FSDH Committee
Dr Ingrid Appelqvist
A senior principal food material scientist in CSIRO with strong multidisciplinary interests in reformulating food to develop a healthier food supply for the food industry and consumers. Her research has focused on healthy ageing and designing food breakdown during eating to deliver desired sensory properties.
She leads the CSIRO Food Innovation Centre developing bespoke solutions for new products and processes.
Dr Amy Logan
Amy Logan is the CSIRO Group Leader for Food Quality. Her research focuses on the structure-function relationship of lipid and protein-based food systems, including the influence of
composition and processing on the micro- and nano-structure of soft materials and how this effects product behaviour and taste. Amy is a Senior Associate Editor for the Journal of the American Oil Chemists Society, received the 2025 AOCS Fellow Award and is a 2024 Nuffield Fellow.
Dr Leif Lundin
Leif Lundin is a food scientist and Chief Scientist in the Food Research Program at CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation). He holds a degree in Chemical Engineering and a PhD in Biopolymer Physical Chemistry. Leif’s research focuses on the structure–function relationships of biopolymers and how scientific insights can be translated into innovative food solutions. He is passionate about bridging fundamental science with real-world applications to create sustainable and value-added food products.
Dr Simon Loveday
I’m a food scientist with broad experience in physical chemistry, polymer and colloid chemistry, rheology, food product design and microscopy, and I lead the Food Chemistry team at CSIRO. I specialise in protein functionality, both nutritional and technical (foaming, gelling, emulsifying, dissolving etc.), and I use Food Materials Science principles to build mechanistic linkages between structure (molecular, meso, micro, macro) and texture.
Dr Matt Sinnott
Dr Matt Sinnott is a CSIRO Data61 Principal Research Scientist and Project Leader who applies CSIRO’s world-leading Particle Based Modelling methods to complex multi-physics systems. 2022 iChemE Senior Moulton Medal winner with 127 peer-reviewed publications (h-index of 35 GoogleScholar) for research across food manufacturing, in-body digestion, process engineering and biomedical domains.
Dr Mitali Gupta
Dr Mitali Gupta is a food scientist specialising in sensory and textural properties of plant-based dairy alternatives. She completed her PhD at the University of Melbourne on consumer acceptance of plant-based yoghurts and currently leads research at CSIRO on unlocking dairy-like creaminess using plant-derived fats. Her expertise spans rheology, tribology, oral processing, and emulsion science, with over seven years’ experience in alternative dairy research, product development, and university-level teaching.
Dr Alejandra Acevedo-Fani
Alejandra is a Senior Food Scientist at the Riddet Institute, Massey University, New Zealand, and a Principal Investigator in the Centre of Research Excellence (CoRE). She leads research exploring the relationship between food structure and digestion behaviour.
Dr Thomas Do
Dr Thomas Do is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Riddet Institute, based in Palmerston North, New Zealand. His research explores the relationship between structural design, functionality, and digestive behaviour of plant-based food materials. He applies this knowledge to the design of nature-inspired foods and next-generation plant protein ingredients.
Dr David Everett
Dr David Everett is a Principal Investigator at the RIddet Institute and adjunct professor at Massey University, New Zealand. He researches on digestibility and nutrient bioavailability of food structures, and is a Fellow of the NZ Institute of Food Science and Technology, Food Standards Australia New Zealand, and the American Dairy Science Association.
Prof Mike Gidley
Emeritus Professor Mike Gidley was Foundation Director of the Centre for Nutrition and Food Sciences at The University of Queensland and co-chair of the Australian Academy of Science Decadal Plan for the Science of Nutrition. His research interests include plant-based food structure/nutrition relationships, nutrition labelling and communication, and comparative macronutrient digestion and fermentation across humans, pigs and chickens.