Warren McNabb

Dr Warren McNabb is the leader of Objective 3 in Nutrigenomics New Zealand (NUNZ).  Researchers from all four organisations involved in NuNZ are active contributors to this objective.  Objective 3 will determine the mechanistic effects of defined nutrients and food components on gene expression and identify pathways and/or genes whose impact on gut disease, health or performance responds to manipulation by dietary intervention.  This knowledge will allow NuNZ to elucidate the effects of dietary constituents on regulating gene function, greatly enhancing our ability to determine how different foods and food components can be used to maintain and manipulate the health, disease or performance status of individuals.  In the first instance, Objective 3 will concentrate specifically on mouse models of human inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) to identify disease-related genes.  This approach will provide a basis for determining diet-induced changes in gene expression that may potentially ameliorate human IBD.  Objective 3 contributes to the programme outcome by identifying gut disease, health or performance-related genes whose expression and ultimate phenotype can be manipulated by dietary intervention.  This objective will also draw on Objective 4 for the food component selection and compositional characterisation necessary to provide accurate nutrients and food components for evaluation.  The food database derived across Objectives 1 and 4 and the high throughput (HTP) nutrient sensor array for food component screening developed in Objective 2 will also lead to further prototype foods for iterative evaluation in Objective 3.  In so doing, this objective will provide future gut disease, health or performance-linked gene targets for the human genetic studies that are one focus of Objective 2.  This objective will also draw on, and contribute to, the bioinformatics capability in Objective 1.

Dr Warren McNabb is an Eminent Scientist at AgResearch Limited and is the Section Manager of AgResearch’s Nutrition and Metabolism Section, Food and Health Group.  This Section is largely based at the Grasslands Research Centre in Palmerston North.  The research focus of the Nutrition and Metabolism Section is to provide knowledge and intellectual property in biotechnology-based nutrition to capture opportunities from functional genomics-lead discovery that will lead to products and processes that meet consumer preferences, and will command premiums through their qualities and functional properties.  Dr Warren McNabb also has a conjunct appointment in the Institute of Food, Nutrition and Human Health at Massey University in Palmerston North as an Associate Professor.

Dr Warren McNabb completed his PhD in 1990 on the metabolism of sulphur amino acids in sheep at Massey University, New Zealand.  In 1990 he received a prestigious CSIRO Postdoctoral Fellowship to undertake research at the CSIRO, Division of Plant Industry in Canberra, Australia on the expression and manipulation of genes effecting nutritive value and virus and pest resistance in pasture legumes in the laboratory of Dr T. J. Higgins.  In 1993 he returned to New Zealand to take up a position as a Research Scientist in the then, Nutrition and Metabolism Group, AgResearch Grasslands.  In 1997 he was awarded a Stapledon and Trimble Research Fellowship which enabled him to undertake research at the Rowett Research Institute, Aberdeen, Scotland on the metabolism of phenylalanine in the lactating mammary gland of goats.  In 2000 he took up the position of Team Leader, Nutrition and Metabolism Team, Nutrition and Behaviour Science Platform, AgResearch Limited and held this position until recently when he became a Section Leader at AgResearch.  During this period his research has focused on protein and amino acid metabolism across the small intestine, liver, mammary gland and hind-limb of a range of animal species to evaluate the effects of diet and disease on nutrient partitioning and nutrient-gene interactions.  Dr Warren McNabb has over 140 scientific publications including 7 invited plenary papers and 4 invited reviews on nutrition and metabolism related topics.