Mildmay at the BDA Research Symposium 2025
- web81754
- 13 hours ago
- 3 min read
Earlier this month, Mildmay’s dietetics team joined colleagues, students, and researchers from across the UK and Europe for the British Dietetic Association (BDA) Research Symposium 2025.
It was the largest yet, with 127 abstracts presented across more than 20 research streams.
Mildmay at the heart of the programme
Led by Dr Kattya Mayre-Chilton, Mildmay’s Specialist Dietitian, our team delivered six presentations this year - an outstanding achievement for a small specialist hospital.
Kattya presented two pieces of work anchored in day-to-day improvement at Mildmay:
Reducing food waste in healthcare: Food waste isn’t just an environmental issue: in hospitals, it can undermine nutritional intake at the exact moment patients most need support. Kattya’s improvement work explores portion optimisation, smarter menu planning and realistic protected mealtimes - all designed to cut waste while improving satisfaction and nutritional adequacy.
Strengthening allergy procedures: Clear screening, consistent documentation and reliable catering pathways can dramatically reduce risks and near misses. Stronger systems mean safer care and better patient experience.
These topics, while operational in nature, have direct clinical impact, improving safety, preventing malnutrition, and supporting recovery for patients with complex needs.
Students leading the way
Mildmay’s student contributors were out in force, and they excelled. We were delighted to support:
Leonor Rodrigues de Almeida, Catarina Braga Lopes Brás, and Margarida Correia
(NOVA Medical School, Lisbon)
Ji Hu and Dedria Bogues
(Health Sciences University)
Together, they presented work grounded in real-world practice at Mildmay, spanning nutrition risk, substance misuse rehabilitation, HIV-related care pathways and the nutritional challenges facing people experiencing homelessness.
Their presentations were confident, thoughtful, and clinically relevant - a credit to their universities, to Kattya’s mentorship, and to the patients whose experiences shape this learning.
Curious about the work?
Spotlight on student research
Our former NOVA interns reflected on their experience:
Margarida Correia presented a retrospective audit on nutritional status among adults experiencing homelessness. Her work highlighted the complexity of weight change in this population, notably that simply reducing energy intake is not enough to prevent rapid compensatory weight gain. Instead, personalised, holistic care within homelessness services is essential.
Catarina Braga Lopes Brás presented her analysis on Weight Changes and Nutritional Risk in Substance Misuse Detoxification Patients, based on work she carried out during her internship at Mildmay earlier this year. Her findings underline the need for tailored nutrition interventions during detoxification, an area where evidence remains limited and urgently needed.
Both emphasised how their time at Mildmay shaped their understanding of health inequalities and strengthened their commitment to research-informed dietetic practice.
The students’ achievements also drew warm recognition from their academic mentors. Filomena Gomes, Senior Programme Manager at the Micronutrient Forum and Assistant Professor at NOVA Medical School, congratulated the group for the quality of their work at Mildmay. Student Catarina Brás noted how meaningful it was to receive encouragement from her faculty.
Keynote reflections
Dr Sorrel Burden RD, delivered the BDA Research Symposium's keynote on sustaining a clinical-academic career - balancing NHS realities with research, teaching and improvement work. That dual perspective is vital to ensuring the evidence generated in academia meaningfully changes what happens at the bedside.
Where we go from here
The insights shared at the symposium align deeply with Mildmay’s mission. In 2026, our dietetics and rehabilitation teams will continue to build on this work, focusing on:
Reducing food waste without compromising nutritional intake
Further strengthening allergy pathways across admission, screening and catering
Creating richer university partnerships and exchange placements
Applying quality improvement approaches to support patients with HIV, neurocognitive disorders and experiences of homelessness
And with a new student joining us in January 2026, the momentum continues.
A strong finish to 2025
Academic events can sometimes feel distant from clinical reality, but this one wasn’t. The work shared this year, including Mildmay’s contributions, centres on something simple and powerful: safer care, better nutrition, and improved outcomes for people who deserve dignity and recovery.
We’re proud of our students, proud of Kattya’s leadership, and proud to represent specialist rehabilitation care within the wider dietetic community.
