The Paravit® Q&A with Expert Healthcare Professionals in CF
Welcome to the Paravit® Expert Q&A where we’ll be chatting to leaders in the field of cystic fibrosis (CF) to hear about what they’re working on, discuss clinical best practices, and share emerging research shaping CF care. We hope this series helps enhance your knowledge with valuable insights! First to be interviewed is Darren Sills, Specialist CF Dietitian. If you’d like to be interviewed next, please do get in touch with us at hcp@paravit-cf.com.
1. Hello Darren! Thank you for joining us. Can you please tell us a bit about you and your role?
Darren: I work 4 days a week as a research Dietitian at the University of Nottingham. I am working on a large multicentre study looking at gut symptoms in adults and children with CF (https://www.grampus-cf.org/). This looks at symptoms, diet, inflammation, gut microbiome and physiology using MRI. I also work one day a week in my NHS clinical role.
I have always had an interest in research, my move to Nottingham with a very positive and encouraging team pushed this on. But, I also love the patient care side of things. As we all know working in CF requires a bit of knowledge across lots of areas, patients come to see us and we don’t always know what advise they are looing for that day. With the introduction of highly effective modifiers this seems to have expanded.
Outside of CF I am a tutor on the PENG clinical update course. This is a great opportunity to encourage Dietitians to think beyond their basic training and use incorporate evidence-based practice, critique the literature and be forward thinking.
2. What inspired you to follow a career in Cystic Fibrosis?
Darren: Seeing a colleague cover and really enjoy the area. When an opportunity came up I just thought I would give it a try. My first role was only two days a week at a small centre, but the close knit MDT working and engaging patient group hooked me in.
3. What is one exciting thing you’re working on right now?
Darren: My main focus is on completing GRAMPUS recruitment and looking at the dietary data in relation to symptoms. But we aren’t quite ready to look this yet.
Right now I am finishing a project looking at the impact of Kaftrio on vitamin levels in children. This is a little different for me as my experience is in adult CF care. I have had a learning curve of managing a large dataset and analysing in R. Right now it is looking positive and I look forward to submitting the work in the next couple of months!
4. Has any interesting research or guidance been published recently that you would like to share/signpost CF healthcare professionals to?
Darren: I try to put an hour aside each week to read a paper. Everyone seems to think that when you are doing a PhD you have loads of time to read. But, the project takes a lot time and has lots of competing priorities.
An interesting pilot study I read recently using whole foods as an intervention to GI symptoms by Green et al 2024, DOI:10.1016/j.clnu.2024.09.036. I am not a big believer in the demonisation of processed foods (partly due to the classification), but I do believe in cooking from scratch and whole foods. This study enrolled nine children to change their eating habits over a four-week period. After the diet changes parents scored symptoms as significantly better, with improvements in constipation, diarrhoea, gas and bloating. This was a pilot study explaining the small sample size and lacked a control group. However, this is an interesting study overall and has implications beyond GI symptoms as people with CF have been bought up on poor quality diets.
5. What are you looking forward to this year as a Dietitian working in CF?
Darren: Finishing GRAMPUS recruitment and looking at the dietary data! I am looking more forward to this now as I am preparing some code in R to clean my data ready for analysis! It will be interesting to see if any particular nutrients or meal patterns are associated with GI symptoms.
Want to get in touch with Darren? You can email him via Darren.Sills1@nottingham.ac.uk
Darren Sills is a dietitian specialising in cystic fibrosis (CF) care. He currently holds a fixed term post as a research Dietitian at the University of Nottingham and is also a clinical specialist CF Dietitian at the Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust. Once this project is complete, he will return as the Lead Specialist Dietitian at the Nottingham Adult Cystic Fibrosis Centre, where he has been integral to the team for 11 years. In this role, Darren oversees a multidisciplinary team dedicated to providing comprehensive nutritional care to adults with CF, ensuring that the latest evidence-based practices are implemented to optimise patient health outcomes.
Darren‘s career in dietetics spans approximately 15 years, with a significant focus on CF. His expertise encompasses various aspects of CF care, including gastrointestinal issues, body composition, and bone health. He is particularly interested in assessing nutritional status, pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy (PERT), and addressing gastrointestinal complications associated with CF.
In addition to his clinical responsibilities, Darren is actively engaged in research. He dedicates four days a week to research activities, contributing to studies that aim to enhance the understanding and management of CF-related nutritional challenges. His research interests are broad, but he places a particular emphasis on gastrointestinal issues and nutritional assessments in CF patients.
Darren‘s commitment to advancing dietetic practice is evident through his involvement with the British Dietetic Association (BDA). He serves as the Research Officer for the BDA’s Cystic Fibrosis Specialist Group, playing a pivotal role in promoting research initiatives and disseminating knowledge within the dietetic community.
His contributions to the field have been recognized through various accolades, including the BDA PEN Achiever Award. This award highlights his dedication to ensuring that dietitians have access to the knowledge and resources necessary to deliver high-quality, evidence-based care to individuals with CF.
