Dr Alex Richardson DPhil (Oxon), PGCE, FRSA
Founder Director of FAB Research
Dr Alex Richardson is a world-renowned researcher, educator, speaker and published author; and Founder Director of the UK-based charity, Food and Behaviour (FAB) Research.
Based at the University of Oxford for 30 years, the impact of her 90+ publications puts Dr Richardson in the top 3% of academic researchers worldwide. A selection of these can be found below, but more details can be found via Google Scholar or Researchgate.
She is best known for her research into how nutrition (and particularly fatty acids) can affect behaviour, learning and mood, as her pioneering clinical trials were the first to show that dietary supplementation with omega-3 (and omega-6) fats can improve behaviour and learning in children with dyslexia, dyspraxia, ADHD and related conditions; and that this approach may also help many other children without such diagnoses. She also published some of the earliest reports of successful nutritional approaches to both depression and schizophrenia in young adults, which have subsequently been confirmed and extended by others.
Her work has always been highly inter-disciplinary and collaborative, involving several large-scale collaborative programmes that include studies of epidemiology, genetics, brain imaging, biochemistry and nutrition as well as physiological and psychological functioning.
Her main interests centre on
- the role of nutrition in brain health, and its implications for behaviour, learning and mood, particularly in relation to:
- neurodevelopmental conditions such as ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia and the Autistic Spectrum
- mental health conditions, including depression, bipolar disorder and the schizophrenia spectrum
- the links between mental and physical health – particularly allergies and immune disorders, and gut-brain connections
- the importance of individual differences in personality, perception, behaviour and cognition, and their implications for both developmental and psychiatric conditions, and general health and wellbeing
Alex’s research has always been aimed at developing new methods of identification and management that will have real practical benefit. She has therefore always worked closely with a range of education and health practitioners as well as local and national support groups and charities. In addition to her role as a founder director of FAB Research, she also helped to found the Dyslexia Research Trust, was a co-opted Trustee and Scientific Advisor to the Dyspraxia Foundation, served on the Biomedical Research Committee of Autism Unravelled, and liaised closely with the Hyperactive Children's Support Group, among many others.
Recent Speaking Events
See some of Dr Richardson's recent webinars.
Feeding Better Mood, Behaviour, Learning and Sleep
How children's diets affect their health, wellbeing and performance - and what parents, professionals and policymakers can do to help.
Although children's diets are recognised as contributing to conditions like obesity, diabetes and other physical health problems, little or no attention is usually paid to the effects of nutrition - what children eat and drink - and how they feel, think and behave.
Resolving the Attention Deficit Disaster
Recognise overlaps between ADHD and other developmental conditions like dyslexia, dyspraxia or the autism spectrum - as well as normal individual differences.
Find out which aspects of most modern diets really are bad news for brain health and wellbeing - and how better nutrition can often help improve attention, memory and more.
Nutrition for ADHD & Neurodiverse Minds
Learn how food and diet can affect symptoms of ADHD and related conditions.
- including not only other developmental conditions like dyslexia, dyspraxia and ASD but also anxiety, depression, eating disorders and sleep problems - and associated physical health problems such as allergies and immune disorders, or chronic pain.
