Professor Annie Anderson

Emerita Professor of Public Health Nutrition

School of Medicine

Annie Anderson

Contact

Email

[email protected]

Websites

ORCiD

Biography

Annie S. Anderson trained in nutrition and after two years of clinical dietetic practice moved to an academic career in the University of Cambridge, followed by doctoral studies at the University of Aberdeen and research posts at the University of Glasgow.  She was appointed to a Professorial position in the University of Dundee in 1996.

Her research has focussed on theory based, behaviourally focused, dietary and weight management  interventions both at a population and individual level  aimed at chronic disease risk reduction with a special interest in cancer prevention. She has held a number of international and national roles including advisor to the WHO International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), Chair of the grant panel for The World Cancer Research Fund International, member of UK Government Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) and workstream lead for health and sustainability in Scotland’s National Food and Drink Policy (Scottish Government). She was Chair of the National Prevention Research Initiative (NPRI) (Medical Research Council) scientific committee from 2012 to 2016 and President of the UK Society for Behavioural Medicine from 2019 to 2021.

In 2013 she was elected a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and in 2020 became a Fellow of The Royal Society of Edinburgh. Since taking up an Emerita position she remains active in the field of obesity and cancer and continues her work with the Scottish Cancer Foundation.

Research

Selected publications

  1.  Anderson AS, Mackison D, Boath C, Steele RJC (2013) Promoting changes in diet and physical activity in breast and colorectal cancer screening settings- an unexplored opportunity for endorsing healthy behaviours.  Cancer Prevention Research,   https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23324132/
  2. Anderson AS, Craigie A, Caswell S, Treweek S, Stead M, Macleod M, Daly F, Belch J, Rodger J, Kirk A, Ludbrook A, Rauchhaus P, Norwood P, Thompson J, Wardle J, Steele RJC (2014) The impact of a body weight and Physical Activity weight loss intervention (BeWEL) initiated through a national  colorectal cancer screening programme. BMJ;348:g1823 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24609919/
  3. Hunt K, Wyke S, Gray CM, Anderson AS, Brady A, Bunn C, Donnan PT, Fenwick E, Grieve E, Leishman J, Miller MA, Mutrie N, Rauchhaus P, White A, Treweek S (2014) Football Fans in Training (FFIT): a pragmatic randomized controlled trial and cost effectiveness analysis of a gender-sensitised weight loss and healthy living programme delivered to overweight and obese men aged 35-65 by Scottish Premier League (SPL) football clubs. Lancet. 2014;383(9924): 1211-21 https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanres/article/PIIS0140-6736(13)62420-4/fulltext
  4. Lauby-Secretan, Scoccianti, Loomis D, Grosse Y, Bianchini F, Straif K (2016). Body fatness and Cancer – Viewpoint of the IARC Working Group (Anderson AS, Baker JL, Breda J, Byers T, Cleary MP, Colditz G, Di Cesare M, Gapstur SM., Herbert RA, Hursting SD, Kaaka R, Leitzmann M, Ligibel J, Renehan A, Romieu I, Shimokawa I, Thompson HJ, Ulrich C, Wade K, Weiderpass E).  N Engl J Med 375:8 794-8 https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsr1606602
  5. Anderson AS, Martin RM, Renehan AG et al (2020) Cancer survivorship, excess body fatness and weight-loss intervention —where are we in 2020? Br J Cancer https://www.nature.com/articles/s41416-020-01155-2
  6. Anderson AS, Renehan AG, Saxton JM et al (2020) Cancer prevention through weight control — where are we in 2020?  Br J Cancer https://www.nature.com/articles/s41416-020-01154-3
  7. Saxton, J. M., Pickering, K., Wane, S., Crank, H., Anderson, A. S., Cain, H., Cohen, J., Copeland, R. J., Gray, J., Hargreaves, J., McNally, R. J. Q. & Wilson, C. (2022) The experiences and perceptions of female breast cancer patients regarding weight management during and after treatment for oestrogen-receptor positive disease: a qualitative study BMC Cancer. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12885-022-10238-7

Media availability

I am available for media commentary on my research.

Emerita Professor Anderson’s research expertise lies in nutrition, lifestyles and cancer prevention, behaviour change (at individual and population levels), intervention studies to change dietary intake and obesity reduction.

Contact Corporate Communications for media enquiries.

Areas of expertise

  • Cancer prevention
  • Diabetes
  • Nutrition
  • Obesity