Nanomaterials Food Scientist wins Young Scientist Award
June 27, 2024 – Dr. Tianxi Yang has won a Young Scientist Award from IUFoST (International Union of Food Science and Technology). One of eight global winners of this award, Dr. Yang will be presenting her research on Advancing Food Safety and Sustainability Using Innovations in Analytical Techniques and Nanomaterials at the organization’s upcoming World Congress of Food Science and Technology in Rimini, Italy, this September.
As an Assistant Professor in Food Science, Dr. Yang uses emerging technology to improve safety and sustainability in the agri-food system – by introducing novel ways to detect chemical and biological contaminants in food and beverages and introducing ‘smart’ food packaging materials created from upcycled materials.
She has focussed on producing ground breaking results in nanosensor development, working across disciplines to apply analytical chemistry with nanotechnology and machine learning. Her novel nanosensors have wide applications and are used to detect pesticides in plants and produce, as well as nano- and micro-plastics in food and liquids, and to design ‘smart’ nanomaterials to advance precision agriculture and create sustainable packaging materials.
Before joining UBC in 2022, Dr. Yang worked at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in Chicago as a chemist and ORISE Research Fellow (Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education) who conducted research in novel biosensors for virus detection and next-generation food packaging.
Since joining UBC in 2022, Dr. Yang has led research in the Food Analytical Techniques and Material Engineering (FATME). She is the guest editor for two journals (Micromachines and Biosensors), and has been published in more than 40 journals covering a wide range of disciplines in nanotechnology, chemistry, food science, and material science (Nature Nanotechnology, Analytical Chemistry, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, Journal of Hazardous Materials, Biosensors and Bioelectronics, Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, etc.)
As a young scientist, she is pioneering ways to improve food safety and sustainability.
Learn more about Dr. Yang: https://www.landfood.ubc.ca/tianxi-yang/