Lindy Castell

Lindy Castell In Gardens Wearing Gown with Observatory behindLindy Castell is an Associate Fellow at Green Templeton College, University of Oxford.

In 1990, Lindy Castell joined Professor Eric Newsholme’s biochemistry group at Oxford to work on amino acids in clinical situations and, subsequently, in exercise. Exercise‐induced immunodepression proved to be an endless source of fascination.

When Eric Newsholme took early retirement in 1996, Lindy kept the Cellular Nutrition Research Group (CNRG) going. In 2001 she became an Honorary Research Associate at the Nuffield Department of Anaesthetics, where she also directed the CNRG. Professor Clive Hahn encouraged her to apply for affiliation to Green Templeton College and then-Principal Sir David Watson subsequently invited her to become a Visiting Research Fellow. She is now an Associate Fellow and has been a College Adviser for several years.

In 2011, following the death of her mentor, Lindy was honoured to deliver the inaugural Eric Newsholme Memorial Lecture in New Jersey, under the auspices of the American College of Nutrition. She has spent 15 years advising on, and supervising, research projects for PhD, MSc and 3rd-year medical students: topics have included immunodepression, fatigue and amino acids in exercise and in intensive care patients. Wherever possible she encouraged these students to present at conferences or to publish as co-authors.

She has published several chapters and more than 60 full papers in peer-reviewed journals. As a retirement project from 2009-2013, she initiated a monthly A-Z series on nutritional supplements for athletes in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. Together with co-authors Professor Louise Burke and Dr Samantha Stear she updated the series, turning it into a book with 140 topics and 90 authors. Lindy continues to collaborate with colleagues and advise students.

For nearly 10 years she organised a series of day-long symposia at GTC in order to provide a platform for College Fellows and Research Associates to present their research topics: these events became shorter and virtual after the start of the pandemic. In 2019 she became involved with the 40th anniversary of Green College. Among other events, she was very happy to organise (with professional help) the Radcliffe Observatory’s son et lumière: this had been a dream of hers for many years!