Dr Wootton is Associate Professor in Nutrition at the University of Southampton with an honorary appointment with University Hospital Southampton in Clinical Nutrition. Dr Wootton has over 30 years experience developing human nutrition research infrastructure within the clinical setting locally at Southampton, nationally on behalf of NIHR and internationally with the International Atomic Energy Agency of the UN and the International Malnutrition Task Force.

He was appointed by the Queen as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2018 New Years Honours for services to Nutrition and to Physical Exercise.

He is Deputy Chair of the NIHR Cancer and Nutrition Collaboration and chaired the Nutrition Expert Group as part of the Royal College of Anaesthetists, NIHR Cancer and Nutrition Collaboration and Macmillan Cancer Support report on the Principles and guidance for prehabilitation within the management and support of people with cancer (2019).  He has extensive experience in the assessment of body composition, specifically in the application of stable isotopes and bioelectrical impedance technologies in infants, children and adults and leads internationally on the need for quality assurance frameworks for both clinical service and research. His research interests focus on the extent to which differences in nutritional state determines the risk of developing disease, the resilience to disease and the response to therapy in people with cancer.