Obesity Institute: Professor Louisa Ells

What led you to your current position at Leeds Beckett?

I did molecular and cellular biology because I wanted to know how we worked at a molecular level. But while I saw the value in genetic research, I’m quite a practical person and I really wanted to make a difference to people’s lives, make changes that we could actually see. 

I became concerned about how our phenotype and genotype can be influenced by our environment – so what are we putting in our bodies and exposing our bodies to that could affect our health and wellbeing.

So, I went on to undertake a PhD in clinical nutrition, which is where I developed a real interest in the science of obesity and weight management. Several of my very close friends and family members have lived with obesity all their lives, and I have seen them struggle. It’s not just a case of eating less and doing more, it is so much more complex than that.

I did my first post-doc in obesity research where I developed my passion for the area but felt strongly that if I wanted to undertake truly applied research, I needed to gain further insight into the needs and challenges of policy and practice. So, in 2007 I took a post as obesity lead in the North East Public Health Observatory, as it was then, where I also had the great privilege of cofounding the National Obesity Observatory.

This invaluable policy and practice experience really helped me to identify key problems that I knew research could be addressing. So, in 2012, I took a Readership at Teesside University, where I was able to split my role: working part time for the National Obesity Observatory (which later transitioned into Public Health England) and part time developing research which focused on developing pragmatic solutions to address the problems arising from policy and practice

During this role, I was aware that the Applied Obesity Research Centre had been established at Leeds Beckett, and was following it with great interest, as I was very keen to develop this approach. So, when the post of Professor of Obesity come up, I thought it sounded like my perfect job. And indeed it was!

What do you think puts the Obesity Institute in a really innovative position?

The whole purpose of the Institute is to take a truly pan-university approach to tackle the complexity of obesity, but with people living with obesity at the heart of everything we do. The ability to work with colleagues from across every discipline is critical to really tackling this agenda. Obesity is a chronic, relapsing disease, that requires person-centred life-long support. I therefore would like to see obesity acknowledged as a disease, and treated compassionately without stigma or bias.

It’s so lovely to be at Leeds Beckett because the whole ethos of the university centres around highly applied research makes a real and tangible difference to people’s lives. And that is the absolute core of what gets me out of bed in the morning.

I’ve been inspired by some of the fantastic work undertaken to develop person-centred obesity care within Canada, and hope the Institute provides an opportunity to develop these approaches – with a strong focus on patient focused outcomes that improve wellbeing, reduce co-morbidities, and increase quality life years.

The Institute provides the perfect foundation for doing this, with our new Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) Hub underpinning all Institute activity, ensuring all our research, knowledge exchange and teaching activity is person-centred, working in coproduction with our PPIE members at every stage.

I’m truly delighted to have Ken Clare join us as our PPIE lead. Ken has worked tirelessly to help us establish the hub, increase our PPIE network, and contribute to our teaching. The voice of lived experience, is so critical to the Institute, and I really hope the hub will help further promote and support the fundamental importance of PPIE – working with our broad and diverse communities to ensure that every voice is heard.

What do you see as a measure of a good, tangible outcome of how we tackle obesity in this country?

I would like to see obesity de-stigmatised, and seen as a disease like any other disease. I would like to see a focus on person-centred care, so instead of numbers on a scale we start to see a person with needs and requirements that can and will change, depending on their life stage, life events and the comorbidities that they may also be suffering from.

The other really important criteria for success, for me, is around promoting inclusion, equality and diversity. I’m so concerned about the many populations that are least heard in research, resulting in broadening inequalities.  It’s down to us as researchers to build relationships with the communities that currently aren’t frequently heard and underserved – this is critical in ensuring we can bring their voice to the forefront so we can undertake research to address the needs and ultimately improving the lives of everybody living with or at risk of obesity.

Although addressing inequalities will underpin everything we do within the Institute, we have also given it a specific research theme. This is to explicitly tackle the many inequities in obesity, occurring as a result of differences in socio-economics, ethnicity, gender, disability, and psychological health, that urgently need to be addressed.

Inclusion is central to the Obesity Institute. We want to embrace and welcome the richness of diversity, and contributions from anybody who has an interest in our work, whether you’re interested in becoming a PPIE member or joining us as an academic, policy or practice collaborator. The fundamental core of the Obesity Institute, for me, is that as long as you want to make a difference and improve people’s lives, we welcome you with open arms and will find a way to work successfully together.