About Us
About Our Mission
The overall aim of the FunShield4Med project is to strengthen the scientific excellence and innovation capacity of the Institute of Technology of Agricultural Products (ITAP) of Hellenic Agricultural Organisation – DIMITRA (ELGO-DIMITRA) from Greece in the field of food safety against mycotoxigenic spoilage fungi and mycotoxins under climate change challenges. The strategic collaboration with the advanced partners of the project, originating from Italy (University of Parma/Dept of Food and Drug), Spain (University of Lleida/Food Technology Dept), UK (Cranfield University/Environment and Agrifood Theme), and an internationally-leading University from Greece (National Kapodistrian University of Athens/Dept. of Chemistry), will ensure the knowledge and expertise transfer, help build new research alliances, and enrich, apart from Institute’s personnel, as well as young researchers’ capacities from all members of the consortium.
Partners
To achieve its scope FunShield4Med will build a network of excellence, between the widening country participant and coordinator ITAP, and the 4 advanced research institutions, having all international recognition in the scientific area of mycotoxigenic fungi and mycotoxins contamination in food.
FunShield4Med
ELGO - DIMITRA Team - Institute of Technology of Agricultural Products (ITAP)
Dr Pantelis Natskoulis
His research interests focus on Oenology, Food chemistry, Food microbiology and Predictive Mycology, Mycotoxigenic fungi and
Mycotoxins analysis, and investigation of factors affecting mycotoxins production.
Dr Chrysoula Tassou
Her research interests are:
Food Microbiology-Safety, Microbial diversity in foods, Fermented Functional foods – Probiotics, Food
Bio-preservation, Rapid methods in food spoilage assessment.
Dr Aspasia Nisiotou
Her work focuses on wine and food microbiology with emphasis on alcoholic fermentation and molecular microbiology and biotechnology.
Dr Maria Metafa
Her research interests focus on (i) aromatic compounds in wines, grapes, vinegars, and spirits, (ii) bioactive compounds in wines, grapes and other food products, (iii) chemical compounds with important role in food safety, iv) development and evaluation of GC/MS methods.
Dr Anthoula Argyri
Her research interests focus on (a) the application of new technologies for the food safety and quality enhancement using natural antimicrobials, preservatives, mild treatments and new packaging systems, (b) the fermentation and production of high added value food products and (c) the application of modern and rapid techniques for food analysis combined with chemometrics and bioinformatics.
Dr Agapi Doulgeraki
Her research interests focus on (i) monitoring microorganisms and their behavior in foods by application of standard and molecular techniques, (ii) enhancement of safety and quality of foods (e.g. use of natural antimicrobials, packaging, probiotics, starter cultures), (iv) biofilm formation on biotic and abiotic surfaces and methods development for biofilm decontamination (v) microbial interactions.
Dr Dimitrios-Evangelos Miliordos
He is an agronomist with a MSc in “Oenology and Viticulture” and holding a PhD in the field of grapevine plant protection. His research interests focus on how quality characteristics and safety of grape and wine could be improved by performing innovative vineyard techniques.
FunShield4Med
UNIPR Team - Dept of Food and Drug
Prof. Chiara Dall’Asta
Her primary field of research is related to mycotoxins and natural bioactive compounds, with a focus on the formation, stability, and biotransformation of mycotoxins, and on the chemical mechanisms underlying their toxicological activity. Recently, she moved towards the application of HR-MS metabolomics/system biology to the field and has implemented the use of computational toxicology and alternative methods to the investigation of molecular mechanisms responsible for the biological activities of (multiple) chemicals.
Prof. Gianni Galaverna
He has been studying food chemistry and food safety for 25+ years, with a particular focus on bioactive compounds and xenobiotics. His main field of research is related to natural bioactive compounds and natural toxins, with a special focus on mycotoxins. In this field, he focused his scientific activities on the occurrence and transformations of mycotoxins in food and feed, and on their metabolic fate in planta and in mammals (humans).
Prof. Luca Dellafiora
He currently studies the chemistry and toxicology of bioactive compounds and xenobiotics of food origin through the development and implementation of novel hybrid in silico / in vitro approaches. The research activity mainly focuses on i) the assessment of bioactivity, transformations and metabolic fate of food constituents and contaminants; and ii) the identification and design of innovative strategies for mitigating the content of toxicants in food and feed.
Prof. Martina Cirlini
Her interests are about the study and identification of analytical molecular markers for the characterization of different food matrices; the characterization of volatile fraction of food; the study of the occurrence of contaminants as free and masked mycotoxins, and tropane alkaloids in cereals and other matrices.
FunShield4Med
UdL Team - Food Technology Dept
Prof. Sonia Marín Sillué
Specialist in Food Mycology, leading research in predictive mycology, spectral imaging for mycotoxins detection and impact of food processing in mycotoxins.
Prof. Vicente Sanchis Almenar
Specialist in Food Mycology, leading research in ecophysiology and impact of food processing in mycotoxins.
Prof. Antonio Javier Ramos Girona
Specialized in research on fungi and mycotoxins, mainly in fungal ecophysiology, effect of processing on mycotoxins and development of mycotoxin adsorbents. Main teaching expertise in Food Microbiology and Food Parasitology.
Dr Francisco Molino Gahete
Veterinarian (PhD), specialist in bromatology and food safety and graduate in food science and technology. Working on the bromatological quality of foods of animal origin and currently focused on the control of mycotoxins in the food chain.
Dr Xenia Pascari
Specialized in Food Technology and on strategies for the mitigation of mycotoxins in food and feed.
Bernat Borràs Vallverdú
Working in Food Mycolofy, specifically with exposure to mycotoxins and other chemicals through food consumption.
Jose A. Gallardo Ramos
Working in exposure to mycotoxins and other chemicals through food consumption
Irene Teixidó Orries
Working in Food Mycology studying mitigation strategies for Fusarium mycotoxins contamination in oat-based food, such as spectral imaging techniques and the impact of food processing in mycotoxins.
FunShield4Med
NKUA Team - Dept of Chemistry
Prof. Charalampos Proestos
His research interests focus on i) Plant bioactive compounds extraction and instrumental analysis; ii) Determination of antioxidant capacity of constituents from plant derived foods; iii) Food contaminants determination; iv) Food Allergens determination; and v) GMOs in milk and milk products. Recently his interests have moved to the development of modern and efficient methods and workflows to study bioactive food ingredients and to substantiate their food authenticity through the molecular characterization by omics technologies, based on high-resolution mass spectrometry (foodomics).
Prof. Vasilis Valdramidis
His research interests focus on Predictive microbiology, Model process optimization, Non-thermal food processing technologies, and Applied food microbiology/mycology.
Prof. Marilena Dasenaki
Her research activity focuses on the study of food safety and food authenticity using cutting-edge mass spectrometric techniques and
advanced chemometric tools.
Dr Eleni Kollia
Her research work is concentrated in food microbiology, food toxicology, mycotoxins, as well as specialization in bioactive food packaging and antimicrobial and antifungal agents.
Dr Konstantina Pasvanka
Her primary research focus is on the study of food safety and food authenticity, with a particular emphasis on utilizing analytical techniques and chemometric tools to facilitate the detection of food fraud.
Mrs Konstantina Papastavropoulou
Her research activity focuses on developing new food products with improved nutritional and health benefits as well as food antioxidants.
FunShield4Med
CU Team - Environment and Agrifood Theme
Prof. Angel Medina Vaya
His research interests focus on environmental stress impact on fungi (mainly mycotoxigenic species), mechanisms of ecophysiological tolerance, and the molecular basis of secondary metabolite production, especially mycotoxins and other relevant metabolites for industrial applications. In the last few years has examined the integration and use of “big data” (RNAseq, metabolomics, microarray data, growth and toxin data under interacting environmental conditions) using a systems approach, while he has led research in three main areas: i) Impact of Climate Change scenarios on food security, especially related to mycotoxins in staple food commodities, ii) Development of Decision Support Systems for storage of commodities prone to mycotoxin contamination, and iii) Development of rapid methods for detection on fungal pathogens.
Prof. Naresh Magan (DSc, FRSB)
It is with great sadness that we must announce that Prof Naresh Magan is no longer member of our project. Naresh passed away in April 2023 after a short illness.
Apart from his contribution on achieving funding for FunShield4Med, many members of the present project have received his invaluable mentoring during their MSc or PhD courses or had a fruitful collaboration under a research project. Moreover, his person, was of that kind that makes you feel somehow cozy and friendly from the very beginning of meeting him.
Naresh was not only mentor, colleague, and friend for us. More importantly, was a renowned expert in the field of applied mycology and established the Applied Mycology Group at Cranfield. Naresh was widely recognized for his contributions in applied mycology. His main research area looked to how the amount of water molecules within food commodities can impact the way that fungal species grow and produce toxic secondary metabolites, mycotoxins. His research has had and will still have a significant impact on both the agricultural sector and food industries.
He has touched many lives in the scientific community of mycology, and his enthusiasm and charism will be remembered worldwide.
Prof. Andrew Thompson
His research interests focus on multidisciplinary research to improve crop production when water is limiting; use of rootstocks to improve vigor and stress resistance in vegetable crops; molecular genetics of root traits in tomato; development of genetic and genomic resources for studying drought resistance; molecular genetic analysis using next generation sequencing, high-throughput genotyping and bioinformatic analysis
Dr Sofia Kourmpetli (MRSB, AFHEA)
Her research interests focus on improving tree seed and establishment to support Agroforestry and on-farm sustainability; reducing seed losses and waste in umbelliferous crops; understanding seed longevity in weeds and developing non-destructive methods for assessing and monitoring seed quality during storage; and Rurban Revolution.
Dr Zoltan Kevei
His research interests focus on plant-microbe interactions, cell cycle regulations and developmental epigenetics of the model plant, “Arabidopsis” and, genetics of root development in tomato and raspberry, and rootstock vigor. He uses the latest DNA sequencing and molecular biology techniques.
Dr Natalia Falagan Sama
She is experienced in food waste minimization and food security improvement, while maintaining the quality and safety of fresh products across the supply chain. She investigates the underlying ripening and senescence mechanisms of fruit and vegetables and develops innovative strategies for postharvest management. She is focusing on postharvest biology, and sustainable technology and packaging.
Dr Carol Verheecke-Vaessen
She is experienced in the development of Decision Support Systems, molecular techniques (qPCR, RT-qPCR, Sequencing) and analytical chemistry (analysis of mycotoxins by HPLC, LC-MS/MS), while her current interest are Developing holistic solutions from farm to fork to manage mycotoxin risk; Understanding dynamic abiotic and biotic factors impacting fungal growth and mycotoxin production within the Agrifood chain – including climate change scenario; Creating solutions for detection and prevention of fungal contaminants; Developing of Decision Support Systems to improve the storage of commodities susceptible to fungal spoilage; Developing bio-control agents in response to Agrifood challenges; and creating innovative solutions to transform food waste into profitable by-products
Dr Andrea Patriarca
Her recent studies focus on fungi contaminating crops in pre- and postharvest stages, following their prevalence and toxigenic metabolites throughout the food chain, while her current key research areas are: Identification of fungal agents of fruit and vegetable disease; Polyphasic approach for the characterization of food spoilage and toxigenic fungi; Comprehensive approach from field to fork to reduce mycotoxin contamination; Effect of processing on mycotoxin incidence in food; Development of rapid techniques for mycotoxins detection; Environmentally friendly techniques to reduce fungal spoilage and mycotoxin contamination; and Waste management and conversion into profitable by-products.
Dr Maria del Carmen Alamar Gavidia
Her research interests focus on the implementation of postharvest techniques such as control modified atmosphere, ethylene supplementation and 1-MCP and to prolong storage life and reduce waste of fruit and vegetables; investigation of the effects of postharvest storage techniques on the physiology and biochemistry in terms of secondary metabolites (viz. phenolic compounds and plant growth regulators). Targeted and non-targeted metabolomics; Chemometrics and multivariate statistical analysis; identification of physiological and biochemical markers, and natural variants in key dormancy-related genes that can be used to select for dormancy-related traits; and mechanistic understanding (transcriptomis) of plant senescence and dormancy break.
Dr Carla Cervini
Her research focuses on Mycology area, having worked on the effect of a possible climate change scenarios on the ecophysiological behavior of Aspergillus carbonarius in the South Italy wine production chain, while her main ongoing project is “NutriNuts - mitigation of aflatoxin occurrence in Ethiopian peanuts used in therapeutic food products to reduce malnutrition in Africa” funded by UKRI.