Join us for the much-anticipated alternative eggs talk, "Molecular Tuning of Alternative Proteins: Linking Structure, Function, and Bioactivity"!
We have an expert speaker who has been actively working in this field - ask your questions and explore the landscape in-person (recommended) or online!
Snacks including creative alt protein ones will be provided :) See you at 5pm at B06 in Drayton House (University College, 30 Gordon St, London WC1H 0AX)!
Bio from our speaker:
Dr Alan Javier Hernández-Álvarez is a protein chemist and food scientist. Currently he is an Academic at the School of Food Science & Nutrition, University of Leeds since 2019. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Biochemical Engineering and a PhD in Food Science from the Research and Graduate Department of Food Science at the National School of Biological Sciences, National Polytechnic Institute, Mexico. His doctoral studies were conducted at the Food Phytochemistry Laboratory, Fat Institute, CSIC (Spanish National Research Council), Seville, Spain. From 2012 to 2013, he served as a Lecturer at the Food Biochemistry Faculty, Biochemical Engineering Department at the National School of Biological Sciences, National Polytechnic Institute, Mexico. Afterwards he carried out a Postdoctoral Fellowship with AAFC (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, Canada) supported by a CONACyT scholarship in 2014, following this he received the Visiting Fellowships in Canadian Government Laboratories (VF) Award from NSERC (Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada) for the period 2014-2017.
Dr Hernández-Álvarez group pioneers a bench-to-plant pipeline for sustainable proteins—optimising green extraction/fractionation, decoding GI fate and peptidomics, and translating structure–function insights into process design (including extrusion and protein processing technologies) to deliver ingredients with superior functionality, enhanced protein quality and digestibility, and health-relevant bioactivity. The aim of his research is to enable healthy sustainable diets through identifying and characterizing functional properties of food components, notably proteins and peptides from a wide variety of indigenous and cultivated food sources such as pulses, cereals, pseudo-cereals, algae, insects, amongst others. A key area is understanding the role of processing on the biological value and safety of proteins and peptides. He serves as a Co-Investigator of the UK’s National Alternative Protein Innovation Centre (NAPIC), an Innovation Knowledge Centre (IKC) funded by BBSRC and Innovate UK, formed by national and international partners including academia, industry, regulators, and third sector. Furthermore, he leads the International Scientific & Engagement Board of NAPIC, building academia–industry–policy partnerships to accelerate impact. To date he has raised >£15M in research funding, mentored 6 PhD students to completion and supervised >45 postgraduate (MSc) and >35 undergraduate thesis projects. He has authored 70+ publications with >2,300 (h index 23) citations across plant, oilseed, algal and insect systems, spanning protein chemistry, bioactive peptides, and functional foods.