Food Systems
JOIN AAB / RENEW
WHY JOIN AAB?
The Food Systems Group was formed at the 2008 AGM. Application of biology is integral to the processes and infrastructure involved in feeding our population. As several challenges impact of our food supply system, we have to ensure that it is secure and resilient. This requires a truly transdisciplinary approach across the sciences both on a national and global level. The biological sciences will play a major role, but this will require a strategic and collaborative approach and possibly new and as yet undiscovered ways of working.
Within the Food Systems Group, we hope to identify the role in which applied biology underpins our food system and also what can be contributed at an international level. We aim to work with stakeholders across the food supply chain involved in all aspects of food production and to provide a forum for debate and advancement of knowledge of this important scientific topic.”
Group Convener
Christine Bosch
Christine is a Lecturer in the School of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Leeds.
Expert in diet and health; secondary plant metabolites; flavonoids; oxidative stress and inflammation; molecular nutrition; functional food; gene-nutrient interactions; trace element metabolism
Group Members
Yoselin Benitez-Alfonso
I am Associate Professor at the School of Biology/FBS and UKRI Future Leaders Fellow. As a group leader, I pursue the cross-disciplinary aspect of my research through active collaborations with the Department of Physics and Astronomy, the Astbury Centre for Structural Biology, the Braggs Centre for Material Research and GFEI at Leeds. We have published pioneering work on callose metabolism and function in the regulation of plasmodesmata and symplastic signalling and our work also focuses on dissecting the physico-mechanical properties of structural component at plasmodesmata domain and the function of β-1,3-glucan, callose, and cellulose as regulators of cell walls and intercellular signalling.
Joseph Hubert Galani Yamdeu
joseph.galaniyamdeu@canterbury.ac.uk
Joe is a Lecturer in Food Science at Canterbury Christ Church University, with experience in Africa, Europe, and Asia. After his PhD in India in 2014 followed by teaching and postdoc positions in Cameroon, Belgium, and Leeds in the UK, he joined Christ Church in December 2021. Besides teaching chemistry, biochemistry, and food science topics, Dr Galani also supports the newly launched Food Science and Nutrition course in the section of Natural and Applied Sciences. He is interested in research at the nexus of food systems, climate change, nutrition, and health.
Gabriela Toledo-Ortiz
In 2022, Gabriela joined the James Hutton Institute in Dundee as a Group Leader in Plant Sciences to address fundamental and applied aspects of photobiology and the balance between plant growth and phytonutrient production. Our research at the James Hutton focuses on fundamental and applied questions in photobiology. We combine multidisciplinary studies in photobiology and chloroplast biology (molecular genetics, biochemistry, bioinformatics) in Arabidopsis thaliana, tomato and horticultural crops to elucidate the molecular links behind the photoreceptors environmental control of photosynthesis, chloroplast metabolism and the production of phytonutrients relevant for human nutrition, Our transdisciplinary and trans-sectorial work in tomato and vertical farming, aims to contribute to the generation of sustainable food systems for highly nutritious food.
Darren Greetham
Darren is a teaching fellow in the Food Science and Nutrition school as part of the University of Leeds where he lectures on biochemistry and microbiology. He has a background in cell biology, molecular biology, proteomics, downstream processing, and analytical science. His research has focused on the production of high value chemicals in a microbial fermentation, however, I have developed a method for isolating yeast from the environment and have researched pathogenic anaerobic Gram positive bacteria. I also have industrial experience as a research and development manager in chemical extraction and optimisation.
Emilie Combet
Emilie.CombetAspray@glasgow.ac.uk
I am a Professor in Nutrition at the University of Glasgow. My research is multi-disciplinary and focuses on how food (including whole foods, specific nutrients, and the way we eat) impacts on health throughout life, from the time peri-conception to old age. I have a particular interest on the “farm to fork to society” nexus, and its implications for all stakeholders, from a community, industry and clinical settings. It is a fascinating topic, since its implications are at the heart of the challenges faced by today’s modern society: ageing and chronic diseases. Human nutrition is a body of integrated science, underpinning much of biomedical and health research, with broad implications for public health and related policies and commercial activities. Our research in Human Nutrition at Glasgow always aims to inform, and change, practice and policy. Impactful research is at the core of our activity. Some projects are industry-led, others funded by charities and governmental bodies. Most are applied, with wide public health implications.