Rumathi de Mel

PhD project title: Investigating the impact of plant-based food and products on microbiota composition and gut health

Short description of the project

This project explores how plant-based foods and their naturally occurring microorganisms influence the human gut microbiota and immune function. It includes the development of new methods to identify and evaluate the effects of food components derived from underutilized resources such as rapeseed, hemp and oats, as well as their associated microbiota.

Supervisors

Main supervisor

• Åsa Håkansson, Department of Process and Life Science Engineering, LTH

Co-supervisors:

• Jeanette Purhagen, Department of Process and Life Science Engineering, LTH
• Klas Sjöberg, Department of Clinical Sciences, Lund University

Location

Department of Process and Life Science Engineering, LTH

I grew up in Sri Lanka and completed my bachelor’s degree at Northumbria University, followed by a master’s in biotechnology at Lund University. My interest in probiotics and gut microbiota led me to conduct my master’s thesis at the Division of Food and Pharma at LTH and later work as a Research Assistant at Skånes Universitetssjukhus in Malmö. I enjoy the combination of academia and industry in my PhD work, and through LiFT I look forward to broadening my perspectives and connecting with other researchers within food science.