My expertise resides both in the clinical and laboratory space. My key roles are to provide advice on design and implementation of dietary intervention trials/sensory evaluation studies with expertise in using a crops to clinic approach.

My training as a registered nurse, food scientist and a dental fellow has provided me a broad background and a unique expertise in conducting dietary intervention trials from a perspective of a clinician and scientist.

My research takes a crops to the clinic approach by translating food and crop innovations into dietary intervention trials.

I have over 20 years of experience in using various food processing strategies to improve the bioavailability of dietary food components as well as optimise food structures to enhance exposure of food bioactive components to localized and systemic targets.

At the Quadram Institute, I am a part of the QIB human studies team which is a translational research team dedicated to facilitating the delivery and management of human studies and human samples.

Specifically, I am focused on the delivery of dietary intervention studies both in humans and rodent models. Of my 48 publications, 33 involve human samples and of those 16 were dietary intervention trials involving food ingredients from crop innovations and/or development of novel food products.

Currently, I am the principal investigator on five dietary intervention trials. My group and the human studies team as a whole thrives on facilitating collaborative integration between bench scientists, crop scientists and clinicians both locally and internationally.

Education and training

• Bachelor of Science in Nursing – LAC-USC Medical Center School of Nursing
• Bachelor of Science in Cellular and Molecular Biology  – California State University, Northridge
• Master of Science in Food Science and Nutrition – The Ohio State University
• Doctorate in Food Science and Nutrition – The Ohio State University
• National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research Postdoctoral Fellow – The Ohio State University

Responsibilities

• Support the initiation, planning, and obtention of regulatory approvals as well as study management and delivery of human studies
• Provide food safety and hygiene advice and oversight in compliance with the Food Standards Agency regulations
• Design, develop, and produce test foods and meals for intervention studies both for human and animal studies
• Provide formalised training in conducting human studies as well as in safe and hygienic food preparation for human consumption
• Provide expertise in standardised food analysis/quality methods, provide training in using food analysis equipment, and sensory testing design
• Provide insight into dietary tools (FFQ, 24-hr diet recall, and diet records) and controlled diets for dietary intervention trials.
• Curator of QI kitchens (QIB experimental kitchen, QI CRF Research and Unit kitchens)
• Principal Investigator of QIB participant database
• Administrator/point of contact for REDCap software, VioCare FFQ, and ALS laboratory