Dr Melanie Toon RD, PhD

Department of Applied Health Sciences
Research Fellow

Contact details

Email: m.l.toon@bham.ac.uk

Address: Birmingham Clinical Trials Unit
Public Health Building
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Melanie is a post doctoral research fellow (NIHR Development Skills Enhance Award) with a focus on improving outcomes for people living with altered gastrointestinal function after gastro-intestinal surgery.

Qualifications

PhD (Nutrition), The University of Manchester, 2025
MSc (Health Services Research), Leicester University, 2005
Dietitian (Health and Care Professions Council, DT6586-SP)

Biography

Melanie has extensive experience as a Dietitian in the NHS, specialising in the management of intestinal failure and nutrition support in hospital and community settings. She has an established national profile and her significant contribution was acknowledged with a peer nominated IBEX award from the British Dietetic Association (BDA) in 2020. She supports a variety of national workstreams, including:

Dietetic representative on the NHS England HPN Clinical Advisory Group (2019–present), NHS England HPN framework Stakeholders Group (2015–2022).
Committee member British Dietetic Association Parenteral & Enteral Nutrition Group (PENG) Clinical Update Course (2020–present).
British Association of Parenteral & Enteral Nutrition Regional Representative [East Midlands] (2005–present).

Postgraduate supervision

Melanie supervises post doctoral researchers interested in following subject areas:

- Nutritional assessment
- Nutritional support
- Intestinal failure

Research

Melanie's PhD investigated parenteral requirements of adults with chronic intestinal failure and the factors influencing Home Parenteral Nutrition prescribing and clinical decision-making. She is a co-applicant on a NIHR Research for Patient Benefit Grant (PB-PG-0610-22480): mixed method feasibility study investigating the impact of home enteral tube feeding after oesophago-gastric cancer surgery.