Prof. Nicola M Lowe is a professor of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) and the director of the UCLan Research Centre for Global Development. After graduating from the University of Liverpool with a Ph.D. in trace mineral metabolism, she spent four years as a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of California, Berkeley, returning to the University of Liverpool until she joined UCLan in 2000. Her primary research interest is trace mineral metabolism, focusing on zinc. From 2013 to 2017, she was the chair of Zinc-Net, a network of international scientists brought together through funding from the European Commission (COST Action) to address issues relating to the role of zinc in human health. She is currently the principal investigator for research in Pakistan, the research director, and a trustee for the Abaseen Foundation.