Dr Rhiannon Mae Armitage
Postdoctoral Researcher and Academic Content Facilitator
I'm an interdisciplinary researcher at the University of Sussex, working on a 4-day week interventional trial alongside projects in the broader areas of ingestive behaviour, biological and occupational psychology. This includes co-investigating the use of novel technology to monitor eating behaviour while teaching, delivering outreach programmes and co-supervising UG, MSc, and placement students.
Research Interests
My current research investigates how a four-day working week changes biological health, such as immune function, and lifestyle factors, such as diet, mental health, and sleep. I am also leading analyses of how employment interacts with diet, physical, and mental health in the UK Biobank using a big data approach. Alongside this, I am a co-investigator exploring the use of novel technology for monitoring eating behaviour and weight loss.
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I continue to work on projects related to the behavioural, genetic and neural basis of individual differences in liking for sweet tastes as a marker of risk for developing obesity. Drawing on methods from genetics, psychology, nutrition, and neuroscience such as body composition analysis, functional magnetic resonance imaging and twin modelling.
I am also interested in all things ingestive behaviour-related, well-being and wider sensory responses, including multisensory processing. I have previously worked on projects investigating Synaesthesia, brain plasticity and cross-modal responses following sight restoration and, most recently, a Leverhulme Trust grant on the behavioural and neural basis of odour-taste associations.​
Most Recent Publications
Armitage, R.M., Iatridi, V., Sladekova, M., & Yeomans, M.R. (2024). Re-evaluating the relationship between sweet-liking and body composition: systematic review and individual participant data meta-analysis. International Journal of Obesity, 48(6) 764-777. https://doi.org/10.1038%2Fs41366-024-01494-7
Armitage, R.M., Iatridi, V., & Yeomans, M.R. (2024). Chemosensory aspects in obesity: rethinking the role of sweet and fat taste. In L. Stafford (Ed), Smell, Taste, Eat: The role of the chemical senses in eating behaviour. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-41375-9_4
Yeomans, M.R., Armitage, R.M., Atkinson, R., Fancis, H., & Stevenson, R.J. (2023). Habitual intake of fat and sugar is associated with poorer memory and greater impulsivity. PLoS One, 18(8), e0290308.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0290308