When someone gives to the PA Research Foundation, they can never know how much their donation, big or small, can go on to positively impact thousands of lives.
By supporting the Foundation, donors enable people like Dr Megan Rossi to propel their ideas and forward so that they will eventually help people improve their health.
Known as The Gut Health Doctor, Dr Rossi gives some of the credit for where she is now, as a twice published author whose work on the microbiome is helping thousands of people, to the Foundation and its supporters and her time spent as a dietitian at the PA Hospital (PAH).
“I was working in the renal wards at PA, I got really interested in some of the new early-stage research in gut health in my kidney disease patients. A lot of them were coming to me complaining of gut health issues and I thought, “what’s going on here”,” she said.
“Around 2010, I embarked on a PhD looking at whether we target the gut health of those with kidney disease, whether that can help with not just the gut symptoms they were experiencing, but more widely, things like their kidney function and heart health. The PA Foundation were integral in funding my PhD, without their support I wouldn’t have been able to complete it.”
The Foundation’s faith in Megan, cemented her growing passion for gut health and the decision to dedicate her career to helping people with gut issues. A choice which would land her in London, at the famous King’s College, where she has been based ever since.
“In my final year studying nutrition and dietetics I sadly lost my grandma to bowel cancer, that was my first conscious encounter with the gut, which was obviously a very negative one,” she said.
“Then working as a dietitian in a hospital setting and then also being fortunate enough to be the nutritionist for the Australian Olympic swimming team, I was dealing with really quite sick people in a hospital setting but then also these elite athletes, and both communities were complaining of their gut, that kind of drove me to focus more on it again.
“I’d think “gosh what is it about this organ”, it took my grandma’s life and put her through the chemo and the surgery but there seems to be something else going on here.”
“After my PhD I decided, I was going to dedicate the rest of my career to gut health because it’s game changing for people and it’s a landmark start to discovery in terms of what we are learning.
“I looked around the world at who was doing the most innovative research and in terms of nutrition it was Kings College. I came over here thinking I’d be here for just a year but then I got some amazing research funding and some really cool research projects which led to me kind of getting stuck at Kings. I was very lucky to write two Sunday Times best-selling books as well.
The gut health expert remembers her time as post graduate dietitian at PAH fondly.
“I was very fortunate to get a job there. I remember it being a real community led staffing environment. I remember lots of monthly catch ups with other clinicians and a communal approach to healthcare from that perspective,” Dr Rossi said.
“Of course, I remember all of my patients, particularly those who were involved in my PhD research, they were just so passionate and enthusiastic despite being burdened by their chronic kidney disease. The patients at PA always hold a special place in my heart.
Megan said her two books Eat Yourself Healthy, and Eat More Live Well were driven by her desire to give people the right information on gut health.
“I felt very honoured to be able to publish the books. The reviews and feedback I’ve gotten really warms my heart, the books were clearly needed as well as the education they provided, because there’s so many myths out there and so much cloud and confusion and our gut health is founded on science and there so much research behind it,” she said.
“I just wanted to make sure the right information got into people’s hands to really make a difference and it has, so it’s been a very special thing to experience.
“Our gut health bloating course has also gotten some really amazing feedback in terms of helping people who suffer with burdensome bloating, which is a lot of people. People get taken down these crazy routes of taking different supplements and different types of strict dietary regimes which can actually do more damage to the gut.
“I was really passionate about helping people understand the science and understand this three T process which helps guide them through how they can identify their key triggers and work through to build their gut health back up.
“I couldn’t have done my PhD without the Foundation, I’m in debt to everyone who donates to them because of their contribution to my PhD and my career, I’m hugely grateful to them.”
You can find more info on Dr Megan Rossi and her books at https://www.theguthealthdoctor.com/
