SENR Board

Elaine Buckley has worked in higher education for over 23 years. Her last role was Director of Academic Development and Diversity, where she led a team which supported the development of inclusive academic practice across Sheffield Hallam University. Elaine qualified as a physiotherapist in 1981 and undertook several clinical roles, before studying for an MBA and moving into management. She had a number of senior leadership roles in the NHS including non-executive directorships in both acute and primary care settings. She has also served on the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) as a member and as Chair between July 2015 - 2018. Elaine joined the British Dietetic Association, as a non-executive director in July 2019. 

As Chair of the SENR Board, Elaine provides scrutiny with respect to the governance of the Register and also provides support to Board members in areas where she has skills and expertise. Along with fellow Board members, Elaine also acts as an advocate for the sports nutrition profession and promotes it when opportunities arise.

Wendy currently works for the English Institute of Sport as Technical Lead Performance Nutritionist and Intensive Rehabilitation Nutritionist. She also works for The Great Britain Rowing Team as Lead Nutritionist.

A graduate from Kings College London University, Wendy is a Registered Dietitian with the Health and Care Professions Council. She has a Masters in Sport and Exercise Nutrition from the University of Westminster and also holds the International Olympic Committee Diploma in Sports Nutrition. Wendy is a board member and Practitioner registrant with the Sport and Exercise Nutrition Register.

Wendy started her career as a Dietitian within the National Health Service and for many years worked in both clinical and managerial roles based in central London. 
Since developing her career in sport, Wendy has worked with a wide range of organisations including British Gymnastics, GB Hockey, The Great Britain Rowing Team and The British Olympic Association. She also worked a season with West Ham united FC in 2002 and consulted with the England Football Squad in preparation for the 2002 World Cup and Euro 2004. 

Wendy has worked as Team GB Performance Nutritionist at four summer Olympic games. She is currently the Performance Nutrition Lead for Team GB working towards Tokyo 2020. 

At the 2016 Rio Olympic games she supported rowing, triathlon, sprint canoe, marathon swimming and road cycling.  She was a consultant for LOCOG in the run up to the London 2012 Olympic games and was based at Eton Dorney during the Olympic games period providing nutrition support to rowing and sprint canoe. She worked in China at the 2008 Beijing Olympic games and also at the Barcelona holding camp prior to the Athens Olympics 2004. 

Wendy is also a qualified group exercise instructor and teaches a variety of classes at Nuffield Health fitness and wellbeing centres in central London.

In the New Year 2010 Honours list Wendy was awarded an OBE for services to sport and to nutrition.

Michael is currently the Head of Nutrition for the English Institute of Sport where he works with over 20 nutritionists providing support to 20 of Team GB’s Olympic and Paralympic sports.

He was the lead nutritionist for Team GB at the Rio 2016 Olympics.

Michael provided nutrition support to England Rugby for over 7 years, working with both the senior men and women teams, including the 2014 World Cup winning women’s team. In football, Michael was the performance nutritionist at Southampton FC for six seasons and now works as a consultant nutritionist with England Football. He was part of the support team that travelled to the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Irene is the Head of Performance Nutrition at the Sport Scotland Institute of Sport. She is a HCPC registered Dietitian and has been involved professionally in performance sport for over 23 years. She joined the Sport Scotland Institute of Sport as a Performance Dietitian in 2007 and now leads and manages the performance nutrition service across Scotland, while providing nutrition support to individuals and team athletes and leading specific innovation projects within targeted sports. 

Irene has travelled nationally and internationally with a variety of Olympic and Commonwealth sports. She has worked through four Commonwealth and three Olympic cycles delivering support at London 2012 and more recently at the Goldcoast Commonwealth Games 2018. She has a passion for good food and empowering people to make sustainable food choices that support and maximise health and performance.

Lorna is a performance nutritionist at the Sport Northern Ireland Sports Institute. She is a HCPC registered Dietitian and a SENR Practitioner and has been working in performance sport for over 11 years.

Lorna completed her Post Graduate Diploma in Dietetics at Glasgow Caledonian University in 2005 and then went on to complete her Post Graduate Certificate in Sports and Exercise Nutrition at Coventry University in 2010.

In her current role, Lorna provides nutrition support to a number of elite athletes across a range of  sports including para-swimming, swimming, boxing, cycling and athletics.

Olivia has worked as a Performance Nutritionist at the Sport Wales Institute since 2013. During this time Olivia has been involved in several major multi-sport games preparations including the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow as Team Wales Performance Nutritionist. In the build up to Rio 2016, Olivia was appointed the role of Nutritionist for the British Paralympic Association Pre-Games preparation camp in Belo Horizonte. Prior to this, Olivia worked as part of the English Institute of Sport Performance Nutrition team providing support to GB Sailing in the build up to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Olivia completed her MSc in Sports Nutrition at St Mary’s University in Twickenham and has also completed the IOC Diploma in Sports Nutrition. Olivia has been a SENR board member since 2014 and is passionate about raising the profile of the SENR and the sports nutrition profession.

David is currently a senior lecturer in sport and exercise nutrition and exercise physiology at Writtle University College and has a varied applied work focus alongside his academic role. He is also a SENR Practitioner Registrant, works with the Register as an assessor on their accreditation pathways, and is a professional member of the British Association of Sport and Exercise Scientists (BASES). With this background in sport science and nutrition, David has a particular interest in the practical application of sport nutrition and immunology in elite and extreme environments applying his knowledge and skills into a range of contexts, including ultra-endurance runners and cyclists.

More broadly, his applied work spans both Olympic and professional sport, including athletics and team sports. He has been lead performance nutritionist for a premier league team and its Youth academy, as well as supporting high performance athletes at UEL and London Lions Basketball Club. David has also developed experience in delivering nutrition education programmes aimed at supporting youth athlete development. 

David brings a unique perspective to the SENR Board and is keen to support continuing professional development initiatives that aim to raise the profile and credibility of sport and exercise nutrition practice. 

Dr Lauren Duckworth is a Course Director for Sport and Exercise Nutrition and Postgraduate studies within the School of Sport at Leeds Beckett University. She is an Academic Associate of the SENR and oversees the Accredited MSc Sport and Exercise Nutrition course as well as the newly Endorsed BSc. (Hons.) Sport and Exercise Nutrition course and is a Course and Endorsement Accredited Assessor.  Her education consists of a BSc. (Hons.) Sport and Exercise Science from Leeds Beckett University, and an MSc. (Distinction) in Exercise Physiology from Loughborough University.

As a Course Director, Lauren’s role and responsibilities include implementing Quality Assurance processes, contributing to School and University-wide quality improvement, and implementing these through her Leadership of the team of staff within the Sport and Exercise Nutrition discipline group. She also leads on strategic curriculum development, having an awareness of a range of accrediting bodies, as well as developing and approving any changes or updates required.  

Lauren's research focuses on the effects of nutritional interventions on sport and exercise performance. More specifically, she is interested in the influence of exercise and feeding on subsequent substrate metabolism during exercise, appetite and post exercise energy consumption. She also works as part of the nutrition support team at Leeds Beckett as well as supervising PhD students and Practitioners working within an applied setting with several of our elite sporting partners.

Lauren is passionate about promoting the work of the Register, and setting standards of competence, as well as working with higher education providers to apply the professional standards through their courses.

Andrea is a Senior Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Nutrition at Ulster University where she combines learning and teaching in sports nutrition with academic research in exercise physiology and applied sports nutrition. She is a first-class human nutrition graduate, subsequent to which, she completed a PhD in the area of exercise physiology examining the effects of physical activity and antioxidant supplementation. 

Andrea continues to be actively involved in sports nutrition education within the wider sports nutrition profession and liaises with several governing bodies including the Irish Football Association and the Lawn Tennis Association with regards to sports nutrition education for coaches and those involved with supporting athletes in practice. 

A senior fellow of the HEA, Andrea has a wealth of teaching experience having led the development of many programmes both nationally and internationally from undergraduate through to postgraduate level. She currently focuses her teaching on the MSc in Sport & Exercise Nutrition and in 2020 she launched the MSc programme she created in Hong Kong. Having led programme development within Ulster, Andrea is the lead for securing programme accreditation with SENR, which the MSc course at Ulster has held since 2015. 

Andrea is a course assessor for undergraduate and postgraduate courses with SENR and has been an Academic Associate with the Register since 2016. 

Steve is an Assistant Professor in nutrition and exercise physiology at Northumbria University where he teaches on a range of sport related modules and courses. His current research revolves around the effect of functional food and supplements on exercise performance and recovery.

Steve studied his BSc at Leeds Beckett University, before completing his MSc in Nutritional Science, then PhD in Exercise Physiology at Northumbria University. During his PhD he also returned to Leeds Beckett to complete his PgCert in Sport and Exercise Nutrition. Additionally, during this time, Steve led the nutrition provision for Team Northumbria and TASS athletes based at the University, a role he has recently resumed.

A practitioner registrant with the SENR, Steve is currently the Chair of the BDA Sports Nutrition Specialist Group and is passionate about growing the value of the group to the ever expanding membership.

Vicky is a Graduate member of the SENR and has been working as a performance nutritionist for the past two years. As a former physical education teacher, Vicky brings a unique perspective to the board and is passionate about the role the register plays in maintaining standards.

Vicky completed a MSc in Sport and Exercise Nutrition at Leeds Beckett University in 2022. She now works as a casual performance nutritionist at Leeds Beckett and Loughborogh Universities, as well as working with recreational and elite athletes from a range of different sports.

Alan is Executive Support Consultant to the SENR, providing assistance to the work of the SENR Board and helping to develop the wider mission and scope of the Register as a whole. He is also a company director, biomedical research scientist, and practicing sports nutritionist.

Alan is a graduate of Liverpool John Moores University, a post graduate of Leeds Beckett University, and a PhD graduate of Trinity College Dublin.