Alfie Thain
About
My research project
New Approaches to the Management of Pernicious AnaemiaAlfie Thain is a Registered Dietitian Postgraduate Researcher within the School of Biosciences at the 扣扣传媒. His doctoral research focuses on precision medicine approaches to the management of pernicious anaemia (PA), a late-stage autoimmune condition in which the immune system damages the stomach鈥檚 parietal cells, leading to loss of intrinsic factor and impaired absorption of vitamin B鈧佲倐.
Working closely with the Pernicious Anaemia Society and clinical collaborators, Alfie鈥檚 research integrates patient-reported data, genetics, and longitudinal symptom tracking to better understand symptom variability, treatment response, and comorbidities in PA. His work aims to inform evidence-based, patient-centred models of care and improve management for this lifelong condition.
Supervisors
Alfie Thain is a Registered Dietitian Postgraduate Researcher within the School of Biosciences at the 扣扣传媒. His doctoral research focuses on precision medicine approaches to the management of pernicious anaemia (PA), a late-stage autoimmune condition in which the immune system damages the stomach鈥檚 parietal cells, leading to loss of intrinsic factor and impaired absorption of vitamin B鈧佲倐.
Working closely with the Pernicious Anaemia Society and clinical collaborators, Alfie鈥檚 research integrates patient-reported data, genetics, and longitudinal symptom tracking to better understand symptom variability, treatment response, and comorbidities in PA. His work aims to inform evidence-based, patient-centred models of care and improve management for this lifelong condition.
University roles and responsibilities
- Postgraduate Researcher in Nutritional Sciences, School of Biosciences.
- Teaching Support in Dietetics: facilitation of simulated ward-based clinical sessions, student feedback, and assessment marking.
- Supervisor for undergraduate and MSc student research projects.
My qualifications
Affiliations and memberships
ResearchResearch interests
Alfie鈥檚 research interests centre on improving the understanding and management of autoimmune and chronic conditions through precision medicine and patient-centred data science. His work combines epidemiology, genomics, and digital health approaches to explore how biological, behavioural, and environmental factors influence disease mechanisms and treatment response.
He is particularly interested in applying longitudinal symptom tracking, patient-reported outcomes, and genetic epidemiology to inform personalised models of care. Alfie鈥檚 broader interests include iron deficiency, multimorbidity, and the use of translational research to bridge clinical evidence with real-world health improvement.
Research interests
Alfie鈥檚 research interests centre on improving the understanding and management of autoimmune and chronic conditions through precision medicine and patient-centred data science. His work combines epidemiology, genomics, and digital health approaches to explore how biological, behavioural, and environmental factors influence disease mechanisms and treatment response.
He is particularly interested in applying longitudinal symptom tracking, patient-reported outcomes, and genetic epidemiology to inform personalised models of care. Alfie鈥檚 broader interests include iron deficiency, multimorbidity, and the use of translational research to bridge clinical evidence with real-world health improvement.
Teaching
Alfie contributes to undergraduate teaching within the BSc Nutrition and Dietetics programme at the 扣扣传媒. His roles include facilitating simulated clinical sessions, leading small-group workshops, and supporting assessment and feedback activities. He also supervises BSc and MSc research projects in nutrition and dietetics.
Publications
It is unknown why many patients with pernicious anaemia are satisfactorily treated with injections of hydroxocobalamin or cyanocobalamin every 1鈥3 months whereas others require far more frequent replacement regimens, sometimes even weekly. A substantial but inconstant fraction of an injected dose of cobalamin is excreted in the urine within 72 h of injection, with subsequent loss of variable smaller amounts. We hypothesize the existence of 鈥榟ypercobalaminuria鈥, whereby increased urinary cobalamin losses constitute a currently unrecognized factor influencing treatment refractoriness in some individuals. The hypothesis is testable by comparing cobalamin urinary losses in patients needing frequent as opposed to 1鈥3-monthly injections of cobalamin to remain symptom free. It implies that 鈥榣ess-responsive鈥 patients are likely to have significant hypercobalaminuria.