Research undertaken by the VitDAL was awarded a prestigious poster prize at the Annual Vitamin D workshop held in Orlando. This conference is the largest annual gathering of researchers engaged in vitamin D research. Dr Mellanby presented the VitDAL latest research on the relationship between vitamin D status and reproductive outcomes in Soay sheep from St Kilda island where we found a consistent, positive relationship between 25(OH)D plasma concentrations and fecundity in several consecutive years of study. Dr Mellanby also presented data on the stability of vitamin D status in the Soay sheep population. The St Kilda Soay sheep project, led by our collaborators at the Institute of Evolutionary Ecology at the University of Edinburgh, has been intensively studied for over 30 years. This population of sheep is completely unmanaged and is geographical constrained so is an excellent study population in which to explore the relationship between vitamin D and a wide range of health outcomes.
