{"id":1525,"date":"2025-12-10T19:30:01","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T19:30:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/inform-innovation-hub\/?p=1525"},"modified":"2025-12-10T19:31:14","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T19:31:14","slug":"funding-award-feasibility-study-nottingham-trent-university","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/inform-innovation-hub\/funding-award-feasibility-study-nottingham-trent-university\/","title":{"rendered":"Funding Award &#8211; Feasibility Study:  Nottingham Trent University"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-start=\"270\" data-end=\"667\">INFORM are delighted to announce the funding award for a Feasibility Study Project <strong>\u201dThe PROPIONI Study &#8211; Investigating the Role of Dietary Probiotics on Athletic Performance and Health via lactate and SCFA Metabolism\u201d<\/strong>, led by Dr Neil Williams.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"270\" data-end=\"667\"><strong>Project Team:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"270\" data-end=\"667\">Dr Neil Williams &#8211; Nottingham Trent University (PI)<br \/>\nMr Connor Parker &#8211; Nottingham Trent University<br \/>\nDr Arthur Constantijn &#8211; IFF<br \/>\nHenna-Maria Kailanto &#8211; IFF\/Danisco (UK) Ltd<br \/>\nOliver Hasselwander &#8211; IFF\/Danisco (UK) Ltd<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"270\" data-end=\"667\">This project targets key challenges faced by endurance athletes, including high inflammation, post-exercise fatigue, impaired recovery, and increased illness and injury risk. These issues are linked to intense training loads and disruptions in gut barrier integrity, immunity, and lactate metabolism\u2014factors that significantly influence athletic performance and health.<\/p>\n<hr data-start=\"755\" data-end=\"758\" \/>\n<p data-start=\"781\" data-end=\"799\"><strong>Project Aims:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"690\" data-end=\"717\">The PROPIONI Study aims to:<\/p>\n<ul data-start=\"719\" data-end=\"1419\">\n<li data-start=\"719\" data-end=\"966\">\n<p data-start=\"721\" data-end=\"966\">Test whether <strong data-start=\"734\" data-end=\"831\">daily supplementation with a dual-strain probiotic (Propionibacterium and Lacticaseibacillus)<\/strong> can enhance athletic performance by improving <strong data-start=\"878\" data-end=\"914\">lactate-to-propionate metabolism<\/strong>, increasing metabolic efficiency during exercise.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"967\" data-end=\"1107\">\n<p data-start=\"969\" data-end=\"1107\">Examine effects on <strong data-start=\"988\" data-end=\"1016\">5 km running performance<\/strong>, recovery, gut microbiome composition, gut permeability biomarkers, and immune function.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"1108\" data-end=\"1256\">\n<p data-start=\"1110\" data-end=\"1256\">Generate proof-of-concept data through a <strong data-start=\"1151\" data-end=\"1223\">7-week double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled, crossover trial<\/strong> in trained endurance athletes.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"1257\" data-end=\"1419\">\n<p data-start=\"1259\" data-end=\"1419\">Translate findings into <strong data-start=\"1283\" data-end=\"1326\">future large-scale funding applications<\/strong> and support <strong data-start=\"1339\" data-end=\"1366\">new product development<\/strong>, enabling innovation in the sports nutrition sector.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr data-start=\"1453\" data-end=\"1456\" \/>\n<p><strong>Potential Impact:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The project offers significant scientific, commercial, and translational value by generating the first human evidence on probiotic-driven enhancement of lactate metabolism and endurance performance. It could enable new probiotic performance products, inform exercise strategies for clinical and ageing populations, strengthen the NTU\u2013IFF partnership, support future large-scale funding, and advance understanding of the gut\u2013exercise axis.<\/p>\n<table style=\"height: 43px;width: 42.3506%;border-style: none\" width=\"42.3506%\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 30.3px;border-style: none\"><a href=\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/inform-innovation-hub\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/297\/2023\/05\/Nottingham-Trent-University.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-319\" src=\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/inform-innovation-hub\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/297\/2023\/05\/Nottingham-Trent-University-300x150.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/inform-innovation-hub\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/297\/2023\/05\/Nottingham-Trent-University-300x150.png 300w, https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/inform-innovation-hub\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/297\/2023\/05\/Nottingham-Trent-University-768x384.png 768w, https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/inform-innovation-hub\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/297\/2023\/05\/Nottingham-Trent-University.png 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 30.3px;border-style: none\"><a href=\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/inform-innovation-hub\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/297\/2025\/12\/IFF.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1526\" src=\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/inform-innovation-hub\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/297\/2025\/12\/IFF.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"61\" height=\"61\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>INFORM are delighted to announce the funding award for a Feasibility Study Project \u201dThe PROPIONI Study &#8211; Investigating the Role of Dietary Probiotics on Athletic Performance and Health via lactate&#8230;<a class=\"read-more\" href=\"&#104;&#116;&#116;&#112;&#115;&#58;&#47;&#47;&#114;&#101;&#115;&#101;&#97;&#114;&#99;&#104;&#46;&#114;&#101;&#97;&#100;&#105;&#110;&#103;&#46;&#97;&#99;&#46;&#117;&#107;&#47;&#105;&#110;&#102;&#111;&#114;&#109;&#45;&#105;&#110;&#110;&#111;&#118;&#97;&#116;&#105;&#111;&#110;&#45;&#104;&#117;&#98;&#47;&#102;&#117;&#110;&#100;&#105;&#110;&#103;&#45;&#97;&#119;&#97;&#114;&#100;&#45;&#102;&#101;&#97;&#115;&#105;&#98;&#105;&#108;&#105;&#116;&#121;&#45;&#115;&#116;&#117;&#100;&#121;&#45;&#110;&#111;&#116;&#116;&#105;&#110;&#103;&#104;&#97;&#109;&#45;&#116;&#114;&#101;&#110;&#116;&#45;&#117;&#110;&#105;&#118;&#101;&#114;&#115;&#105;&#116;&#121;&#47;\">Read More ><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":711,"featured_media":1483,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"__cvm_playback_settings":[],"__cvm_video_id":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"coauthors":[13],"class_list":["post-1525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/inform-innovation-hub\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/297\/2025\/12\/Feasibility-Study-Funding-Announcement.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"Fiona Lee","author_link":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/inform-innovation-hub\/author\/jk903657reading-ac-uk\/"},"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":"","source_text":"","source_url":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/inform-innovation-hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/inform-innovation-hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/inform-innovation-hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/inform-innovation-hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/711"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/inform-innovation-hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1525"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/inform-innovation-hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1525\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1530,"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/inform-innovation-hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1525\/revisions\/1530"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/inform-innovation-hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/inform-innovation-hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/inform-innovation-hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/inform-innovation-hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1525"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/inform-innovation-hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=1525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}