Food science welcomes new food quality prof

The Department of Food Science is pleased to welcome Dr. Maria G. Corradini as an Arrell Food Chair in Food Quality, starting December 1, 2018.

Corradini joins the Department of Food Science from the University of Massachusetts – Amherst where she was an assistant professor.

"We're delighted to have Dr. Maria Corradini join our faculty,” shares Prof. Art Hill, department chair. “Food quality design and measurement is an important field as food technologists create products for increasingly discerning consumers.”

Corradini’s research focuses on the development of novel techniques to study foods, their biophysical behavior, and stability. She couples these techniques with predictive tools and computational methods.

The end goal of her research is to provide accurate estimations of food attributes in real time to increase food safety through the development of early warning steps, improve food accessibility and sustainability through a decrease in food waste and optimization of food distribution, and enhance nutrition through the consumption of foods at their peak quality.

In her role, Corradini will teach and mentor at both the undergraduate and graduate level in the department.

“The combined expertise and collaborative spirit of the department’s faculty and staff makes it one of the most exciting places to work for a food scientist like me who cherishes the integrative nature of this discipline,” says Corradini. “Joining this department and the Arrell Food Institute allows me to apply a multidisciplinary approach to examine food quality throughout the whole food supply.”

Corradini’s position is one of three positions supported by the Arrell Family Foundation gift made to the university in 2017. The gift also established the Arrell Food Institute

“The local focus and global reach of the Arrell Food Institute takes into consideration the needs of local and global communities and can catapult food research to have an impact on the overall food supply,” Corradini adds.

Corradini has previously worked at Rutgers University and Universidad Argentina de la Empresa. She has authored or coauthored more than 95 research articles and 15 book chapters. She has also co-developed an educational kit on photophysics for middle school students.