I am professionally qualified as a chemist and a physicist and my early PhD research was in solid state physics. After post-doctoral studies funded by fellowships from the Ministry of Defence, the Medical Research Council and ICI, I  joined the Quadram Institute Bioscience in 1979, with a brief to introduce molecular biophysical methods into food science.

This research at Quadram Institute Bioscience has focused on the use of physical techniques to understand the nature of complex food structures. My most recent interest has been focused on food structure and health and includes research on molecular structure at interfaces, starch structure and function and the molecular basis for the bioactivity of plant carbohydrates.

At Quadram Institute Bioscience I am involved in the pioneering use of atomic force microscopy and force spectroscopy to probe the molecular structure of foods. These methods have allowed solutions to previously intractable complex problems in food science.

I am an ISI ‘highly-cited’ researcher in Agricultural Sciences, a fellow of the Institute of Physics, the Royal Society of Chemistry, the Institute of Food Science and Technology and the International Academy of Food Science and Technology. I was awarded an MBE for my services to food science and I was the first winner of the Food Hydrocolloid Trust Medal. More details of my research interests are given at http://www.quadram.ac.uk/spm/

Key Publications

Miles MJ, Morris VJ, Orford PD & Ring SG. The roles of amylose and amylopectin in the gelation and retrogradation of starch. Carbohydrate Research 135 (1985) 271-281.

Mackie, AR, Gunning, AP, Wilde, PJ & Morris, VJ 1999 The orogenic displacement of protein from the air/water interface by competitive adsorption. J Colloid & Interface Sci. 210, 157-166.

Gunning AP, Bongaerts RJM & Morris VJ.Recognition of galactan components of pectin by galectin-3. FASEB J. 23, 415–424 (2009).

Morris V. J. & Gunning A. P. Microscopy, microstructure and displacement of proteins from interfaces Soft Matter 4 943-951 2008.

Maxwell EG, Belshaw NJ, Waldron KW & Morris VJ. 2012 Pectin- An emerging new bioactive polysaccharide. Trends in Food Science and Technology 24, 64-73