Fuse professor highlighted in national power list

A Fuse academic whose research and campaigns are driven by a desire to improve the health of the public has been included in a prestigious national power list.

Professor Amelia Lake, dieititian, public health nutritionist and Associate Director of Fuse, works as a professor in Public Health Nutrition at Teesside University and features in this year’s Timewise Power 50 Awards.

The awards recognise executives and trailblazing role models who happen to work part-time or flexibly.

Compiled by Timewise following nationwide research, the awards aim to inspire employers across the country and challenges the belief that part-time workers cannot be ambitious, highly successful and occupy senior positions.

Professor Lake currently works three days a week, balancing her research and teaching commitments with home life, looking after her two children, Auden (7) and Faye (4) as well as running The David Ashwell Foundation, a charity in memory of her eldest son David who died in 2011 from a rare lung disease called Alveolar Capillary Dysplasia (ACD).

Professor Lake’s research focuses on nutrition and public health, food poverty and obesity and she has been spearheading a prominent campaign to ban the sale of energy drinks to under 16s.

Last year she was one of just just 350 scientists worldwide asked to attend the invitation-only Sci Foo 2019 at Google in California and her work to help prevent obesity was highlighted as being among the Nation’s Lifesavers in Universities UK’s MadeAtUni campaign, which celebrated the top 100 individuals or groups based in universities whose work is saving lives and making a difference to health and wellbeing.

"Working at Teesside University and with Fuse has given me a platform to enable me to make a real impact through my research"

Professor Amelia Lake

Professor Lake said: "I am passionate about improving our health, especially for children and working at Teesside University and with Fuse has given me a platform to enable me to make a real impact through my research.

"To feature in the Timewise Power 50 Awards is a real honour and will hopefully help to show people that you don’t have to work full-time to be successful in your career.

"I am grateful for the opportunities and support I receive from colleagues across this institution and beyond. I look forward to continuing to make a positive difference to health through informed research and educating the next generation of dietitians and nutritionists."

Timewise co-founder and judge Karen Mattison MBE, who led the initiative from the start said: "It is vital we find and showcase modern day role models to aspire to. Professor Amelia Lake is blazing a trail in higher education - achieving serious success, in less days. Not only proving that it can be done – but how. The Timewise Power 50 exists to award innovation like this. Every person who tells their story openly, helps to make change happen."

Last modified: Tue, 25 Feb 2020 16:52:31 GMT