Current Projects (2023 Cohort)

Our FoodBioSystems DTP 2023 cohort of researchers are working on 32 projects that span the food system from farm to fork.  Find out more about the projects in the table below.

Research area	Project title	Lead Supervisor	Co-Supervisor / University	Doctoral Researcher
	Aberystwyth University
Food security / Plant & Crop Systems	GrainQuest – using Artifical Intelligence and high resolution multimodal imaging to dissect the developmental and genetic basis of seed composition	John Doonan	Simon Cameron, Queen’s University Belfast	David Evershed
Food security / Gut microbiota	Feed for Net Zero: Understanding the structure function relationships in forages driving rumen feed degradation	Alison Kingston-Smith	Chris Creevey , Queen’s University Belfast	Megan Mason
Food security / Plant & Crop systems	Unpicking the causes of infertility in wheat triggered by temperature stress	Dylan Phillips	Jake Bishop, University of Reading	Louis Samuel
Data-intensive bioscience / Animal health and livestock agricultural systems	Comparative and functional genomics to unveil liver fluke sexual development.	Gabriel Rinaldi	Aaron Maule, Queen’s University Belfast	Eilis Begley
Data-intensive bioscience / Plant & crop systems	New software to detect horizontal gene transfer in microbiomes: from forage to the rumen	Martin Swain	Chris Creevey, Queen’s University Belfast	Jack Crosby
Animal health and livestock agricultural systems	Ruminating over host-parasite interaction models for fluke driven immune responses.	Ruth Wonfor	Mark Robinson, Queen’s University Belfast	Corey Steele
	Brunel University
Food safety / Animal health and livestock agricultural systems	Enhancing seaweed aquaculture for alternative animal feeds	Lorna Anguilano	Pamela Walsh, Queen’s University Belfast	Sara Fernando
	Cranfield University
Food safety & food authenticity	Food Authenticity: Targeted and untargeted DNA barcoding approaches for traceability of cross-contamination and adulteration in animal and plant-based foods	Maria Anastasiadi	Katrina Campbell, Queen’s University Belfast	Zahra Karimi
Data-intensive bioscience / Soil systems	Breaking new ground: using X-rays to study how roots penetrate through soil parent materials	Dan Evans	Tom Sizmur, University of Reading	Paul Chaibva
Decarbonising food systems /Soil systems	The impacts of regenerative farming on soil carbon, structure and biodiversity across spatio-temporal scales	Jacqueline Hannam	Liz Shaw, University of Reading	Naomi Yamamoto-Mclean
Plant / crop systems	Developing drought resistance and building soil carbon through optimising root traits in oats	Chris McCloskey	Irene Griffiths, Aberystwyth University	Alex Graham
Plant / crop systems	Plant pathogen control with engineered cysteine rich antimicrobial peptides	Zoltan Kevei	Gareth Griffith, Aberystwyth University	Ankita Debnath
	Queen’s University Belfast
Food safety & food authenticity	Developing next-generation portable rapid tests for food authenticity	Katrina Campbell	tbc, University of Reading	Lana Watt
Data-intensive bioscience /Animal health and livestock agricultural systems	Automated monitoring of health and welfare in groups of pigs using evidential reasoning and video-analytics	Niall McLaughlin	Alasdair Cook, University of Surrey	Ali Egemen Tasoren
Data-intensive bioscience / Animal health and livestock agricultural systems	Application of machine learning to genomic selection of dairy cattle through improved feed efficiency complex prediction	Mark Mooney	Faisal Rezwan, Aberystwyth University	Edwin Ong
Decarbonising food systems / Animal health and livestock agricultural systems	Helminth extracellular vesicles – the key to reducing methane emissions from farmed livestock?	Mark Robinson	Russ Morphew, Aberystwyth University	Shauna Clancy
Decarbonising food systems / Animal health and livestock agricultural systems	Insects for sustainable animal feed: Livestock farming in a climate change challenged world	Katerina Theodoridou	Sokratis Stergiadis, University of Reading	Kieran Robertson
	University of Reading
Alternative food systems / decarbonising food systems	High moisture extrusion technology assisted by enzymatic protein-protein crosslinking approach to improve the texture quality of plant-based meat analogues and eliminate the need for additives	Sameer Khalil Gawi	George Fern, Brunel University	Daniele Patrizio
Food security & inclusive positive nutrition / Gut Microbiota	Can probiotics and prebiotics reduce the impact of high protein diets on gut barrier function by modulating the microbiota in sex-dependent manners?	Marie Lewis	tbc , University of Surrey	James Choi
Data-intensive bioscience / Food science	A reverse engineering approach to sucrose replacement in biscuits: modelling texture	Stella Lignou	Gareth Tribello, Queen’s University Belfast	Ana Maria Gomez Betancur
Data-intensive bioscience / Plant & crop systems	How to improve measurement of major wheat diseases using artificial intelligence?	Alexey Mikaberidze	Ronald Corstanje, Cranfield University	Jack Rich
Plant & crop systems	Smart control of crop diseases: how can we best combine fungicides and plant resistance genes?	Alexey Mikaberidze	Martin Swain, Aberystwyth University	Harry Simmonds
Food security / human nutrition	Understanding the mechanism of cardiovascular disease reduction and cognitive enhancement by dietary flavanols: the impact of flavanols on blood rheology and erythrocyte deformability	Jeremy Spencer	Christian Heiss, University of Surrey	Emily Waterfield
Data-intensive bioscience / Gut microbiota	Precision Nutrition for Gut Health: Development of a novel seaweed-containing, gut microbiota targeted nutraceutical	Anisha Wijeysekera	Jessica Adams, Aberystwyth University	Holly Sedgwick
	University of Surrey
Decarbonising food systems	BIO-ESPRESSO: Bio-Electrochemical System for Product REcovery from Spent Substrate cOffee waste	Claudio Avignone Rossa	Stuart Wagland, Cranfield University	Starting January 2
Food security / human nutrition	Efficacy, application and consumer acceptance of plant-based proteins for metabolic health	Adam Collins	Daniele Asioli, University of Reading	Yana Petkova
Microbial food safety / animal health	New tools for Rapid Field Detection of clinical biomarkers in poultry	Inaki Deza-Cruz	Sarah Needs, University of Reading	Nicole Gilardi
Human nutrition	Anthocyanins, Microbiome and Healthy Aging	Julie Hunt	Glenn Gibson, University of Reading	Michael Sammels
Human nutrition	Interaction between Iron Status and Vitamin D Health in Ethnic Groups – Implications for Immune Function	Susan Lanham-New	Julie Lovegrove, University of Reading	Emily Brown
Food security / human nutrition	Insects as a novel source of dietary protein: Does it have legs?	Ralph Manders	Rhys Thatcher, Aberystwyth University	James Rutherford
Food safety & food authenticity	Nanoplastics in the food chain: from food, to cells, to function	Matthew Parker	Mark Dallas, University of Reading	Pooja Ram