2021
Nature microbiology
Plasma lipids and growth faltering: A longitudinal cohort study in rural Gambian children.
Gonzales, GB; Brals, D; Sonko, B; Sosseh, F; PRENTICE, AM; Moore, SE; Koulman, A;
2021
Science advances
Early postnatal hypoferremia in low birthweight and preterm babies: A prospective cohort study in hospital-delivered Gambian neonates.
CROSS, JH; Jarjou, O; MOHAMMED, NI; Rayment Gomez, S; Touray, BJ B; PRENTICE, AM; CERAMI, C;
2020
EBioMedicine
Hepcidin mediates hypoferremia and reduces the growth potential of bacteria in the immediate post-natal period in human neonates.
PRENTICE, S; JALLOW, AT; Sinjanka, E; JALLOW, MW; Sise, EA; Kessler, NJ; Wegmuller, R; CERAMI, C; PRENTICE, AM;
2019
Scientific reports
Micronutrient Deficiencies, Nutritional Status and the Determinants of Anemia in Children 0-59 Months of Age and Non-Pregnant Women of Reproductive Age in The Gambia.
Petry, N; Jallow, B; Sawo, Y; Darboe, MK; Barrow, S; Sarr, A; Ceesay, PO; Fofana, MN; PRENTICE, AM; Wegmüller, R; Rohner, F; Phall, MC; Wirth, JP;
2019
Nutrients
The ferroportin Q248H mutation protects from anemia, but not malaria or bacteremia.
Muriuki, JM; Mentzer, AJ; Band, G; Gilchrist, JJ; Carstensen, T; Lule, SA; Goheen, MM; Joof, F; Kimita, W; Mogire, R; Cutland, CL; Diarra, A; Rautanen, A; Pomilla, C; Gurdasani, D; Rockett, K; Mturi, N; Ndungu, FM; SCOTT, JA G; Sirima, SB; Morovat, A; PRENTICE, AM; Madhi, SA; WEBB, EL; ELLIOTT, AM; ... Atkinson, SH.
2019
Science Advances
A Genomic Atlas of Systemic Interindividual Epigenetic Variation in Humans.
Gunasekara, CJ; Scott, CA; Laritsky, E; Baker, MS; MacKay, H; Duryea, JD; Kessler, NJ; Hellenthal, G; Wood, AC; Hodges, KR; Gandhi, M; Hair, AB; Silver, MJ; Moore, SE; PRENTICE, AM; Li, Y; Chen, R; Coarfa, C; Waterland, RA; Gunasekara, C;
2019
ENVIRONMENTAL AND MOLECULAR MUTAGENESIS
A genomic atlas of systemic interindividual epigenetic variation in humans.
Gunasekara, CJ; Scott, CA; Laritsky, E; Baker, MS; MacKay, H; Duryea, JD; Kessler, NJ; Hellenthal, G; Wood, AC; Hodges, KR; Gandhi, M; Hair, AB; SILVER, MJ; Moore, SE; PRENTICE, AM; Li, Y; Chen, R; Coarfa, C; Waterland, RA;
2019
Genome biology
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