Food Security
Millions of people are undernourished globally and with the population growing, food security is a major concern. The expanding global population, combined with the challenges proposed by climate change means that protecting food production is a pressing issue. Food security is multifaceted, requiring advancements in food safety, ensuring products have a good shelf life, reducing spoilage and providing dietary additions to improve the nutrient intake of the population.
The application of microbiology is far reaching, and new approaches are required to maintain food security. Microorganisms are present in in all processes of food production, be this beneficial or harmful. The effects of microorganisms in food production range from aquaculture, livestock, and plant infection to cheese, bread and wine production and probiotic manufacture. Thus, it is essential that these microbial interactions are better understood, and the power of microbiology is harnessed to make it possible to minimise avoidable food wastage and forecast and mitigate food shortages.
Read the latest research on food security from AMI’s journals here.
Food Security Advisory Group members
Jake Bell
Jake completed his undergraduate degree in Human Nutrition at Kingston University, which included multiple summer internships in the microbiology laboratories. He also undertook a placement year at the Jodrell laboratory of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, working on plant-microbe interactions through various molecular methods. Jake completed his PhD at Royal Holloway (University of London) under the supervision of Professor Paul Fraser, in plant and microbial molecular biology.
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Nicola Holden
Marciane Magnani
Professor Marciane Magnani is a food microbiologist at the Federal University of Paraíba, Brazil. Her research focuses on food safety, predictive microbiology, fermented and functional foods, and food microbiomes. Her work explores microbial approaches to controlling foodborne pathogens, improving food quality and developing safer, healthier and more sustainable food systems.
Tara Spencer-Drakes
Dr Tara Spencer-Drakes is a microbiologist specialising in microbial ecology and interactions between bacteria, bacteriophages and fungi. Her work explores microbial communities in food-associated and natural ecosystems, including traditional fermented food microbiomes. Her research connects microbial diversity, fermentation and community knowledge with sustainable, resilient and culturally responsible food systems.
Michael Ukwuru
Michael Ukwuru has a Ph.D in Food Microbiology from Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Nigeria. He is currently the Head, Department of Food Science and Technology, The Federal Polytechnic, Idah, Kogi State, Nigeria. He has carried out a series of community development projects. He has published over 30 articles in journals and has presented 30+ papers in many conferences around the world. He is a member of the Editorial Board of 25+ journals and Editor-in-Chief of two journals. He has reviewed over 200 manuscripts for different journals and research proposals for some funding organizations. He is also a member of the UK Research and Innovation Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) Peer Review Development College. His research area is Food Microbiology, Food Fermentation, Food safety and quality management systems, and Bio-processing.
Janet Yakabu Nale
Dr Janet Nale is a microbiologist at Scotland’s Rural College specialising in bacteriophages, zoonotic pathogens and antimicrobial resistance. Her research develops phage-based approaches to control foodborne bacteria, including E. coli and Salmonella. Her work supports safer food production, healthier livestock and innovative alternatives to antibiotics across the food system.
Andrew Desbois
Dr Andrew Desbois is a microbiologist and Senior Lecturer in Aquaculture at the University of Stirling. His research explores bacterial diseases, antimicrobial resistance and microbiomes within aquaculture systems. He develops strategies to prevent and control infections in farmed aquatic species, supporting animal health, sustainable seafood production and resilient global food systems.
Tivkaa Joseph Amande
Aditya Singh Ranout
Aditya Singh Ranout is a microbial entomologist specialising in sustainable crop protection and biological pest control. His research explores entomopathogenic fungi and other microbial solutions for managing agricultural pests. His work aims to reduce reliance on chemical pesticides, protect crop productivity and support more resilient, environmentally sustainable food production systems.
Eleftheria Trampari
Dr Eleftheria Trampari is a senior research scientist at the Quadram Institute in Norwich. Her research investigates how foodborne pathogens survive in the food chain.
Eleftheria has a background in Agricultural Biotechnology and Molecular Microbiology, with an interest in understanding how microbial interactions impact food security and, consequently, human health. Given the significant role of fresh produce in transmitting foodborne pathogens and its frequent association with outbreaks, she believes it is imperative to better understand how interactions among commensal bacteria and foodborne pathogens influence establishment of the latest on plants. New research she is leading focuses on exploring the potential of microbial interventions on controlling and potentially suppressing foodborne disease transmission through fresh produce.
Jack Henderson
Jack Henderson is an environmental microbiologist at the University of Aberdeen whose research focuses on sustainable crop production. He investigates plant–microbe interactions and biological nitrification inhibition in barley, exploring how crops can reduce nitrogen loss. His work aims to improve nitrogen-use efficiency, reduce fertiliser requirements and support sustainable global food production.
Mitesh Shrestha
Mitesh holds an M.Sc. degree in Biotechnology from Tribhuvan University, Nepal. He is currently the Research Coordinator at Research Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology (RIBB), Nepal. Apart from research, he also devotes some of his time to academia as an adjunct lecturer for molecular biology and genetic engineering at the Central Department of Biotechnology, Tribhuvan University. He has received several national and international research grants to focus on antimicrobial resistance as well as neglected tropical diseases such as Leishmaniasis. His current research focuses on understanding the prevalence and distribution of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae in raw fruits and vegetables.
Calvin Ho-Fung Lau
Dr Calvin Ho-Fung Lau is a research scientist at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency specialising in food microbiology, foodborne pathogens and antimicrobial resistance. His research uses genomic and microbiome approaches to improve pathogen detection, investigate microbial communities in foods and strengthen surveillance of antimicrobial resistance, supporting safer and more resilient food systems.
Wei Ning Chen
Wei Ning Chen is the Michael Fam Endowed Professor, and Director of Food Science and Technology Programme at Nanyang Technological University Singapore (NTU FST). He is leading two of the Singapore government funded food initiatives, as Director of Singapore Agri-food Innovation Lab (SAIL), as well as Director of Singapore Future Ready Food Safety Hub (FRESH). He has been an advisor/consultant to overseas universities, government agencies, food industry, and international organizations. He believes in enhancing food security by improving the current food system, in particular through food waste reduction. He has led the development of simple and scalable tech innovations to upcycle food processing side-streams, incorporate the recovered nutrients in the current food system to enhance its circularity while making the processes of making alternative foods more cost-effective. His innovations have demonstrated that addressing current food security challenges can also contribute to building a resilient future food system with more diversity and higher efficiency.
Research interests: fermentation; precision fermentation; -omics analysis; food microbiology; novel foods; food safety; food security
Yang Yue
Dr Yang Yue is a postdoctoral scientist at the John Innes Centre specialising in plant-based foods, nutrition and the gut microbiome. His multidisciplinary research explores how plant metabolites and diet influence human health. His work aims to develop nutritious foods, address dietary inequalities and promote equitable access to healthy, sustainable diets.
Luísa Cruz
Luísa joined MicroHarvest in January 2022 as co-founder and CTO, driven by the passion to bring different disciplines together and deliver sustainable and scalable solutions to current food chain challenges. Behind her is a MSc in Biotechnology from the Technical University of Lisbon (Portugal), PhD degree in Bioprocess Technology from Delft University of Technology and 9 years’ experience at Corbion (Netherlands). There she carried out a variety of roles, such as technical management of USP projects, team leader of Process Design and Data Science teams, and Competitive Intelligence & Market Insights manager.
Karin Goodburn
Sharad Kamble
Dr Sharad Ramchandra Kamble has a PhD in Life Sciences (Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences) from the University of Bradford. He is a Microbiologist with around 14 years experience with Pharma R&D, Pathology Labs, Research and Medical Devices C&D Validations.
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