FOOD SCIENCE GROUP
The Food Science program focuses on the biochemistry, microbiology, safety, processing, engineering, and biotechnology of novel and traditional food systems. Foods Science research activities focus on ensuring food security at the local, national, and international level through improving availability, wholesomeness, safety, and nutritional quality of food. Our graduates from the undergraduate and graduate programs fill the demand for food scientists in the food industry, government, and academic institutions.
Research
Faculty Members In The Food Science Group
Dr. Tianxi Yang
Assistant Professor, Food Science
I am interested in developing innovative analytical technologies and advanced materials to improve the safety, sustainability, and resilience of agri-food systems. My current research focuses on using interdisciplinary approaches to develop food nanosensors, advance nanotechnology-enabled agriculture, and create sustainable packaging materials.
Dr. Derek Dee
Assistant Professor, Food Science
My research focuses on protein folding, dynamics and aggregation. Topics of interest range from protein misfolding disease (e.g., prions), functional amyloid (e.g., bacterial amyloid in biofilm formation), and engineering protein nanofibrils for food applications, to examining the conformational energy landscapes that underlie protein structure-function relationships.
Dr. Vivien Measday
Associate Professor, Wine Research Centre
My current research is the study of chromosome segregation in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae (S. cerevisiae) using molecular biology and genomic tools. I am interested in understanding how chromosomes attach to spindle microtubules and segregate equally in mitosis.
Dr. Siyun Wang
Associate Professor, Food Safety Engineering
I am interested in the virulence factors, stress response, and pathogenesis of microorganisms that post major threats to food safety and public health. I use molecular biology and genomic approaches to develop novel, rapid and reliable detection methods for foodborne pathogens.
Dr. Anubhav Pratap-Singh
Assistant Professor, Food Processing
My current research focuses on examining the impact of novel food processing technologies on food safety and quality. I am also developing novel extraction technologies for in-situ extraction and decontamination of bioactives, functional ingredients and nutraceuticals from plant components.
Dr. John Frostad
Assistant Professor, Chemical and Biological Engineering
My group develops and employs new experimental techniques for quantifying the effects of interfacial phenomena in multiphase liquids including foams and emulsions. One target of this research is improving formulation of food products and developing new functional foods.
Dr. David Kitts
Professor, Food Science
My research discipline is Food Chemistry and Toxicology, with a particular focus on the cellular and molecular mechanisms of both nutrient and food toxicant action in living organisms. I also examine the mechanisms of antioxidant and prooxidant activity for naturally occurring animal and plant constituents.
Dr. Rickey Yada
Professor, Dean
I am interested in the structure-function relationships of food and non-food related enzymes using molecular biology and various physico-chemical techniques, carbohydrate metabolism in potatoes as related to process quality, and applications of food-related nanoscale science and technology.
Adjunct Professors
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Margaret Cliff, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
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Pascal Delaquis, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
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Moussa Diarra, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
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Michael Lyon
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Gary Sandberg, British Columbia Institute of Technology
Facilities
The Food Science Undergraduate program utilizes a number of campus facilities for teaching purposes. Specialized facilities available include those for tissue culture, biosafety level 2, sensory evaluation, and pilot plant equipment for food preparation and processing. Labs are centrally located on campus at 2205 East Mall.
FNH Pilot Plant
The pilot plant facility at the Food, Nutrition, and Health (FNH) Building includes equipment specifically for the Food Engineering/Processing experiments and is food-grade. This facility is used for teaching in FNH325/326 and for student projects in FNH425, FNH497, and FNH499.
FNH Research Labs
The research labs on the second and third floor at the Food, Nutrition, and Health (FNH) Building are used year-round for Graduate research, and on a by permission basis for undergraduate students in FNH425, FNH497, and FNH499. These labs have a wide assortment of analytical equipment and reagents.
FNH 325/326, 425 Laboratories
Undergraduate teaching laboratories for FNH325/326 and FNH 425 are located at the McMillan Building (2357 Main Mall, UBC Point Grey Campus). These adjacent laboratory rooms are equipped specifically for Food Chemistry/Analysis and Food Microbiology experiments.
Sensory Facility
The sensory laboratory at the Food, Nutrition, and Health (FNH) Building includes 14 individual booths with variable light capabilities and a large conference table used for sensory training. This room is adjacent to a separate kitchen for preparing food samples. The sensory laboratory is used for teaching in FNH325/326 and FNH302 and for product testing in FNH425, FNH497, and FNH499.
MICB 353 Laboratory
This recently renovated laboratory is a fully equipped microbiology laboratory used for teaching and analysis in MICB353.
Vij’s Kitchen
The renovated culinary lab, called Vij’s Kitchen, is comprised of six kitchen stations, a demonstration kitchen, and new audiovisual equipment. Facilities are used by the Food Science program for FNH 325, FNH 425, FNH 497 and FNH 499.
Other Facilities
Students may also perform work for their FNH425, FNH497, or FNH499 projects at the laboratories of private company sponsors, the Wine Research Centre (FNH Building, UBC Point Grey Campus), Department of Fisheries and Oceans (West Vancouver Laboratory), Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada research stations (Summerland, BC and Agassiz, BC). Work at these facilities is supervised and times are arranged on a student project basis.
FNH Study Areas
These study areas are located at the Food, Nutrition, and Health (FNH) Building and are suitable for personal or group studying.
Western Nutrition Research Centre
The Western Nutrition Research Centre (WNRC) is affiliated with the department of Food, Nutrition and Health and caters to the natural health product and functional food industries.
Teaching Facilities
Teaching is done in classrooms of varying sizes in the Food, Nutrition, and Health Building and in the MacMillan Building. All classrooms are equipped with computerized audio/visual equipment.
LFS Learning Centre
The Land and Food Systems Learning Centre provides Information and Communication Technology within the Faculty. In addition to providing computers, network, lab, AV and web support, The Learning Centre supplies resources and infrastructure to provide the best in teaching and learning tools available.
Other research facilities are accessed through the Wine Research Centre, the Networks of Centres of Excellence, the ‘Western Nutrition Research Centre, the Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, the Bioimaging Facility, the Centre for Blood Research, the Michael Smith Laboratories, and through collaborations with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.
Equipment
The Food Science Undergraduate program has research laboratories with a wide complement of analytical instrumentation, including: electrophoretic analysis and imaging instrumentation, chromatography systems including FPLC, HPLC, GC, GC-MS, spectrometers including UV-visible, fluorescence, FTIR, and circular dichroism, microtitre plate readers, porosity meter, ultra-centrifuge, PCR equipment, Gene Chip Fluidic station and hybridization oven, texture analyzer, and Hunterlab colorimeter. The Food, Nutrition and Health pilot plant and facility in the Wesbrook Building (6174 University Boulevard) are equipped for food preparation and processing.
Autoclave, Barnstead
Kjeldahl Analysis Distillation Unit, Büchi K-350
Biosafety Cabinet, NuAire
Benchtop Spectrophotometer, Hunterlab LabScan XE
Muffle Furnace, Thermolyne F62700
Superspeed Centrifuge, Sorvall RC 5B Plus
Multimode Multiplate Reader, Tecan Spark 10M
UV-Vis Spectrophotometer, Shimadzu UV-160
Bulk Tray Vacuum Freeze Drier, Labconco
GC-MS, Perkin Elmer
HS-GC-FID, Perkin Elmer
Incubator Shaker, New Brunswick Scientific C25KC
HPLC, Agilent 1260
Microwave Moisture Analyzer, Sartorius-Omnimark
Spray Drier, LabPlant SD-04
Vacuum Microwave Drying Oven
Open Top Kettle
Retort (Laboratory Food Sterilizer)
Industrial Can Sealer
Texture Analyzer, TA XT Plus
Academic
Undergraduate
Graduate
Industry Advisory Board
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Margaret Daskis, President, Fresh Ideas and Solutions
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David Eto, CEO and Executive Director at BC Dairy Association
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Karl Li, Quality Assurance and Research and Development Manager,Pace Processing
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Thu Pham, Director of Research and Development/Quality Control, Olympic Dairy
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Musleh Uddin, Ph. D. (Food Science) Director of Corporate Quality Assurance Intercity Packers Ltd.
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Nilmini Wijewickreme, Director, Agriculture Laboratories, SGS Canada Inc.
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Wendy Willis, World Class Supply Chain Manager, Molson Coors Canada