Meet the FoodBioSystems DTP Alumni

Sara Healy
2020-24 cohort
Project title: Assessing the food-borne risks of Toxocara infection in support of public health and food quality assurance
Academic Partner: Queen’s University Belfast
Tell us a bit about your project
Toxocara is a parasite transmitted by infected cats, dogs and foxes which can lead to severe clinical disease in humans if they become infected, including brain disorders, blindness and organ damage. Contaminated food is believed to play a part in human infections, but currently we don’t fully understand the risk it poses or test for it during food production processes.
What have you enjoyed most about DTP training so far?
My project investigates the risk of food-borne Toxocara transmission to humans and the impact of possible intervention measures to ensure food is safe to consume, thus protecting public health. My upcoming focus is to assess the prevalence of Toxocara eggs on lettuce leaves and to look for the presence of larvae in meat and blood antibodies against Toxocara in farm animals.
During the first year of my project I enjoyed meeting (virtually so far) the other PhD students on the programme, learning more about their research and supporting each other. We also learned more about food systems, and how your project fits in to this on a wider level. I really like that the DTP can provide further training workshops/courses which can be tailored to each candidate depending on their interests and needs.

Charlotte Howard
2020-24 cohort
Project title: Enhancing the sustainability and improving quality of apple production through ecosystem service management
Co-supervised at: Cranfield University
This is a CASE studentship and the project is supported by an agriculture company.
What is your project about and why is it relevant to the UK food system?
The aim of my project is to investigate the use of wildflower areas in commercial apple orchards for supporting the natural predators and parasites of major apple pests. Ultimately, I aim to provide relevant information for apple growers about wildflower margins as a tool for reducing reliance on chemical pesticides.
What have you enjoyed most about your DTP training so far?
I have enjoyed the sense of community that comes from being part of a cohort. It has also been very interesting to learn from those in the cohort about the work being done outside of my own research area

Dannielle Roche
2020-24 cohort
Project title: Biostimulants improve soil and plant conditions to enhance the health-related properties of fresh produce
Co-supervised at: University of Reading
This is a CASE studentship and the project is supported by a food retailer
What is your project about and why is it relevant to the UK food system?
Growing enough food to feed 10 billion people by 2050 is a global challenge. However, less attention is paid to improving nutritional quality of food and how this impacts human health. Biostimulants, natural products, have the potential to improve crop quantity and quality thereby supporting the food system, from the ground up.
What are you looking forward to doing next in your project?
I am looking forward to using initial pilot data collected so far in the lab to navigate my way through my experimental phases in order to answer my research questions that I have developed in the early stages of my PhD.

Christina van Midden
2020-24 cohort
Project title: Using organic fertilisers to manipulate soil microbiology for improved nutrient bioavailability
Co-supervised at: University of Reading. I have a CASE studentship and the project is supported by a non academic partner.
What is your project about and why is it relevant to the UK food system?
When fertilisers are applied to crops, some of the nutrients are lost to the atmosphere as greenhouse gases, contributing to climate change and creating difficulties for food production. A healthy soil stores nutrients from fertiliser application, reducing greenhouse gas emissions. However much of our agricultural soil is degraded and this soil function is being lost, therefore my work aims to reverse this trend by using anaerobic digestate, a by-product of biogas production.
What have you enjoyed most about your DTP training so far?
I have enjoyed the interactive and imaginative training provided by the Walker Institute. They did a good job demonstrating how our role as researchers can fit into policy decisions concerning climate change at national and international levels.
What challenges have you met so far in your project?
The main challenge was the restriction to facilities caused by Covid-19. I was unable to talk other lab users, who are an underrated source of information on how labs work and analysis techniques available. To overcome this, me and a fellow DTP student created a soil researcher group where any student at the university working with soil could join to talk and ask questions about soil research at Cranfield.