Joint Graduate School in Plant and Food Science
Human nutrition
Find below a description of our research in this area, and a list of potential supervisers.
About our research in human nutrition
Plant & Food Research has an extensive knowledge of the healthy compounds in natural produce, their components and structures, how they interact with other components and how they influence human health. Plant & Food scientists identify components and combinations of components from fruits, vegetables, grains and seafood that offer health benefits and is defining the mechanisms that bring about improved health.
The University of Auckland has significant research expertise in a broad range of states of disease and health, including improved performance of brain and body, many of which are underpinned by nutrition. The University is also experienced in managing clinical trials and population health interventions enabling the validation of health claims and measuring the effectiveness of attempts to change nutritional behaviour. A notable aspect of Plant & Food’s food research is the relationship between food and food components with human gene response, specifically in the area of aroma volatile perception (gastronomics), and together with the University, in health and wellbeing (nutritional genomics).
If you have any questions or would like to discuss graduate research opportunities in more detail, please email jgs-auckland@plantandfood.co.nz
Dr Kerry Bentley-Hewitt
Plant & Food Research
Areas of supervision:
- Gut immunology
- Cell culture
- Gut commensals
Associate Professor David Christie
University of Auckland, School of Biological Sciences
Areas of supervision:
- Studies of membrane transporters required for uptake of nutrients, or that act metabolic sensors in relation to human nutrition
- Use of cultured mammalian neurons to identify nutriceuticals that may modify behaviour or enhance brain function
Professor Lynnette Ferguson
University of Auckland, School of Medical Sciences
Area of supervision:
- Gene-diet interactions in prostate cancer
- Role of dietary intervention in aggressive prostate cancer
- Gene-diet interactions in inflammatory bowel diseases
- Role of diet in mainetnance of remission in inflammatory bowel disease
Dr John Ingram
Plant & Food Research
Areas of supervision:
- Regulation of food intake and energy balance in humans
- Role of taste receptors and nutrient transporters in nutrient sensing in the the GI tract
- Role of phytochemicals in modulating macronutrient absorption in the gut
- Adaptive response in humans to exercise and psychological and physical stress
- Modelling hormone secretion and neuroendocrine function
Dr William Laing
Plant & Food Research
Areas of supervision:
- Plant metabolism and its control, especially ascorbate biosynthesis
- Nutrigenomics, or gene specific food including mouse models and proteomics approaches
- Plant genomics and transcription factor identification
- Identification of genes that encode enzymes important in metabolism
Dr Duncan McGillivray
University of Auckland, School of Chemical Sciences
Areas of supervision:
- Phospholipid interactions with antioxidants / proteins / ingredients
- Effects of pressure on protein structures
- Molecular structures of digestion mechanisms
- Oxidative damage to food
- Structural changes of food materials due to processing
Dr Cliona Ni Mhurchu
University of Auckland, Clinical Trials Research Unit
Areas of supervision:
- Public health nutrition
- Dietary interventions
- Clinical trials
- Obesity
- Cardiovascular disease
Dr Doug Rosendale
Plant & Food Research
Area of supervision:
- Honey: NZ indigenous (manuka and other) honey analysis, composition, wound healing and antimicrobial activity
- Food-microbe-host interactions: how food such as dietary fibre, which escapes digestion and reaches the lower gastrointestinal tract, modulates growth of the gut microbiota, and how these and their metabolic byproducts in turn engage in cross-talking with the host to result in gut health changes
- High-throughput bioassays, predominantly focusing on bacterial growth, fermentation, enzyme activity and biotransformation of food and other natural compounds
Dr Viji Sarojini
University of Auckland, School of Chemical Sciences
Areas of supervision:
- Plant diseases: Fire Blight and Bacterial Canker of kiwi fruit
- Antimicrobial peptides to inhibit bacterial biofilms
- Model peptides with antiodixant properties
- Dietary amino acids and proteins
- Molecular mechanism of taste
Dr Arjan Scheepens
Plant & Food Research
Areas of supervision:
- 'Mood Foods' (functional foods that have an appreciable effect on mood in terms of reducing stress, increasing cognitive performance and energy)
- Neuro-active compounds from plants (including food crops, NZ native plants, and food industry waste streams)
- Drug-discovery research (using high throuput screening methodologies, activity guided fractionation, in vivo testing and human clinical trials)
- Functional foods (formulation, stability, and consumer acceptability)
- Bioavailability and pharmacokinetics of natural compounds (foucus on manipulation of xenobiotic processing machinery)
Professor Margot Skinner
Plant & Food Research
The University of Auckland
Areas of supervision:
- Immunonutrition, including inflammation
- Health benefits of fruit-based functional foods in areas of immune support and gut health
- Antioxidants and oxidative stress
- 'Wellness' benefits of food that consumers can perceive or 'feel'
- Foods for healthy ageing
Dr Bronwen Smith
University of Auckland, School of Chemical Sciences
Areas of supervision:
- Plant cell walls, including their composition and architecture, changes with development and influence on human health
- Food texture and microstructure, and breakdown of food in the mouth
- Plant foods in general
Dr Jingli Zhang
Plant & Food Research
Areas of supervision:
- In Vitro evaluation of food ingredients for human health
- Evaluation of immunechemical biomarkers for human clinical intervention study
- Extraction, identification, and in vitro testing of biological activities of plant-based nutritional compounds
