Principal Investigator
Professor Anwesha Sarkar
Anwesha Sarkar (A.Sarkar@leeds.ac.uk) is Professor of Colloids and Surfaces at the University of Leeds, UK. Her international research trajectory spans from academic institutions to industries in India, New Zealand, Switzerland and United Kingdom.
Prof. Sarkar received her BTech (Dairy Engineering) and MS (Food Technology) from India. Then she did PhD in Food Technology from Massey University, New Zealand (2010) in colloidal aspects of lipid digestion and worked for 4 years in Nestle Research (Lausanne) and Nestle Global Headquarters (Vevey) in Switzerland before joining University of Leeds. Prof. Sarkar is the PI of the prestigious ERC (European Research Council) Starting Grant funded Project LUBSAT (2017-22) to discover oral lubrication mechanisms and its effects on oro-sensory satiety and PI of ERC Proof of Concept (PoC) Project AQUALUB (2020-22) to develop salivary substitutes with optimal oral lubrication properties. She is also the Theme Lead in the EPSRC-CDT (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council-Centre for Doctoral Training) in 'Molecules to Product' (2019-27) and a key academic supervisor in EPSRC-CDT in 'Soft Matter for Formulation and Industrial Innovation' (2019-28). Prof. Sarkar was the Conference Chair of the 17th Food Colloids Conference (2018), the reputed biennial conference in the field of physical chemistry of complex foods at Leeds, UK and has served as Guest Editors for Advances in Colloid and Interface Science as well as Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects. She is the editorial board member of journals, Food Hydrocolloids and Journal of Texture Studies. Prof. Sarkar has been recognized by the Women of Achievement Roll of Honour 2018 at University of Leeds for her recent contributions to the field of colloid science and oral processing. She is the winner of the prestigious Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) Food Group Junior Medal 2019 as a result of her research in designing novel food structures with targeted oral lubrication performance. Previously she was awarded Elsevier Young Scientist Award (2009) and Nestle Discovery award (2011) for her scientific researches. To date, Prof. Sarkar has published +80 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters and is the co-inventor of 6 patents and and she is regularly invited for giving keynote lectures at national and international conferences in food and soft matter areas.
Current Team Members
Shikha Aery
Visiting PhD Student, fssae@leeds.ac.uk . I am a PhD Student at the Department of Chemistry, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India. At Sarkar Lab, I am working as a Commonwealth Split-side PhD Visiting Fellow (funded by UK Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO)) for 1 year. The aim of my work at Leeds is to engineer ultra-stable and first-of-its-kind proteinaceous microgels-stabilized liquid crystal (LC) based sensors for detection of a range of bile acids. I intend to use the analyte-induced configurational transition of the stable LC droplets to create next generation of biocompatible LC-based optical sensors for early diagnosis of liver diseases.
Daisy Akgönüllü
PhD Student, fs17da@leeds.ac.uk
I am a PhD student funded by the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Soft Matter for Formulation and Industrial Innovation (SOFI2) CDT and PepsiCo. I am researching the behaviour of biopolymeric microgels in emulsions both within the bulk continuous phase and at the interface; with the aim to gain fundamental understanding of how the nanomechanical properties and ordering of the microgels may influence their ability to act as Pickering stabilisers.
Dr. Andrea AraizaCalahorra
Postdoctoral Fellow, A.AraizaCalahorra@leeds.ac.uk
I recently graduated from University of Leeds, UK with a PhD in Food Colloids Science, where I developed Pickering emulsions-based encapsulation systems to improve the bioaccessibility of lipophilic compounds after in vitro digestion and delivery to cells. I am re-joining Sarkar's Lab but now as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow as part of the Eat4Age international project funded by the Joint Programming Initiative - A Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life (JPI HDHL). As part of the project, I aim to establish oral lubrication and upper gastrointestinal tract disintegration mechanisms of food matrices to develop tasty, nutritious and easily digestible meals for older adults to help prevent malnutrition and loss of muscle mass among elderly people.
Frances Brown
PhD Student,
fsfnb@leeds.ac.uk
The aim of my PhD is to create fundamental understanding of protein-saliva interactions during oral processing using various physiochemical and mechanical approaches. Specifically, as a part of this Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)-Mondelez PhD Project, I will be looking at how these interactions may subsequently affect mouthfeel.
Ben Kew
PhD Student,
ll14bk@leeds.ac.uk
My PhD focuses on understanding the lubrication mechanisms in proteins and protein-based complexes. As a part of European Research Council (ERC) Project: Lubsat, I aim to study the tribological properties and sensory perception of such complexes with an ultimate goal to identify bottom up principles for designing no-/ low-fat foods with optimum mouthfeel.
Megan Holdstock
PhD Student,lfsmho@leeds.ac.uk
I am a PhD student funded by the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Soft Matter for Formulation and Industrial Innovation (SOFI2) CDT and Nestle. My project is looking at the dispersion of protein particle fillers in non-aqueous media, specifically for chocolate applications. I am looking to gain an understanding of the interaction between the particles and also how this affects various materials properties.
Amna Khatun
PhD Student, School of Chemical and Process Engineering
pmakh@leeds.ac.uk
I am part of the Molecules to Product programme Centre of Doctoral Training (CDT) funded by Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). My PhD focuses on understanding and evaluating the biodegradation fate of engineered polymeric microparticles that enters through various channels into the natural environment.
Dr. Mingduo Mu
Postdoctoral Research Assistant,
M.Mu@leeds.ac.uk I did my PhD from the School of Food Science and Nutrition at the University of Leeds, UK, where I studied colloidal behaviour of hydrophobically modified starch-stabilised emulsions. I am currently a Postdoctoral Research Assistant (European Research Council, ERC Proof of Concept Project: AquaLub) at the University of Leeds, UK. The aim of my work is to seek potential food applications, e.g., as a fat replacer/ mouthfeel enhancer, for a patented aqueous lubricant technology.
Nisufyan Nimaming
PhD Student,
ml20n2n@leeds.ac.uk
My PhD research focuses on emulsion stabilisation by Pickering particles. The aim of this project is to investigate the characteristics and properties of Pickering emulsion stabilized by biodegradable particles for controlled delivery of bioactive compounds.
Supatchayaporn Nitsuwat
PhD Student,
fssn@leeds.ac.uk
As part of my PhD, I aim to understand the impact of the different aspects of oral processing on the nutrient intake in older adults and address their nutritional needs through foods that conform with their oral processing capability.
Mary Chioma Okeudo
PhD student, School of Chemical and Process Engineering fs18mco@leeds.ac.uk I am a part of the CDT Molecules to Product, which is funded by Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). My research aims to characterize interactions between proteins and fibrils in composite gels at multiple length scales. I am focusing on understanding the microstructure, rheological and nano-mechanical properties of composite gels and I am to develop mesoscopic models that will aid the understanding of interactions and charge distribution in these gel.
Dr. Olivia Pabois
Postdoctoral Fellow,
O.Pabois@leeds.ac.uk Recently graduated from King’s College London, UK with a PhD in Chemistry, I joined Sarkar Lab as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow, with an European Research Council (ERC) Proof-of-Concept Project AquaLub. Specialised in the field of colloid and interface science applied to food, I have a robust experience with using neutron and X-ray scattering techniques, which I acquired during my PhD carried out in collaboration with the Institut Laue-Langevin - the world’s flagship centre for neutron science. As part of my postdoctoral work, I aim to design new aqueous lubricant formulations and test their technical and commercial feasibility, in addition to bringing a detailed, fundamental mechanistic understanding of the processes occurring in the complex human oral mucosa.
Dr Siavash Soltanahmadi
Postdoctoral Fellow, S.Soltanahmadi@leeds.ac.uk. I completed my PhD in Mechnica Engineering at University of Leeds on the tribological investigation of surface fatigue encountered in roller element bearings. I am experienced in tribology of steel, soft elastomeric and hard-carbon coated surfaces. In my postdoctoral project (European Research Council, ERC Project: LubSat) at University of Leeds, I aim to develop novel methods to study the lubrication properties of bio-relevant fluids and surfaces. The project outcomes will contribute to the mechanistic understanding of the lubrication behaviour of human oral mucosa.
Ecaterina Stribitcaia
PhD Student, fsest@leeds.ac.uk In my PhD, I aim to study the influence of food structure on satiety through a cross-disciplinary approach. I am working on European Research Council (ERC) Project: Lubsat, where I will specifically focus on understanding the influence of oral lubrication on satiation and satiety to underpin the creation of next generation of satiety-enhancing foods.
Elizabeth Tenorio
PhD Student,
fsetg@leeds.ac.uk
My PhD project focusses on designing double emulsions stabilized by food grade particles. One of the primary purposes is to engineer low-fat foods to address global obesity challenges. As these food colloidal structures have to render similar characteristics to full-fat ones, tribological studies will be carried out to characterise and compare mouthfeel sensations using biomimetic oral set ups.
Kwan Mo You
PhD Student,
fs1kmy@leeds.ac.uk
In my PhD project, my aim is to investigate the rheological and tribological properties of biopolymers. In particular, I am working on European Research Council (ERC) Project: Lubsat, where I am specifically focussing on complex hydrogels that can enhance lubrication properties without any fat addition.
Shuning Zhang
PhD Student,
fs15sz@leeds.ac.uk
My PhD project focuses on digestion of emulsion with an aim to control lipid digestion kinetics in the human gastrointestinal tract. In particular, I will focus on designing Pickering emulsion using biocompatible solid particles at oil-water interface and use in vitro models to study the digestion behaviour.