Professor Paul Haggarty

Professor Paul Haggarty
Professor Paul Haggarty
Professor Paul Haggarty

BSc PhD

Personal Chair

About
Email Address
p.haggarty@abdn.ac.uk
Telephone Number
+44 (0)1224 438630
Office Address

Lifelong Health Division

Rowett Institute of Nutrition and Health

University of Aberdeen

Greenburn Road

Aberdeen

AB21 9SB, UK.

School/Department
School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition

Biography

I have over 30 years research experience in the field of human health. In the course of my career I have worked with research groups in the UK and internationally (India, Mexico, Malaysia, Norway), including as a Fulbright Senior Research Scholar in the USA at Cornell University. Most of my research has focused on human nutrition, epigenetics and genetics. My overall aim is to provide new knowledge leading to practical applications with a beneficial effect on health, quality of life, society and the economy. My work is published in journals such as Lancet, Nature, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, and Annual Review of Nutrition. My research is acknowledged as internationally important, it is cited in national reports and policy statements, and it is used directly by policy makers. I have served on various scientific advisory committees including; the UK Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition; Swedish Medical Research Council international Evaluation Panel on Ageing and Health; the Scientific Advisory Board of Breast Cancer Campaign; the Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes; and I recently joined the BBSRC Bioscience for Health Strategy Advisory Panel.

Memberships and Affiliations

Internal Memberships

Head of Lifelong Health Division: This division consists of 30 staff (17 principal investigators and a variable compliment of visiting workers and students) working in the area of Diet and Lifelong health.  http://www.abdn.ac.uk/rowett/research/lifelong-health.php

Head of the Public Health Nutrition Group: This research group consists of 13 research staff and associated assistants, students and visiting workers. The group was constituted to apply knowledge of nutrition science and expertise in epidemiology and social sciences to address nutrition issues of wider public health importance. It has a number of international research students and overseas links and the work is designed to be of national and international relevance. https://www.abdn.ac.uk/rowett/research/public-health-nutrition-688.php

Member of Institute Executive Committee and Senior Management Group: These groups have responsibility for the development of institute strategy and its implementation, the organization and running of the institute, and its integration with the wider university, strategic appointments and recruitment, oversight of the institute budget, decisions on resource allocation, staffing, strategic planning, management of research, health and safety, knowledge exchange, and external links.

Manager of research programme on Diet and Health: I currently manage one of two work-packages led by Rowet Institute and commissioned by Scottish Government. This is worth around £12m over 5 years and involves input from 37 principle investigators across 4 independent research providers (Rowett Institute, James Hutton Institute, Moredun Institute, Biostatistics Service Scotland).

External Memberships
  • Member of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) Bioscience for Health Strategy Advisory Panel (2016-2018).
  • Chair of UK Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) working group on UK saturated fat recommendations (from 2015).
  • Member of UK Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) (2006-present).
  • Member of UK Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes (ACNFP) (2008-2012).
  • Member of EU Joint Programming Initiative Evaluation Panel: A Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life; Transnational Research on Nutrition and Cognitive Function (2015).
  • Chair of “Food and Obesity” topic at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh Symposium on Obesity; a 21st Century Epidemic (2015).
  • Member of the UK Department of Health Commissioning Panel for Iodine and Health, Department of Health, London (2014).
  • Member of the Advisory Group for the University of Aberdeen Centre for Genome-Enabled Biology and Medicine.
  • Assesor on the Swedish Research Council Ageing and Health Panel (2013).
  • Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of Breast Cancer Campaign (2012- 2013).
  • Member of SACN Working Group on Approaches to the Nutritional Assessment of Novel Foods (ANANF) (2008-present).
  • Member of North of Scotland NHS Research Ethics Committee (2004-2011).
  • Member of British Nutrition Foundation Task Force on Nutrition and development: long and short term consequences for health (2009-2011).
  • Member of SACN working group on Folate and Disease Prevention (2006-2008).
  • Member of SACN working group on Folate and Cancer (2008-2009).
  • Member of Scottish Government short life working group on vitamin D (2008-2009).
Research

Research Overview

Life expectancy is increasing across the globe and there is a need to ensure that physical and mental health is maintained as long as possible into old age. Some individuals are genetically predisposed to health and longevity but there is a growing awareness of the importance of early life events in programming lifelong health and the role of diet in particular. Health and life expectancy are also strongly related to socioeconomic status but the links with diet and behaviour are poorly understood.

My research is concerned with these issues and specifically the way in which diet at different life-stages interacts directly with the human genome to influence health and disease risk throughout life, and the mechanism by which it does this. It deals with early life factors and reproduction. It seeks to determine the nature of the links between early life and later health and to identify critical modifiable factors in the early environment. It also seeks to identify the evolutionary links between health, fertility, and reproduction that cannot be modified. This work involves the study of epigenetics in reproduction, cognition, and cancer, in a range of study designs; from in vitro studies in isolated cells and tissues through to large cohort and case-control studies involving thousands of individuals.

Reproduction: I have a long standing research interest in nutrition in pregnancy and the importance of this to lifelong health, with a particular emphasis on the maternal and fetal requirement for polyunsaturated fatty acids, and the roles of the B vitamins and vitamin D. This includes work on maternal diet and status, maternal adaptations in fat metabolism, the role of the placenta and early embryo. and vitamin D status an season in mothers and babies. I have also investigated the complex interaction between diet and social circumstances in determining birth outcomes and the modulating role of factors such as smoking and alcohol consumption. I have worked on placental function and fetal growth and have worked with colleagues to develop innovative ways of using MRI to investigate oxygen supply to the fetus in utero.

 

Collaborations

In the course of my career I have worked with many research groups in the UK and internationally (India, Mexico, Malaysia, Norway), including as a Fulbright Senior Research Scholar in the USA at Cornell University.

Current external collaborations include:

  • University of Oxford (Professor Leanne Hodgson); Epigenetic response to diet.
  • University of Cambridge (Professor Anne Ferguson-Smith); Imprinting methylation; early life influences and later cognition and mood
  • University College London (Professor Marcus Richards); Imprinting methylation; early life influences and later cognition and mood

Funding and Grants

  • Imprinting methylation; early life influences and later cognition and mood (Haggarty, Murray, Phillips, Staff, Hocking, Ferguson-Smith, Richards). BBSRC & ESRC. (£447,000; Nov 2015 to Oct 2018).
  • Genetic determinants of breast cancer susceptibility (Haggarty, Heys). The Gates Trust (£52,000; Oct 2008 to Oct 2016).
  • A pilot study of epigenetic imprinting and breast cancer using Next Generation Sequencing (Haggarty, Heys, Husain). Friends of Anchor (£9,000; July 2015 to July 2016).
  • Nutrition, Epigenetics and Health. Scottish Government (approximately £500,000 over 5 years; April 2011 to April 2016).
Teaching

Teaching Responsibilities

I have over 20 years experience teaching undergraduate and postgraduate courses in the life sciences and nutrition and currently teach on the following courses within University of Aberdeen:

  • Public Health Nutrition MSc (PU5504)
  • Human Nutrition MSc (MT5401)
  • Genes and evolution BSc (BI2002)
  • Reproductive Biology BSc (DB3502)
  • Advanced Molecular and Functional Genomics MSc (MB5016)
  • Molecular Nutrition MSc (MT5511)
  • Genetics - Complex Disease MSc (MB5515)
  • University of Aberdeen Annual International Summer School Advanced Course in Dietary Assessment Methods (http://www.abdn.ac.uk/acdam/).
  • Nutrition and Wellbeing Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) (https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/nutrition-wellbeing)

I have supervised over 35 MSc, PhD, BSc Med Sci, BSc and MD students.

 

 

 

Publications

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  • UK introduces folic acid fortification of flour to prevent neural tube defects

    Haggarty, P.
    Lancet, vol. 398, no. 10307, pp. 1199-1201
    Contributions to Journals: Comments and Debates
  • Imprinting methylation predicts hippocampal volumes and hyperintensities and the change with age in later life

    Ritchie, M., Murray, A., Staff, R., Ferguson-Smith, A. C., Richards, M., Horgan, G. W., Phillips, L., Hoad, G., McNeil, C., Ribeiro, A., Haggarty, P.
    Scientific Reports, vol. 11, 943
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Imprinting methylation in SNRPN and MEST1 in adult blood predicts cognitive ability

    Lorgen-Ritchie, M., Murray, A. D., Ferguson-Smith, A. C., Richards, M., Horgan, G. W., Phillips, L. H., Hoad, G., Gall, I., Harrison, K., McNeill, G., Ito, M., Haggarty, P.
    PloS ONE, vol. 14, no. 2, e0211799
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Ce que votre père a fait avant votre naissance pourrait influer sur votre futur

    Haggarty, P.
    The Conversation
    Contributions to Specialist Publications: Articles
  • What your father did before you were born could influence your future

    Haggarty, P.
    The Conversation
    Contributions to Specialist Publications: Articles
  • Breast cancer risk and imprinting methylation in blood

    Harrison, K., Hoad, G., Scott, P., Simpson, L., Horgan, G. W., Smyth, E., Heys, S. D., Haggarty, P.
    Clinical Epigenetics, vol. 7, 92
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Reply: To pool or not to pool DNA methylation data from different tissues?

    Lazaraviciute, G., Kauser, M., Bhattacharya, S., Haggarty, P., Bhattacharya, S.
    Human Reproduction Update, vol. 21, no. 4, pp. 553-554
    Contributions to Journals: Letters
  • Genetic and Metabolic Determinants of Human Epigenetic Variation

    Haggarty, P.
    Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition and Metabolic Care, vol. 18, no. 4, pp. 334-338
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Global agricultural, food and energy price spikes: Impacts on low income households in the United Kingdom and policy options

    Tanaka, T., Macdiarmid, J. I., Horgan, G., Haggarty, P.
    International Journal of Agricultural Policy and Research, vol. 3, no. 3, pp. 246-264
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • A systematic review and meta-analysis of DNA methylation levels and imprinting disorders in children conceived by IVF/ICSI compared with children conceived spontaneously

    Lazaraviciute, G., Kauser, M., Bhattacharya, S., Haggarty, P., Bhattacharya, S.
    Human Reproduction Update, vol. 20, no. 6, pp. 840-852
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • GWAS-based pathway analysis differentiates between fluid and crystallized intelligence

    Christoforou, A., Espeseth, T., Davies, G., Fernandes, C. P. D., Giddaluru, S., Mattheisen, M., Tenesa, A., Harris, S. E., Liewald, D. C., Payton, A., Ollier, W., Horan, M., Pendleton, N., Haggarty, P., Djurovic, S., Herms, S., Hoffman, P., Cichon, S., Starr, J. M., Lundervold, A., Reinvang, I., Steen, V. M., Deary, I. J., Le Hellard, S.
    Genes, Brain, and Behavior, vol. 13, no. 7, pp. 663-674
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Epigenetic status in the offspring of spontaneous and assisted conception

    Whitelaw, N., Bhattacharya, S., Hoad, G., Horgan, G. W., Hamilton, M., Haggarty, P.
    Human Reproduction, vol. 29, no. 7, pp. 1452-1458
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Meeting the fetal requirement for polyunsaturated fatty acids in pregnancy

    Haggarty, P.
    Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition and Metabolic Care, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 151-155
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Polygenic risk for Alzheimer's disease is not associated with cognitive ability or cognitive aging in non-demented older people

    Harris, S. E., Davies, G., Luciano, M., Payton, A., Fox, H. C., Haggarty, P., Ollier, W., Horan, M., Porteous, D. J., Starr, J. M., Whalley, L. J., Pendleton, N., Deary, I. J.
    Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, vol. 39, no. 3, pp. 565-574
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • A genome-wide association study implicates the APOE locus in nonpathological cognitive ageing

    Davies, G., Harris, S. E., Reynolds, C. A., Payton, A., Knight, H. M., Liewald, D. C. M., Lopez, L. M., Luciano, M. C., Gow, A. J., Corley, J., Henderson, R. D., Murray, C. L., Pattie, A., Fox, H. C., Redmond, P., Lutz, M. W., Chiba-Falek, O., Linnertz, C., Saith, S., Haggarty, P., McNeill, G., Ke, X., Ollier, W., Horan, M., Roses, A. D., Ponting, C. P., Porteous, D. J., Tenesa, A., Pickles, A., Starr, J. M., Whalley, L. J., Pedersen, N. L., Pendleton, N., Visscher, P. M., Deary, I. J.
    Molecular Psychiatry, vol. 19, no. 1, pp. 76-87
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Epigenetic consequences of a changing human diet

    Haggarty, P.
    Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, vol. 72, no. 4, pp. 363-371
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • DNA methyltransferase candidate polymorphisms, imprinting methylation, and birth outcome

    Haggarty, P., Hoad, G., Horgan, G. W., Campbell, D. M.
    PloS ONE, vol. 8, no. 7, e68896
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Cancer

    Haggarty, P., Heys, S. D.
    Nutrition and Development: Short- and Long-Term Consequences for Health. Buttriss, J. L. (ed.). Wiley-Blackwell, pp. 164-176, 13 pages
    Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters
  • Vitamin D in pregnancy at high latitude in Scotland

    Haggarty, P., Campbell, D. M., Knox, S., Horgan, G. W., Hoad, G., Boulton, E., McNeill, G., Wallace, A. M.
    British Journal of Nutrition, vol. 109, no. 5, pp. 898-905
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Folate in pregnancy and imprinted gene and repeat element methylation in the offspring

    Haggarty, P., Hoad, G., Campbell, D. M., Horgan, G. W., Piyathilake, C., McNeill, G.
    The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, vol. 97, no. 1, pp. 94-99
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Pregnancy: Placental Regulation of Nutrient Delivery to the Fetus

    Haggarty, P.
    Encyclopedia of Human Nutrition. 3 edition. Elsevier Inc., pp. 68-74, 7 pages
    Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters
  • Epigenetics

    Haggarty, P.
    Modern Nutrition in Health and Disease. Ross, C., Caballero, B., Cousins, R., Tucker, K., Ziegler, T. (eds.). 11 edition. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, pp. 534-539
    Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters
  • Genetic contributions to stability and change in intelligence from childhood to old age

    Deary, I. J., Yang, J., Davies, G., Harris, S. E., Tenesa, A., Liewald, D., Luciano, M., Lopez, L. M., Gow, A. J., Corley, J., Redmond, P., Fox, H. C., Rowe, S. J., Haggarty, P., McNeill, G., Goddard, M. E., Porteous, D. J., Whalley, L. J., Starr, J. M., Visscher, P. M.
    Nature, vol. 482, no. 7384, pp. 212-215
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Nutrition and the epigenome

    Haggarty, P.
    Progress in Molecular Biology and Translational Science, vol. 108, pp. 427-446
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Genome-wide association studies establish that human intelligence is highly heritable and polygenic

    Davies, G., Tenesa, A., Payton, A., Yang, J., Harris, S. E., Liewald, D., Ke, X., Le Hellard, S., Christoforou, A., Luciano, M., McGhee, K., Lopez, L., Gow, A. J., Corley, J., Redmond, P., Fox, H. C., Haggarty, P., Whalley, L. J., McNeill, G., Goddard, M. E., Espeseth, T., Lundervold, A. J., Reinvang, I., Pickles, A., Steen, V. M., Ollier, W., Porteous, D. J., Horan, M., Starr, J. M., Pendleton, N., Visscher, P. M., Deary, I. J.
    Molecular Psychiatry, vol. 16, no. 10, pp. 996-1005
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Epigenetics, Nutrition, and Reproduction: Short- and Long-Term Consequences

    Haggarty, P.
    Nutrition in Epigenetics. Niculescu, M. D., Haggarty, P. (eds.). Wiley-Blackwell, pp. 309-328, 20 pages
    Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters
  • Nutrition in Epigenetics

    Niculescu, M. D. (ed.), Haggarty, P. (ed.)
    Wiley-Blackwell. 370 pages
    Books and Reports: Books
  • Nutrition and Reproduction: Short and Long Term Consequences

    Haggarty, P.
    Nutrition in Epigenetics. Niculescu, M., Haggarty, P. (eds.). First edition. Wiley-Blackwell, pp. 311-329, 18 pages
    Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters
  • Changes in foetal liver T2* measurements by MRI in response to maternal oxygen breathing: application to diagnosing foetal growth restriction

    Morris, D. M., Ross, J. A. S., McVicar, A., Semple, S., Haggarty, P., Gilbert, F. J., Abramovich, D. R., Smith, N., Redpath, T. W.
    Physiological Measurement, vol. 31, no. 9, pp. 1137-1146
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Fatty acid supply to the human fetus

    Haggarty, P.
    Annual Review of Nutrition, vol. 30, pp. 237-255
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Human intelligence and polymorphisms in the DNA methyltransferase genes involved in epigenetic marking

    Haggarty, P., Hoad, G., Harris, S. E., Starr, J. M., Fox, H. C., Deary, I. J., Whalley, L. J.
    PloS ONE, vol. 5, no. 6, e11329
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Diet and deprivation in pregnancy

    Haggarty, P., Campbell, D. M., Duthie, S., Andrews, K., Hoad, G., Piyathilake, C., McNeill, G.
    British Journal of Nutrition, vol. 102, no. 10, pp. 1487-1497
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Food frequency questionnaires vs diet diaries

    McNeill, G., Masson, L. F., MacDonald, H. M., Haggarty, P., Macdiarmid, J. I., Craig, L. C. A., Kyle, J.
    International Journal of Epidemiology, vol. 38, no. 3, pp. 884
    Contributions to Journals: Comments and Debates
  • Folic acid use in pregnancy and embryo selection

    Haggarty, P., Campbell, D., Duthie, S., Andrews, K., Hoad, G., Piyathilake, C., Fraser, I., McNeill, G.
    BJOG-An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, vol. 115, no. 7, pp. 851-856
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Estimating 22: 6n-3 synthesis in human pregnancy from natural variations in C-13 abundance

    Haggarty, P., Ashton, J., Brenna, J. T., Corso, T. N., Lakin, V., Abramovich, D. R., Danelian, P.
    Essential Fatty Acids and Eicosanoids: Invited Papers from the Fourth International Congress. Gibson, R. (ed.). AMER OIL CHEMISTS SOC, 5 pages
    Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters (Peer-Reviewed)
  • B-vitamins, genotype and disease causality

    Haggarty, P.
    Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, vol. 66, no. 4, pp. 539-547
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • A Temporal Association between Folic Acid Fortification and an Increase in Colorectal Cancer Rates May Be Illuminating Important Biological Principles: A Hypothesis

    Mason, J. B., Dickstein, A., Jacques, P. F., Haggarty, P., Selhub, J., Dallal, G., Rosenberg, I. H.
    Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, vol. 16, no. 7, pp. 1325-1329
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Effect of B vitamins and genetics on success of in-vitro fertilisation: prospective cohort study

    Haggarty, P., McCallum, H., McBain, H., Andrews, K., Duthie, S., McNeill, G., Templeton, A., Haites, N., Campbell, D., Bhattachayra, S.
    The Lancet, vol. 367, no. 9521, pp. 1513-1519
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Fatty acid metabolism in human preimplantation embryos

    Haggarty, P., Wood, M. J., Ferguson, E., Hoad, G., Srikantharajah, A., Milne, E., Hamilton, M. E., Bhattacharya, S.
    Human Reproduction, vol. 21, no. 3, pp. 766-773
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • The influence of birth weight and genetic factors on lipid levels: a study in adult twins

    Tuya, C., Mutch, W. J., Haggarty, P., Campbell, D. M., Cumming, A., Kelly, K., Broom, I., McNeill, G.
    British Journal of Nutrition, vol. 95, no. 3, pp. 504-510
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Effect of placental function on fatty acid requirements during pregnancy

    Haggarty, P.
    European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, vol. 58, no. 12, pp. 1559-1570
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Ponderal index is a poor predictor of in utero growth retardation

    Haggarty, P., Campbell, D. M., Bendomir, A., Gray, E. S., Abramovich, D. R.
    BJOG-An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, vol. 111, no. 2, pp. 113-119
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Description and validation of the ActiReg: a novel instrument to measure physical activity and energy expenditure

    Hustvedt, B., Christophersen, A., Johnsen, L. R., Tomten, H., McNeill, G., Haggarty, P., Løvø, A.
    British Journal of Nutrition, vol. 92, no. 6, pp. 1001-1008
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Blood pressure in relation to birth weight in twins and singleton controls matched for gestational age

    McNeill, G., Tuya, C., Campbell, D. M., Haggarty, P., Smith, W. C. S., Masson, L. F., Cumming, A. M., Broom, I., Haites, N. E.
    American Journal of Epidemiology, vol. 158, no. 2, pp. 150-155
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Validation of energy intake estimated from a food frequency questionnaire: a doubly labelled water study

    Andersen, L. F., Tomten, H., Haggarty, P., Lovo, A., Hustvedt, B. E.
    European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, vol. 57, no. 2, pp. 279-284
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Placental regulation of fatty acid delivery and its effect on fetal growth - A review

    Haggarty, P.
    Placenta, vol. 23
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • The effect of maternal smoking and ethanol on fatty acid transport by the human placenta

    Haggarty, P., Abramovich, D. R., Page, K.
    British Journal of Nutrition, vol. 87, no. 3, pp. 247-252
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • High omega-3:omega-6 fatty acid ratios in culture medium reduce endometrial-cell survival in combined endometrial gland and stromal cell cultures from women with and without endometriosis

    Gazvani, M. R., Smith, L. M., Haggarty, P., Fowler, P. A. F., Templeton, A. A.
    Fertility and Sterility, vol. 76, no. 4, pp. 717-722
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Leptin expression in placental and fetal tissues: does leptin have a functional role?

    Hoggard, N., Haggarty, P., Thomas, L., Lea, R.
    Biochemical Society Transactions, vol. 29, pp. 57-63
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Leptin secretion to both the maternal and fetal circulation in the ex vivo perfused human term placenta

    Hoggard, N., Crabtree, J., Allstaff, S., Abramovich, D. R., Haggarty, P.
    Placenta, vol. 22, no. 4, pp. 347-352
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
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