Gloria Hernandez-Rodriguez publishes her new study titled "Enzymatic degradation of proteinaceous Pickering particles – A strategy to induce demulsification" in Food Chemistry. Demulsification of Pickering emulsions can be achieved by reducing the stability of particles at the interface by significantly lowering the detachment energy (ΔGd) through changes in interfacial tension (γ), the 3-phase contact angle (θ),...
Welcome Yi Huang to Sarkar Lab! Yi is a new PhD student supervised by Dr. Siavash Soltanahmadi and co-supervised by Prof. Anwesha Sarkar. Her PhD research will focus on the structure–function relationships of biofoams, particularly how foams stabilised by natural biomolecules behave under tribologically-relevant conditions. By combining structural and compositional characterisation with in vitro tribological...
Bianca Hazt (PhD Student, SOFI2 CDT, Reckitt) was awarded a runner-up poster prize at the Bragg Exchange 2026, which took place on Tuesday 20th and Wednesday 21st January. Her poster was entitled Designing bioinspired microgels for enhanced mucosal adhesion. Related work of Bianca can be seen in her published work: Hazt B, Read DJ, Harlen...
Dr. Daisy Akgönüllü (ex-PhD student, SOFI CDT, PepsiCo) published her recent work titled "Investigating the Interfacial Structure of Potato Protein Microgels at the Air–Water Interface" in Langmuir in collaboration with co-athors from School of Physics and Astronomy and Pepisco, US and UK. Using a very complementary suite of techniques including internal structure analysis via small-angle...
Huge congratulations to Dr. Megan Holdstock (SOFI 2 CDT and Nestle) on passing her PhD viva with editorial corrections on her thesis titled “Dispersion Behaviour of Insoluble Protein Particles in Non-aqueous Media, with Relevance to Confectionery Systems”. Megan was examined by Assoc. Prof. Maya Davidovich-Pinhas from Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Israel (External Examiner) and Dr. Amin Sadeghpour...
Welcome Dr. Yashaswani Premit to Sarkar Lab! Yashaswini joins as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the School of Food Science & Nutrition (University of Leeds) funded by the National Alternative Protein Innovation Centre (NAPIC) Collaborative Funding Program (CPF) ‘NutriOpt’ project in partnership with MicroLub Ltd. In this project, she will assess the potential of a...
Dr. Ben Kew (NAPIC R&I Fellow) publishes his new work titled "Unveiling plant protein astringency perception through neural and cellular responses" in Scientific Reports. In this interdisciplinary study combining astringency ratings from participants (n = 134 total participants) with functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) and saliva-coated mucinous cell lines, Ben specifically demonstrates that isolated plant proteins are...
Huge congratulations to Dr. Daisy Z. Akgonullu (SOFI 2 CDT and PepsiCo) on passing her PhD viva with editorial corrections on her thesis titled “Potato Protein-Based Microgels: From Bulk to Interface”. Daisy was examined by Prof. Milena Corrideg from Aarhus University, Denmark (External Examiner) and Dr. David Harbottle from School of Chemical and Process Engineering...
Massive congratulations to Dr. Ben Kew (Research & Innovation Fellow, NAPIC), on being awarded the IMechE Tribology Bronze Medal by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE), London today for his outstanding work on "oral tribology of alternative proteins" Ben says “I am deeply honoured to receive this prestigious medal… It is truly remarkable to be...
Welcome Subrahmanyam Kadavakollu (Subbu) to Sarkar Lab as a Visiting PhD Student funded by the Commonwealth Split-Site Fellowship (UK). Subbu is currently pursuing his PhD in Food Process Engineering at the National Institute of Technology, Rourkela, India. His research focuses on understanding and modifying the structural and functional properties of millet starch and proteins to...
