Genetics and Exercise Microbiome (GEM) Study: Investigating Microbiome Diversity in the UK Population
Thanks to funding from Research England we have been holding adult art and cookery workshops in Nottingham during 2023 to discuss how lifestyle habits such as diet and exercise might impact the diversity of bacteria in our guts.
Our Genetics and Exercise Microbiome (GEM) Study: Investigating Microbiome Diversity in the UK Population, supported by Nottingham Hospitals Charity, is investigating microbiome diversity in different members of the UK population. We are comparing elite athletes with sedentary people as well as different ethnic populations, to investigate the influence of genetics, exercise and diet.
In collaboration with Nottingham GP Alliance BACHS Primary Care Network and ‘All Things Caribbean’ we held a series of Caribbean cooking workshops for members of the local Nottingham community. Although the workshops created traditional Caribbean meals, the members of the diverse cohort also shared recipes and ingredients from their own communities.
The workshops also gave us the opportunity to talk with members of the community who don’t currently engage with researchers to learn about their health concerns, what they suggest future research should focus on and how we can involve people most affected by these different conditions or from underserved populations.
University of Nottingham Medical student Aaron Chitty, also helped at the workshops and together we delivered educational information on how the food we had cooked could benefit their health, in particular improving the health of their gut microbiome.
Below are some of the information posters produced as a result of the workshops. Click on the image to view in detail.
We particuarly wanted to encourage people of the Black Diaspora to be involved in how we can recruit people from diverse backgrounds to the study and also suggest ideas for the direction of future research so we commissioned the artist Kim Thompson to create art to promote the research.
Below are some of the wonderful pieces of art created by Kim and inspired by the project and the feedback from our cooking PPI members.
