Professor Carolyn Summerbell

Trustee Role: Secretary/Deputy Chair

Co-applicant on the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) funded School for Public Health Research (SPHR) Fuse Centre of Excellence and Deputy Director of Fuse

Prof. Summerbell’s research focuses on 1) the collation of evidence for the prevention of obesity in children, and the dissemination and translation of this evidence into policy and practice, 2) the development and evaluation of interventions to prevent childhood obesity. The need to assess and reduce health inequalities underpins this programme of work. Prof. Summerbell has a strong record of attracting research grants from a variety of funding sources. For example, she is a co-applicant on the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) funded School for Public Health Research (SPHR) Fuse Centre of Excellence and is Deputy Director of Fuse. Prof. Summerbell is involved in various research projects, including those funded by NIHR and SPHR. She has co-authored over 200 peer-reviewed research papers and many Cochrane reviews, including a suite of reviews (by age group) of Interventions for the prevention of childhood obesity. The 5-11 and 12-18 age group review were published in May 2024. It is anticipated that the 2-4 age group review will be published in autumn 2024, in advance of the new NICE and WHO guidance on obesity. She is a member of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Obesity and Child and Adolescent Obesity. Prof. Summerbell is a past Chair and committee member of the ASO.