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Post-Graduate Student Poster Competition

To be eligible for the postgraduate poster competition the presenting author must be a Student Member of NZIFST. There will be prizes for the top three posters. Evaluation criteria will be sent to registered participants in the competition.



SPEAKERS

Juliet Ansell Science Group Leader, Food & Nutrition, New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research Dr Ansell leads research exploring the interactions between food, the human gut and the resident microbial ecosystem. Of particular interest is discovering the role of microbes in biochemical and physiological processes which are essential to the development and maintenance of healthy digestive and immune systems. Part of this research is investigating potential functional food ingredients from fruit, vegetables and grains and the knowledge gained will be used in future development of elite cultivars and leading edge food products. Dr Ansell has a doctorate degree in Parasitology from Oxford University and a BSc also in Parasitology from King’s College, London. She has worked in the UK, Africa, Australia and latterly New Zealand. At Plant & Food Research, she leads major research programmes with government and industry support involving in vitro, in vivo and human clinical trial work. The research aims to better understand the interactions between micro- and macronutrients, their digestion, absorption, and fermentation as they pass through the gut and the downstream effects of foods and their metabolites on human health throughout the body. In terms of health endpoints she is interested in gut health, inflammatory conditions, weight management and metabolic disease.

John Ashton (Strategic Research Manager, Sanitarium, FAIFST), John Ashton is Strategic Research Manager for Sanitarium Health and Wellbeing, a leading producer of breakfast cereals, plant based beverages and vegetarian foods. He also serves as adjunct Professor of Applied Sciences at RMIT University and adjunct Professor of Biomedical Sciences at Victoria University in Melbourne. He holds a BSc(Hons) and PhD from the University of Newcastle and MSc from the University of Tasmania. He is a Fellow of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute and a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Food Science and Technology. During a research and teaching career spanning four decades Dr Ashton has co-authored over 100 articles and more than a dozen books. His latest book is The Chocolate Diet: How to eat chocolate and feel great about it, Harper Collins Publishers, 2011.

Professor Murat Balaban1 & Zayde Alçiçek1, 2 1 Department of Chemical & Materials Engineering, University of Auckland 2 Firat University Aquaculture Faculty, Department of Fisheries Techniques and Fish Processing Technology, Elazig, Turkey Professor Murat Balaban, has a Chair in Food Process Engineering. He joined the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Auckland from the University of Alaska where he was Professor and Director of the Fisheries Industrial Technology Centre. Commercial application of his research includes the reduction of yield loss during shrimp cooking, application of carbon monoxide to fish, and development of the hardware and software for machine vision applications in the food and agricultural areas. Other interests include the non-thermal pasteurization of liquid foods, and the development of software to facilitate every aspect of thermal processing.

Ofir Benjamin Department of Food Science, University of Otago Ofir Benjamin is a PhD candidate from Otago University. He is originally from Israel where he did his Bachelor’s degree in the Technion University, Haifa followed by a Master degree in Dairy science from Wageningen University. His major research interest is in the relationship between food model systems (e.g emulsions) to the release of flavor compounds during ingestion in the mouth. He has published couple of high impact factor publications on the topic. He developed a novel model mouth to mimic the tongue role in masticating the food under defined oral conditions. He is conducting the last part of his PhD in Fraunhofer Institute in Germany where he applies the model mouth on various food matrices and physiology conditions.

Professor Charles Brennan Department of Wine, Food and Molecular Biosciences, Lincoln University Professor Charles Brennan returned to New Zealand in September 2011 after 3 years as Head of Food Science department and Director of the Manchester Food Research Centre. He is an established senior academic with over 20 years experience. Charles has a broad knowledge base including:- plant breeding, animal nutrition, agri-business, biochemistry, food technology & engineering and human nutrition. He is an internationally recognised researcher having written over 200 scholarly works. His research interests focus on food structure and function, the role of food ingredients in manipulating the glycaemic response of individuals, optimization of food wastes to improve sustainable food production, and the utilization of extrusion technologies for the delivery of bio-active components in functional foods.

Professor David Cameron-Smith Liggins Institute Professor David Cameron-Smith is Professor in Nutrition at the Liggins Institute and works to understand the molecular mechanisms that regulate the responses to food and exercise. His research examines the biological pathways within skeletal muscle and adipose tissue that regulate muscle growth, fat storage and inflammation. The studies combine human cell culture techniques and detailed analysis of tissue samples to identify strategies to build muscle, lose fat and combat chronic inflammation, which is an underlying contributor to heart disease and diabetes..

Roger Harker Science Group Leader, Plant & Food Research Dr Roger Harker is a Principal Scientist at Plant and Food Research, Science Group Leader for the Human Responses Group (Sensory and Consumer Science and Molecular Sensing Teams) and Programme Leader for Wine Research in the Institute. Roger has over 100 scientific and technical publications and his research has supported major changes in the incentives paid to growers to produce high quality produce, helped set targets for fruit breeding programmes, and contributed to the release of new cultivars of fruit. His presentation will describe Plant and Food Research’s wine research focussing on those aspects that are relevant to the broader Food and Beverage Sector.

Lee Huffman Science Group Leader - Food Solutions, Plant & Food Research Dr. Lee Huffman is a scientist and technical manager with over 30 years experience translating science into commercial ingredients and their applications into functional foods. As the Technical Service Manager for New Zealand Milk Products Inc she worked with key customers in the USA as part of the global speciality ingredient market. Lee managed the ISO procedure for ingredient development and commercialisation from lab bench to sales for the North American office. She has also served on a Scientific Advisory Board of a FMCG international sports nutrition company. Lee joined Crop & Food Research as the science leader for the Food Concepts Unit in 2007. As Science Group Leader for Food Solutions, she now leads teams of scientists and technologists at Plant & Food Research focusing on full utilization of NZ-derived crops for food and beverage ingredients and concepts with maximum value, and minimum waste, based on knowledge of wellness and consumers. Another key role of the research is to validate functional ingredients by developing food concepts to be tested in clinical trials.

Nigel Larsen Science Group Leader, Plant & Food Research Dr Nigel Larsen is Science Group Leader for Bioresources Engineering and Chemistry in the Food Innovation Portfolio at Plant & Food Research. He is also an Adjunct Associate Professor with the Biomolecular Interactions Centre at the University of Canterbury, a Principal Investigator with the Riddet, and has been on the Biopolymer Network Research Management Team since its inception in 2004. Dr Larsen gained his PhD at Massey University and carried out Post-Doctoral studies at the University of Southern California. The Bioresources Engineering and Chemistry group at Plant & Food Research develops insight into the design of new products, processes and ingredients from research into food and bio-resources chemistry, bio-extracts and food and biomaterials engineering.

Professor Laurie Melton Food Science, University of Auckland Laurie Melton has had 35 years experience in food research . He is currently Professor of Food Science at the University of Auckland and formerly was Professor of Food Science at the University of Otago. Earlier, he worked for Unilever at Colworth House, UK. During 2009 and 2010 he was a Distinguished Visiting Scientist at CSIRO, Werribee. He is a IUFoST Fellow of the International Academy of Food Science and Technology.

John Mills Senior Scientist, AgResearch John trained initially in the UK as a medical and public health microbiologist, becoming state registered in 1981 and achieving the award of Fellow of the Institute of Medical Laboratory Sciences (FIMLS) in Bacteriology in 1983. From 1981 to 1998 he worked in clinical laboratories in the United Kingdom and New Zealand, becoming a Grade Medical laboratory Scientist in 1990. From 1993 John was also responsible for founding a new food and water laboratory to compliment his medical work. John joined the Meat Industry Research Institute of New Zealand (MIRINZ) in 1999, as laboratory manager of the meat microbiology team. He stayed with the team through the merger with AgResearch in 1999, and was subsequently promoted to scientist, then senior scientist. During this period he also graduated as Grad.Dip.B.S. and M.Sc.(Hons). He is currently the editor of the New Zealand “Meat Industry Microbiology Manual” (MIMM). John’s work includes a commercial focus, requiring a broad knowledge base of the microbial ecology of meat production, transportation and retail. In addition to refereed scientific publications John produces reports and articles for the meat industry including the Handbook of Meat and Meat Processing and Encyclopaedia of Meat Sciences. He has a particular interest in the interactions of the psychrotrophic members of the Enterobacteriaceae with meat and meat products..

Dr Suman Mishra New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research Limited, Palmerston North Dr Mishra is currently a scientist at the New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research Limited, where she works in the Nutrition and Health team, on the effects of food structure on digestibility, and on the implications for glycemic control of factors affecting the digestibility of starch. Before accepting her present position she was employed by Canterbury Health in the Biochemistry/Steroid Research group.

Dr John Monro New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research Limited, Palmerston North Dr. John Monro received his PhD in Plant Chemistry from Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand, while employed by the then Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR). His initial research was on the structure of plant cell walls, followed by research on the analysis, definition and the role of dietary fibre in health. More recently he has worked on the digestibility of available food carbohydrates and their role in the blood glucose response to food, and has published extensively on the development of in vitro methods for measuring glycaemic impact, and on communicating the glycaemic impact of food for food choice. Dr Monro is on the editorial board of several food journals and served on the American Association of Cereal Chemists Committee on the Definition of Glycemic carbohydrates. He is currently principal scientist at the New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research Limited..

Dr Tony Mutukumira Institute of Food Nutrition and Human, Massey University, Albany Campus Dr Mutukumira holds a PhD in Food Processing Technology from the Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Norway, after working on the development of fermented milks using novel lactic starter cultures. His research interests are on dairy fermentations, food preservation and food safety and emerging food preservation technologies. At present, Dr Mutukumira contributes to the delivery of papers in Food Technology Programme at Massey, Albany Campus. He is responsible for teaching food safety and quality management. In addition, he supervises research projects at honours and postgraduate levels.

Paul O'Brien Paul is proud and privileged to lead a great team of people at Easiyo where they have such an amazing product that is still a world first. Indeed Easiyo is the biggest own made yogurt brand in the World with over 2 million yogurt makers made and sold since starting 20 years ago. Paul started with Easiyo in 2011 and is thoroughly enjoying the challenges of a NZ global nutritional business now selling over $30m worth of value added dairy exports. Prior to this Paul was CEO of Good Health, GM of Blackmore’s and early in his career worked for pharmaceutical companies both in NZ and Australia. Paul has a MBA and Diploma in Marketing from Auckland University, was born and bred in the Waikato and is a big fan of research so is thrilled to speak to this conference.

Professor Indrawati Oey Department of Food Science, University of Otago Prof. Oey (Food Science, University of Otago, Professional member of NZIFST) has expertise in kinetics and mechanisms of chemical and enzymatic reactions of plant-based food materials under conventional thermal processing, high hydrostatic pressure and pulsed electric field (PEF) processing. She is interested in exploring the use of food processing to improve food quality and health functionality. She has worked in this field for >15 years and been involved in several European Commission Projects on novel food processing technologies. She was the Chair of Training and Career Development for EU-funded NovelQ project (Novel processing methods for the production and distribution of high-quality and safe foods, 2006-2008). She has recently established a state-of-art PEF facility at Otago that can be used for solid and pumpable food products available for research and industrial trials. She has published >150 research papers including book chapters, international journal articles, critical reviews articles, proceedings articles and (inter)national conferences presentations.

Phil O’Reilly Phil O’Reilly is Chief Executive of BusinessNZ, New Zealand’s largest business advocacy group, representing thousands of businesses of all sizes. Internationally, Mr. O’Reilly represents New Zealand employers at the International Labour Organisation, contributes to the governing body of the ILO, and is a Board member of the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD. Nationally, he chairs the Government’s Green Growth Advisory Group, the Capitalising on Research & Development Action Group and the Redundancy & Employment Transition Advisory Group, and is joint chair of the New Zealand Workplace Health & Safety Council and board member of the Innovation Board of the Ministry of Science & Innovation and the Council of the Royal Society of NZ. He serves on a number of other Ministerial and advisory groups.

Professor Margot Skinner New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research Limited & University of Auckland Professor Margot Skinner is a member of the Joint Graduate School in Plant and Food Science, and also a Principal Scientist at Plant and Food Research. She leads a team developing Wellness Foods which add value to New Zealand’s primary products. The work investigates potential health benefits of fruits, vegetables and the bioactives they contain using a high though-put bioassay platform, and developing novel fruit and vegetable ingredients with defined health benefits to make prototype functional foods targeting protection from oxidative stress and inflammation, and digestive health and immune support.

Dr Bronwen Smith Food Science, University of Auckland Dr. Bronwen Smith is a Senior Lecturer and the Deputy Director of the Food Science Programmes at the University of Auckland. She is interested in food microstructure particularly the fundamental chemical and microstructural composition of the cell walls of plant species as these contribute to the fibre component of the diet and confer texture to fruit and vegetables. Understanding wall chemistry provides insight for changes that occur during plant growth and development, determining successful processing and preservation techniques as well as their potential functionality in human health and well-being.

Karen Sparrow Plant Exports Manager, Import & Exports Standards, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Wellington. Karen Sparrow is the Plant Exports Manager within the Plant Food and Environment Directorate at the Ministry for Primary Industries (formerly MAF). She is responsible for the phytosanitary (plant health) export system for plants and plant products, including forestry, certifying exports valued at over $5 billion per year. Her team worked closely with Ministry of Foreign Affairs when New Zealand took Australia to the World Trade Organisation to request access for apples. Karen started work as a Food Technologist and worked in the ice cream, food stabiliser and dairy industries for 23 years. She was a professional member of NZIFST during this time. While at Fonterra she worked closely with the New Zealand Food Safety Authority on market access issues and projects including Dairy Ecert. In 2005 Karen joined MAF to work in the export area, continuing her association with Ecert, however changing her focus from food to plant health.

Dongxiao Sun-Waterhouse PhD, MSc, ME, MNZIFST, Research Team Leader, Senior Scientist, Plant & Food Research Dongxiao is a Research Team Leader (Food Science & Development) of Plant & Food Research and a professional member of NZIFST. She has a PhD & MSc in Food Science, an ME & BE in Food Engineering, and has worked in and with international food industries, academia and CRI. Dongxiao has significantly contributed to various FRST/MSI science programmes including Wellness Foods (as food objective leader), Nutrigenomics and Foods for Appetite Control (as a key food scientist). In the past 5 years, she has authored or co-authored 30 scientific journal papers, 4 book chapters, 36 institute/client reports, 48 conference papers, 5 trade secrets, and 15 novel concept foods. Dongxiao’s strength is the smart use of technological and health synergies for plant-based food design and innovation. Her current research is focused on the interactions between plant bioactives and food components in whole/finished food systems, and optimising functionality/clinical effects of bioactive components in food/diet matrix during processing and handling.

Kevin Sutton Research Team Leader, Senior Scientist, Plant and Food Research, Lincoln Research Centre Kevin is a Research Team Leader (Food Components & Functionality) in the Food Innovation portfolio at the New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research. Kevin did his first degree and PhD in mechanistic organic chemistry at the University of Canterbury, followed by a 3 year post-doctoral fellowship at Oxford University in the UK studying the stereoselective synthesis of antibiotics. Kevin has authored or co-authored 81 scientific papers, one patent, and numerous reports for industry. He is a member of the Royal Society of NZ, the NZ Institute of Chemistry, and the Royal Australian Chemical Institute. Kevin’s current research interests are in the role of phytochemicals and macromolecules in human chemosensory function and health, the development of instrumental and analytical techniques for determining structure-function relationships for molecules with health implications, the relationship between grain-based food biopolymer composition, structure, functionality and nutritional value, and the use of plant-derived biopolymers as bionanomaterials.

David Tanner B.Hort Tech, PhD, General Manager - Psa Innovation, ZESPRI International Limited David Tanner joined ZESPRI in February 2007 as Technical Manager - Global Supply Chain. He progressed in the company to hold the position of General Manager – Quality & Innovation and was responsible for management and development of all Quality/Technical functions including compliance programs, quality systems, product management into market, packaging and the Innovation function, covering strategic oversight of R&D portfolios. With the onset of Psa, a decision was made in July 2011, to create a focused role of General Manager – Psa Innovation and David accepted the challenge to lead this activity. Prior to joining ZESPRI, David spent 13 years managing and conducting commercially-focused research and development, in both New Zealand and Australia, with specialist experience in refrigeration and packaging. David has a Bachelors degree in Horticultural Technology and a PhD in Food Engineering from Massey University. David has also been active in the International Institute of Refrigeration (IIR), and is immediate Past President of the Science and Technology Council of this global, intergovernmental organization.

John R Taylor Professor of Food Science, Institute for Food, Nutrition and Well-being, University of Pretoria, South Africa John Taylor holds a DSc in Food Science from the University of Pretoria and a PhD in Plant Biochemistry from the University of Nottingham, Trent. His research interests include research and development work into the quality and processing of southern African cereal grains, particularly sorghum and millet, with the aim of increasing the utilisation of cereals and cereal-based foods, and thus improving regional food security and developing local cereals industries. His areas of special expertise include sorghum and millet grain ultrastructure; sorghum storage proteins, nutritional quality, enzymes, starches, protein bioplastics, baking, malting and brewing and science and technology. An equally important aspect of this mission is to help food scientists, food industry and people in the community in sub-Saharan Africa to develop their skills, so that they will be able to contribute to development in their own countries. John is author and co-author of some 120 peer-reviewed scientific papers, 21 book chapters and >100 technical reports to the food industry; editor and co-editor of 8 books and conference proceedings .

Matt Templeton Associate Professor, Plant and Food Research, Mt Albert Research Centre Matt Templeton is the leader of the Host-pathogen interactions team at Plant & Food Research. His current research interest is the molecular basis for host-specificity and pathogenicity of plant pathogenic bacteria and fungi. His main project is isolating effector proteins from the plant pathogenic bacterium Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae (Psa). His team has been using next generation sequencing technologies to identify candidate effectors and understand the evolution of pathogenicity. He is a member of the Bioprotection Centre for Research Excellence and currently president of the New Zealand Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

Dr Simon Thornley Epidemiology & Biostatistics, University of Auckland Dr. Simon Thornley is a Public Health Physician, Professional Teaching Fellow and researcher in the section of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of Auckland. My research interests include tobacco dependence, food addiction and obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, psychiatric disease, injury and environmental epidemiology. He has recently co-authored a book which explores a controversial re-interpretation of the cause of the global obesity epidemic, entitled: “Sickly sweet: sugar, refined carbohydrate, addiction and global obesity”.

Joel Vanneste Senior Scientist,The New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Ltd Joel Vanneste is a plant bacteriologist working for plant & Food Research in Hamilton. He has been working on Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae (Psa), which causes bacterial canker of kiwifruit, since the outbreak of this disease in Italy early 2009. He has been working very closely with the New Zealand industry, with government agencies such MAFBNZ and with several overseas and New Zealand laboratories. His work has focused on the molecular characterisation of strains of Psa and on the development of control methods. Prior to Psa, he studied the movement and survival of Pseudomonas syringae in the environment, designed some polymerase chain reaction protocols for the detection of different pathogenic bacteria, developed a biological control agent now on the market in New Zealand for the control of a bacterial disease of apple and pear (fire blight) and determined the genetic basis of streptomycin and copper resistance in plant associated bacteria.

Richard Volz Senior Scientist, Plant and Food Research, Hawke’s Bay Research Centre, Havelock North. My first full-time job as a 20-year old BSc graduate was as a technician working with Dr Don McKenzie, the father of ‘Gala’ apple, at the Havelock North office of the then DSIR. Don introduced me to the fascinating world of the apple and in particular his collections of apple cultivars and breeding populations. After an OE I returned to university to graduate from Massey with a PhD in Horticultural Science in 1992. From 1994 to 2001 I was employed by HortResearch as a postharvest scientist based in the Hawke’s Bay that included a post-doc at UC Davis in 1996 working on ‘Fuji’ apple. However in 2001 I changed research direction to become an apple and pear breeder – leading and co-ordinating HortResearch’s (now Plant and Food Research) apple and pear cultivar breeding programmes. Since 2001 five apple and pear cultivars have been commercialized from the programme including SmittenTM, LemonadeTMand RockitTM apples and VelvatineTM pear.

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