Rate My Professor Philip Calder

Professor Philip Charles Calder is Head of the School of Human Development and Health and Professor of Nutritional Immunology in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Southampton. He earned a BSc (Hons) in Biochemistry from Massey University in 1980, a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Auckland in 1994, and a DPhil in Biochemistry from the University of Oxford in 1994, following a Nuffield Medical Fellowship at Oxford from 1982 to 1987. His career began as Assistant Lecturer and then Lecturer in Biochemistry at the University of Auckland from 1987 to 1995. He joined the University of Southampton in 1995 as Lecturer in Human Nutrition, advancing to Reader in 1998 and to his current professorial role. Professor Calder has held prestigious leadership positions, including President of the International Society for the Study of Fatty Acids and Lipids from 2009 to 2012, Chair of the Scientific Committee of the European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism from 2012 to 2016, President of the Nutrition Society from 2016 to 2019, and President of the Federation of European Nutrition Societies from 2019 to 2023.

His research focuses on the metabolism and functionality of fatty acids, particularly omega-3 fatty acids, and the influence of diet and nutrients on immune and inflammatory responses, encompassing cell and animal models, healthy humans, and patients. Key publications include 'n−3 Polyunsaturated fatty acids, inflammation, and inflammatory diseases' (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2006), 'Marine omega-3 fatty acids and inflammatory processes: Effects, mechanisms and clinical relevance' (Biochimica et Biophysica Acta - Molecular and Cell Biology of Lipids, 2015), and 'Omega-3 fatty acids and inflammatory processes: from molecules to man' (Biochemical Society Transactions, 2017). Professor Calder has authored over 900 scientific publications, with more than 124,000 citations and an h-index of 164 on Google Scholar, earning recognition as a Highly Cited Researcher. He has received numerous awards, such as the Ralph T. Holman Lifetime Achievement Award (2015), Danone International Prize for Nutrition (2016), DSM Lifetime Achievement Prize in Human Nutrition (2017), Stephen S. Chang Award (2023), and Alexander Leaf Lifetime Achievement Award (2025). He served as Editor-in-Chief of the British Journal of Nutrition from 2006 to 2013 and holds associate editor roles for several journals.