People
Director
Associate Professor Vasileios Kontogiorgos studied Food Science (BSc, MSc) at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece). He was awarded a full scholarship from the Greek State Scholarships Foundation to obtain his PhD in Food Science at the University of Guelph (Canada), where he studied the physical chemistry of foods at sub-zero temperatures. After his PhD, he worked as an NSERC research fellow at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (Canada), studying the behaviour of soluble dietary fibre in mixed systems with proteins.
Following that post, he worked as a teaching and research academic at the Department of Biological Sciences of the University of Huddersfield (UK) before joining the School of Agriculture and Food Science at the University of Queensland (Australia). During this time, Dr. Kontogiorgos built a research team focusing on the applied and fundamental aspects of the isolation and characterisation of polysaccharides and their arrangement at fluid interfaces in food systems.
Dr. Kontogiorgos joined UBC’s Faculty of Land and Food Systems and currently focuses on the interfacial properties of polysaccharides and the physical properties of biodegradable materials for food packaging. He is an Associate Editor of Food Hydrocolloids and Food Biophysics.
Director (on leave)
Associate Professor Anubhav Pratap-Singh, is the academic lead for the Dan On Food and Beverage Innovation Centre (FBIC). Dr. Pratap-Singh also holds the Food and Beverage Innovation Professorship, a position generously supported through an endowment made by the B.C. Ministry of Agriculture and Food.
Dr. Pratap-Singh and his team are developing new ways to improve food quality, nutrition, and sustainability by reducing the environmental impact of the food system. He specializes in various technologies like agitation and reciprocating agitation processing, extrusion, high-pressure processing, and others, studying their effects on different properties of food using tools like texture analyzers, colorimeters, and cell-culture studies. In his role, Dr. Pratap-Singh collaborates with food processors, growers, pharmaceutical, and nanotechnology companies, and leads academic planning for the FBIC.
FBIC Staff
Business Development Manager
Margaret Daskis, CFS (Certified Food Scientist) is our direct connection with the food industry throughout B.C. Over the past 40 years, since graduating from UBC Food Sciences, Margaret has assisted with the evolution of the dynamic food processing industry in B.C.
Educational Program Manager
Dr. Farahnaz Fathordoobady oversees educational programs tailored for those working in the food and beverage industry, including online micro-certificate programs.
Operations Manager
Miki Goda oversees the facility and manufacturing operations at the Dan On Food and Beverage Innovation Centre and Food, Nutrition, and Health Pilot Plant, where she manages a cross-functional team across production, quality, and technical disciplines.
Food, Nutrition and Health research groups in the Faculty of Land and Food Systems
Researchers
Dr. David Kitts Professor, Food Chemistry and Toxicology, and Dean (Pro tem) (LFS)
Dr. Kitts’ research discipline is Food Chemistry and Toxicology, employing food chemistry principles to understand the cellular and molecular mechanisms of both nutrient and food toxicant action in living organisms. More info.
Dr. Siyun Wang Professor, Food Safety Engineering
Dr. Wang uses molecular approaches to understand the microorganisms that post major threats to food safety, security and public health. More info.
Dr. Simone Castellarin Associate Professor and Associate Director, Wine Research Centre and Associate Dean, Research
Dr. Castellarin focuses on viticulture and grapevine physiology, particularly the physiological and molecular aspects that underlay fruit ripening and the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, as well as the impact of environment and viticultural practices. More info.
Dr. Tianxi Yang Assistant Professor, Food Analytical Technologies and Advanced Materials
Dr. Yang develops analytical technologies and advanced materials to improve the safety, sustainability, and resilience of agricultural and food systems. More info.
Dr. Derek Dee Assistant Professor, Food Protein Biophysics
Dr. Dee seeks to understand the forces that govern protein structure and function, with an emphasis on potential applications in food, biomaterials and medicine. More info.
Dr. Vassilis Kontogiorgos Associate Professor, Food Chemistry
Dr. Kontogiorgios’ research is on the physical chemistry of food macromolecules, particularly on structuring colloidal systems using polysaccharides. The emphasis is on polysaccharides’ isolation, characterisation and interfacial arrangement to stabilise dispersions. More info.
Dr. Vivien Measday Associate Professor, Wine Research Centre, and Associate Member – Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Dr. Measday focuses on the study of yeast populations associated with the vineyards of British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley. Her research team partners with the BC Wine Grape Council and associated wineries to perform spontaneous fermentations and isolation of the wine yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae (S. cerevisiae). More info.
Dr. John Frostad
Associate Professor, Chemical and Biological Engineering (joint appointment with Chemical and Biological Engineering)
Dr. Frostad’s research group develops and implements new experimental techniques for studying multiphase fluid systems including foams and emulsions. More info.
Dr. Anika Singh Associate Member, L&FS, and Project Leader, Natural Health Products Research Group, British Columbia Institute of Technology
Dr. Singh has expertise in the areas of food processing, analytical chemistry, allergen control, food safety and quality assurance in food and pharmaceutical industries. More info.
Steering Committee
- Zoe Campbell, Assistant Dean, DAE Faculty of Land & Food Systems
- Simone Castellarin, Associate Dean, Research, Professor
- Farahnaz Fathordoobady, FBIC Educational Programming Manager
- Leluo Guan, Professor
- Sumeet Gulati, Professor
- Barbara Hsiao, Director, HR & Administration
- Andy Jeffries, Faculty Operations Manager
- Siyun Wang Kazun, Associate Professor
- David Kitts, Dean pro tem, Professor (tenure)
- Vasileios Kontogiorgos, Associate Professor
- Anubhav Pratap-Singh, Associate Professor
- Ava Yang, Associate Director, Finance
Collaborators
- Dr. Mattia Bacca, Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering, UBC
- Dr. Richard Barichello, Professor, Food and Resource Economics
- Dr. Tamara Cohen, Associate Professor, Food, Nutrition and Health, Director, Dietetics, and Associate Dean, Students and Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
- Dr. Emily Cranston, Associate Professor, Chemical & Biological Engineering, UBC
- Dr. Rafael Elango, Associate Member, L&FS, and Associate Professor, School of Population and Public Health
- Dr. Johan Foster, Associate Professor, Chemical & Biological Engineering, UBC
- Ms. Debra Hellbach, Manager, Centre for Seafood Innovation, Vancouver Island University
- Dr. Patricia Hingston, Associate Professor of Teaching
- Dr. Feng Jiang, Assistant Professor, Wood Science, UBC
- Dr. Jaya Joshi, Assistant Professor, Wood Science, UBC
- Dr. Yvonne Lamers, Associate Professor, Human Nutrition and Vitamin Metabolism
- Dr. Mahjid Mohseni, Professor, Chemical & Biological Engineering, UBC
- Dr. Frederick Noack, Associate Professor, Environmental Economics
- Dr. Hosahalli Ramaswamy, Professor, McGill University
- Dr. Andrew Riseman, Associate Professor, Applied Biology and Plant Breeding
- Dr. Orlando Rojas, Professor and Director, Bioproducts Institute, UBC
- Dr. Barbara Stefanska, Associate Professor, Food Nutrition & Health Program
- Dr. Will Valley, Associate Professor of Teaching
- Dr. James Vercammen, Professor, Strategy and Business Economics
- Dr. Bruce Verchere, Professor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, UBC
- Dr. Jennifer Jing Zhao, Associate Member, Health Education Researcher