Prof Nicola HeslehurstAcademic

Biography

Prof Nicola Heslehurst is Professor of Maternal and Child Nutrition at Newcastle University's Population Health Sciences Institute and serves as President of the Association for the Study of Obesity (ASO), the UK's foremost charitable body dedicated to the understanding, prevention and treatment of obesity. Her research focuses on nutritional inequalities across the preconception, pregnancy, postnatal and early childhood periods, with ongoing programmes covering maternal obesity, food insecurity in pregnancy, and pregnancy following bariatric surgery. She has held two NIHR Fellowships: one exploring implementation of pregnancy weight management guidelines in routine practice, and one examining maternal adiposity risk prediction. She was first elected to the ASO Board of Trustees in 2014, led the local organising committee for the UK Congress on Obesity in 2018, and has also served as UK National President for the European Association for the Study of Obesity and World Obesity. In public debate she has called for long-term investment, equitable access to evidence-based obesity treatment, and coordinated action across systems to address the structural drivers of obesity.

References

1. 1.Nicola Heslehurst — REALIFE, KU Leuven speaker profile — Establishes professorial title, research focus, two NIHR Fellowships, and ASO/EASO/World Obesity presidential roles
2. 2.Association for the Study of Obesity (ASO) — World Obesity Federation member page — Confirms Nicola Heslehurst as ASO President
3. 3.Association for the Study of Obesity — homepage — Confirms Prof Heslehurst as ASO President in current news items
4. 4.Contact us — Association for the Study of Obesity — Establishes ASO registered office address: 4 Bank Court, Weldon Road, Loughborough, LE11 5RF
5. 5.Staff Profile — Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle University — Establishes institutional affiliation and NIHR fellowship grant details including value and date

Expertise

Cited on

• Hospital discharge / bed-blocking

Stated areas of expertise

• Maternal obesity
• Nutritional inequalities in pregnancy
• Obesity prevention policy
• Food insecurity and maternal health
• Weight management in maternity services
• Equality, diversity and inclusion in health research

Notable achievements

• Secured NIHR Career Development Fellowship worth £867,956 (January 2019) to research adiposity risk prediction in NHS maternity services Source ↗
• Led the local organising committee for UKCO 2018 (ASO's annual UK Congress on Obesity), hosted at Newcastle University, which attracted the greatest number of delegates and abstract submissions to that date Source ↗
• Appointed President of the Association for the Study of Obesity, having first been elected to its Board of Trustees in 2014 Source ↗
• Named UK National President for the European Association for the Study of Obesity (EASO) and World Obesity Source ↗

What they’ve said

• “postcode lottery of access to obesity care”

  president of the Association for the Study of Obesity · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · Thousands in England unable to access weight loss jabs via GP, figures reveal ↗

Source references

1. Thousands in England unable to access weight loss jabs via GP, figures revealtheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026

Contact & links

• Staff pagehttps://www.ncl.ac.uk/medical-sciences/people/profile/nicolaheslehurst.html
• Xhttps://x.com/NHeslehurstpublished here ↗
• Press office emailnicola.heslehurst@newcastle.ac.ukpublished here ↗

Organisational contact points only, each taken from a page the organisation publishes itself. No personal or direct contact details are held or shown.