I am a Registered Public Health Nutritionist and Senior Lecturer within the Division of Engineering and Food Science. I was a Research Nutritionist at the Centre for Public Health Nutrition Research, University of Dundee for 16 years where I completed my PhD.

My PhD research, “An exploratory analysis of the Scottish Diet 2001-2009 using Household Purchase Data” continues to be the main focus of my research, and my work remains focused on public health nutrition.  I am interested in food choice, disease prevention through diet and lifestyle intervention, and food and nutrition policy.

My current research project includes conducting secondary analysis of the Living Costs and Food Survey, investigating dietary patterns within the Scottish Population and monitoring progress towards the Scottish Dietary Goals.

As a member of the Scottish Government Cross Party Group on Food, I am involved in contributing to policy development on food issues in Scotland. 

I am a member of the Scottish section committee of the Nutrition Society, a peer reviewer for grant applications and technical reports for Food Standards Scotland and a STEM Ambassador.

Programme leader for BSc (Hons) Fitness Nutrition and Health

Lecturer on the following Programmes:

• BSc (Hons) Food Nutrition and Health
• BSc (Hons) Food and Consumer Sciences
• BSc (Hons) Fitness Nutrition and Health

Module tutor in the following modules:

• Health Promotion and Public Health Nutrition 1 (stage 2)
• Health Promotion and Public Health Nutrition 2 (stage 4)

Contributing tutor in the following modules:

• Fundamentals of Nutrition (stage 1)
• Nutrition and the Consumer (stage 1)
• Nutrition Through the Lifespan (stage 2)
• Placement for FNH/FCS (stage 3)
• Current Topics in Food (stage 4)
• Project Research Methods (stage 4)
• Honours Project (stage 4)

Karen’s research to date has been in the field of nutrition and has involved coordinating public health nutrition research projects including work on food choice, dietary assessment methodology, diet and lifestyle interventions for disease prevention, and food and nutrition policy. Her current work is in diet survey methodology and assessment. In particular she is conducting a secondary analysis of the Living Costs and Food Survey, investigating dietary patterns within the Scottish Population and monitoring the Scottish Dietary Targets (funded by Food Standards Scotland). This project also formed the basis of her PhD studies.

At the Centre for Medical Education, University of Dundee Karen coordinated the JISC funded ‘Interactive Assessment and Collaboration via Technology’ (interACT) project which aims to re-engineer assessment and feedback systems in online distance learning to promote dialogic feedback and the NHS Education for Scotland funded project: Setting the agenda for dental education research in Scotland: A priority setting exercise (PSE) including multiple stakeholders.

• Masson LF, Wrieden WL, Barton KL. Estimation of food and nutrient intakes in Scotland using data from the Living Costs and Food Survey 2013-15. Food Standards Agency. 2015-2017 (£187,061)
• Grigor J, Wilkin J, Barton K, Tsang C. KTP to develop and implement a systematic New Product Development (NPD) Plan for Mackies Chocolate. Innovate UK. 2016-2018 (£122,030)

• Member of the Nutrition Society
• Committee member of the Scottish Section of the Nutrition Society
• Registered Nutritionist (Public Health) RNutr
• STEM Ambassador, STEMNET (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Network), North East of Scotland Region
• Member of the Scottish Government Cross Party on Food
• Peer reviewer for Appetite, Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, Journal of Nutritional Science, Nutrition Journal, Public Health Nutrition and Children
• Peer reviewer of grant applications and technical reports for Food Standards Scotland
• Grant assessor for Scottish Medical Education Research Consortium (SMERC)
• Mentor for British Science Association, Gold Crest Award

As a STEM Ambassador I have carried out a number of public engagement events in the area of food science and nutrition. I have also used these events as an opportunity to promote Abertay University as a place to study.