update – Invitation to lunch and Roundtable – Food Science Hire

Dear graduate students,

Further to my email yesterday, I’ve included info regarding the candidates, including their research and teaching seminars (below). We hope you can attend the seminars (preferably in person!). Once again, if you would like to attend the grad lunches, please let me know (melanie.train@ubc.ca).

Best,

Melanie

Dr. Guodong Zhang, Associate Professor of Food Science and Technology, National University of Singapore

Dr. Guodong Zhang received his Ph.D. in Food Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with Prof. Kirk L. Parkin (2010) and performed postdoctoral research at the University of California-Davis with Prof. Bruce D. Hammock (2010-13). He was an Assistant Professor (2013-2019) and Associate Professor (with tenure, 2019-2021) at the Department of Food Science of the University of Massachusetts Amherst. In 2021, he moved to National University of Singapore (NUS) and he is currently Dean’s Chair Associate Professor at the Department of Food Science & Technology at NUS. Dr. Zhang’s research focuses on the roles of bioactive lipids and environmental compounds on gut microbiota, colonic inflammation, and colon cancer. Since 2013, his independent research has led to >60 publications, including several corresponding-author papers in high-impact journals such as Science Translational Medicine, Nature Communications, Cancer Research, PNAS, Redox Biology, and Gut Microbes. His independent research has also led to 2 US patent applications. He has received Foods Young Investigator Award (2021), Outstanding Young Scientist Award in Honor of Samuel Cate Prescott, Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) (2020), and Young Scientist Research Award, American Oil Chemists’ Society (AOCS) (2019). His students have won >30 research awards, including Rising Researcher Award of UMass-Amherst (the highest undergraduate research at UMass), Byron Prize Award for best Ph.D. Dissertation of UMass-Amherst, and Best Postdoctoral Publication Award of Society of Toxicology (SOT).

Research Seminar: How to reduce the risks of colonic inflammation and colon cancer? Development of dietary strategies and identification of dietary risk factors

August 23, 9:30-11:00 am

Food, Nutrition and Health Building, Room 60

Teaching Seminar: Food Chemistry – Water Activity

August 24, 10:00–11:00 am

Food, Nutrition and Health Building, Room 60

Graduate Student Lunch and Roundtable

August 24, 11:45am-1:00pm

Food, Nutrition and Health Building, Room 220

Dr. Joana Pico Carbajo, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Wine Research Centre, UBC

Dr. Joana Pico obtained her Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Valladolid (Spain). She was a postdoctoral scholar in the Food Engineering department at the University of Guelph, and she is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Wine Research Center of the University of British Columbia. She has been visiting researcher at the University of Copenhagen (Denmark), Fondazione Edmund Mach (Italy), Purdue University (IN, USA), and Plants for Human Health Institute (NC, USA). Dr. Pico’s research is aimed at determining food quality using Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry, with a strong focus on the bioactivity and flavor of functional foods. She is especially interested in understanding which phenolic compounds are involved in the prevention and management of non-communicable diseases with the objective of optimizing food processing conditions that preserve those compounds and maximize the health benefits of foods. Dr. Pico has published an invited book chapter and 36 peer-reviewed articles in Food Science/Food Chemistry Q1 journals, she has been a guest lecturer of FOOD 521 and APBI 442 at UBC, and she was awarded as one of the best “mentors of the year” at the UBC-REX mentorship program in 2022.

Research Seminar: Plant dietary bioactives: developing health-promoting foods with a delightful flavor

September 1, 9:30–11:00 am

Earth Sciences Building 2012 – 2207 Main Mall

Teaching Seminar: Water activity and its implications for food safety, sensorial, and nutritional quality

September 2, 10:00–11:00 am

Earth Sciences Building 2012 – 2207 Main Mall

Graduate Student Lunch and Roundtable

September 2, 11:45am-1:00pm

Food, Nutrition and Health Building, Room 220

Dr. Andrea Liceaga, Associate Professor of Food Science, Purdue University

Dr. Andrea Liceaga is an Associate Professor of Food Science and the Director of the Sensory Evaluation Laboratory at Purdue University. Her research program aims to develop approaches for the application of emerging protein sources, such as insects, novel crops, and agriculture by-products. Her research includes extraction methods, protein structure-function interactions, bioactive peptides, protein allergenicity, sensory evaluation and consumer attitudes towards emerging proteins. Dr. Liceaga earned her Bachelor of Science in Biochemical Engineering and Food Processing Management at the Instituto Tecnologico de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM), Mexico, and Master of Science in food microbiology and Ph.D. in food chemistry from The University of British Columbia, Canada.

Research Seminar: Unlocking the potential of emerging protein sources: From sustainable ingredients to foods for health

September 6, 9:30–11:00 am

Food, Nutrition and Health Building, Room 60

Teaching Seminar: Water activity and its role in manipulating a food system

September 7, 10:00–11:00 am

GEOG 200, 1984 West Mall

Graduate Student Lunch and Roundtable

September 7, 11:45am-1:00pm

Food, Nutrition and Health Building, Room 220

Dr. Vassilis Kontogiorgos, Senior Lecturer in Food Chemistry, The University of Queensland, School of Agriculture and Food Sciences

Dr. Vassilis Kontogiorgos is a food scientist by training. He received all his degrees in Food Science from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece (BSc and MSc) and the University of Guelph, Canada (PhD). He has worked as an NSERC research fellow at the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (Canada) and as a faculty member at the Department of Biological Sciences, University of Huddersfield (UK), before joining the School of Agriculture and Food Sciences at the University of Queensland (Australia) as a teaching and research academic in food chemistry. Dr. Kontogiorgos’ research interests are focused on food carbohydrate chemistry and food structuring. He is an associate editor of Food Hydrocolloids and Food Biophysics and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA, UK).

Research Seminar: Food Material Science: Material Characterisation and Structure Analysis

September 8, 9:30–11:00 am

Earth Sciences Building 1012 – 2207 Main Mall

Teaching Seminar: Water Activity

September 9, 10:00–11:00 am

HEBB 116, 2045 East Mall

Graduate Student Lunch and Roundtable

September 9, 11:45am-1:00pm

Food, Nutrition and Health Building, Room 220

Melanie Train
Faculty Liaison | Faculty of Land and Food Systems
The University of British Columbia | Vancouver Campus
248-2357 Main Mall | Vancouver, BC Canada V6T 1Z4
Phone 604-822-3105 | Fax 604-822-6394
Email: melanie.train@ubc.ca

LFS G&PS Office

Information for Faculty of Land and Food Systems Graduate Students

update – Invitation to lunch and Roundtable – Food Science Hire