About
Research
Email: alexandra.king@stmarys.ac.uk
Biography
Dr Alexandra (Ammi) King is Head of School for Allied Health and Life Sciences at St Mary’s University, where she also serves as a Senior Lecturer across undergraduate and postgraduate nutrition programmes. She is a Registered Nutritionist (RNutr) with Senior Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA) and has over two decades of experience in higher education teaching, academic leadership, and programme development.
Ammi joined St Mary’s in 2001 and has held a range of academic and leadership roles, including Course Lead for the MSc Human Nutrition programme and Subject Lead for Allied Health. She holds a PhD in Nutrition and Genetics from St Mary’s University, alongside postgraduate qualifications in nutritional medicine and nutrition and ageing from the University of Surrey. Ammi represents St Mary’s University within international research networks.
Research
Research profile
Ammi’s research focuses on nutrigenetics and nutrigenomics, with particular emphasis on how genetic variation influences dietary behaviour, taste perception, metabolic health, and the effectiveness of personalised nutrition and physical activity advice. Her work explores both biological mechanisms and behavioural responses to genotype‑based interventions.
Ammi collaborates internationally with researchers across Europe and Africa and is a St Mary’s University representative for the European Nutrigenomics Organisation (NuGO).
Publications
Piluso, F., Graham, CAM., Stevens, H., Camarda, S., King, A., Pilic, L., Mavrommatis, Y., Gasparini, P., Concas, M. P. (2025). Associations of CD36 rs1761667 with fat and umami food perception, diet quality, and BMI in two European studies. Foods, 14(22), 3813-.
Stevens H, Graham CA-M, Concas MP, Piluso F, Mavrommatis Y, King A, Pilic L, Gasparini P. (2025) TAS1R2 rs35874116 Associations with Taste, Diet, and Health in an Italian Population. Nutrients, 17(2): 329.
King, A., Glaister, M., Lawrence, K., Nixon, J., Pilic, L., & Mavrommatis, Y. (2024). A randomised controlled trial to determine the effect of genotype-based personalised diet and physical activity advice for FTO genotype (rs9939609) delivered via email on healthy eating motivation in young adults. Nutrition Bulletin, 49(4), 526–537.
King, A., Glaister, M., Lawrence, K., Pilic, L., & Mavrommatis, Y. (2024). Factors influencing the intention of young adults to adopt genotype-based personalised advice on diet and physical activity according to perceived weight status. Journal of Nutritional Science, 13, e54. Role:
King, A., Graham, C. A.-M., Glaister, M., Da Silva Anastacio, V., Pilic, L., & Mavrommatis, Y. (2023). The efficacy of genotype-based dietary or physical activity advice in changing behavior to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, type II diabetes mellitus or obesity: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Nutrition Reviews, 81 (10), 1235–1253,
Kapellou, A., King, A., Graham, C. A. M., Pilic, L., & Mavrommatis, Y. (2023). Genetics of caffeine and brain-related outcomes—A systematic review of observational studies and randomized trials. Nutrition Reviews, 81 (12), 1571–1598.
King, A., Saifi, S., Smith, J., Pilic, L., Graham, C. A.-M., Da Silva Anastacio, V., Glaister, M., & Mavrommatis, Y. (2022). Does personalised nutrition advice based on apolipoprotein E and methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase genotype affect dietary behaviour? Nutrition and Health, 28(3), 467–476.
Graham, C. A.-M., Pilic, L., Mcgrigor, E., Brown, M., Easton, I. J., Kean, J. N., Sarel, V., Wehliye, Y., Davis, N., Hares, N., Barac, D., King, A., & Mavrommatis, Y. (2021). The Associations Between Bitter and Fat Taste Sensitivity, and Dietary Fat Intake: Are They Impacted by Genetic Predisposition? Chemical Senses, 46, bjab029.
Podboi, I. C. R., Stephenson, S., Pilic, L., Graham, C. A.-M., King, A., & Mavrommatis, Y. (2021). Dietary Intake and TCF7L2 rs7903146 T Allele Are Associated with Elevated Blood Glucose Levels in Healthy Individuals. Lifestyle Genomics, 1–7.
Pilic, L., Lubasinski, NJ., Berk, M., Ward, D. Graham, CAM., Da Silva Anastacio, V., King, AG., Mavrommatis, Y. (2020) The associations between genetics, salt taste perception and salt intake in young adults. Food Quality and Preference Journal, 84.
Pilic, L., Graham, CAM., Hares, N., Brown, M., Kean, J., Wehliye, Y., McGrigor, E., Sarel, V., Easton, I., Davis, N., Barac, D., King, A., Da Silva Anastacio, V., Mavrommatis, Y. (2020). Bitter Taste Sensitivity Is Determined by TAS2R38 Haplotype, Associated with Saturated Fat Intake and Is Lower in Overweight and Obese Compared to Normal Weight UK adults. Current Developments in Nutrition, 4, Issue Supplement_2, June 2020, Page 1271.
Conference presentations
King, A., Nixon, J., Craven, J., Graham, C, A-M., Kapellou, A., Pilic, L., Mavrommatis, Y. (2025). Interaction of melatonin receptor 1B (MTNR1B) genotype and type of breakfast (protein-enriched v carbohydrate-rich) on postprandial glucose response. NuGOweek 2025 21st edition September 22-25, Dublin, Ireland.
King, A., Glaister, M., Pilic, L., & Mavrommatis, Y. (2023). Factors that influence intention to use gene-based personalised diet and physical activity advice in young adults that perceive themselves to be a healthy weight versus overweight or obese. Oral presentation at the NuGOweek 2023 19th edition September 5-8, Senigallia, Italy.
King, A., Graham, C. A.-M., Glaister, M., Da Silva Anastacio, V., Pilic, L., & Mavrommatis, Y. (2022). The efficacy of genotype-based dietary or physical activity advice in changing behavior to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, type II diabetes mellitus or obesity: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Poster presentation at the NuGOweek 2022 18th edition August 29- September 1, Tarragona, Spain.
King, A., Pilic, L., Nixon, J., Mauro, E., Glaister, M., Mavrommatis, Y. (2021). The effect of gene-based personalised diet and physical activity advice on healthy eating motivation in university students. Poster presentation at the NuGO IV European Summer School on Nutrigenomics July 21-25, online.
King, A., Saifi, S., Smith, J., Pilic, L., Graham, C., Glaister, M., Mavrommatis, Y. (2019). Does personalised nutrition advice based on ApoE and MTHFR genotype affect dietary behaviour? Poster presentation at the International Society of Nutrigenetics and Nutrigenomics annual congress, July 12-13, Cambridge, UK.