2026 Recipient
Heather Rosa
Recipient of the 2026 Award for Outstanding Contribution to Personalised Nutrition
A life dedicated to nutrition education
Heather Rosa was a highly respected nutritional therapist, educator and academic leader who made a significant contribution to the development of nutritional therapy education in the United Kingdom.
After training in nutritional therapy at the Institute for Optimum Nutrition (ION) in the 1980s, Heather combined her background in teaching with her interest in nutrition, progressing into higher education and accumulating more than 30 years of experience in academia.
From 1999–2014, Heather was a Course Leader and Principal Lecturer at the University of Westminster, where she established and led the UK’s first degree in Nutritional Therapy. Her work encompassed course development, teaching, research supervision and academic standards.
In 2014, Heather became Dean of the Institute for Optimum Nutrition, returning to the institution where she had originally trained. As Dean, she led ION’s academic development and played a central role in developing its higher-education provision. A major milestone came in February 2020, when ION signed a partnership agreement with the University of Portsmouth to deliver its nutritional therapy degree and officially launch the UKs first Graduate Diploma in Integrative Functional Nutrition. She also helped establish ION’s hybrid learning model, which enabled the Institute to transition effectively to fully online teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Heather contributed more broadly to professional standards in nutritional therapy, including the development of National Occupational Standards and the Nutritional Therapy Core Curriculum. In recognition of her contribution to nutritional therapy education and professional standards, she was awarded Fellowship of the British Association for Nutrition and Lifestyle Medicine (BANT) and was also a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
In 2024, Heather represented independent higher education through a presentation to the Department for Education on ION’s innovative stackable-credit routes to Level 6 qualifications in personalised nutrition and lifestyle medicine for GPs and allied healthcare professionals. She continued to serve as Dean of ION and remained actively involved in nutrition education and professional development until her passing in July 2026.
“For so many people, Heather was an icon. A leader, a creative mind, a driving force, a teacher, a colleague, a boss, a mentor, a blue-sky thinker and above all, an incredibly kind and considerate human who truly listened when people spoke.”
An enduring legacy
“Following the news of her passing, which sent ripples of grief through the Nutritional Therapy community, many spoke out about the profound impact she had on their journey. As practitioners, academics, colleagues and friends, we have lost an amazing human, one of our closest allies, our biggest advocate, and our number one cheerleader. She was the friend who saw something in you you didn’t see yourself.
She encouraged you to be the best practitioner and teacher that you never knew you could be, and she supported so many of us all the way to the top. That is her legacy – her unique ability to see the best of people and to help them to thrive.”
The NMI Award
The NMI Award for Outstanding Contribution to Personalised Nutrition celebrates individuals who have made an exceptional contribution to the advancement of personalised nutrition. It acknowledges those whose achievements have shaped the field through research, clinical practice, education, innovation, or advocacy, and whose work has strengthened the understanding and application of personalised nutrition in improving health and wellbeing. This inaugural award honours the legacy of Heather Rosa.