Science Leadership Team
Kaiarahi Pūtaiao
Dr Denise Conroy
Dr Denise Conroy is a Principal Scientist and Science Team Leader for Plant and Food Research’s Stakeholder & Consumer Team, at their Mt Albert campus. Denise is a research psychologist, specialising in consumption behaviour which means understanding the attitudes, emotions, values, and cognitions that motivate people to consume specific products, brands or experiences, or to reject these offerings. As an interpretivist researcher Denise is a skilled methodologist, and is very experienced at leading complex teams, across different disciplines, and from diverse backgrounds, to reach a common goal. Much of Denise’s research is Asia focussed; current projects include an exploration of how new technologies such as genetic editing and cellular agriculture are perceived in Vietnam, Japan, China and UAE, and how sustainability fits in consumption choices throughout Asia. Denise is continuing to build on the work she commenced as Principal Investigator of the High-Value Nutrition National Science Challenge Consumer Insights Research Programme, exploring how consumers construe the relationships between food and health.
Dr Olivier Gasser
Dr Olivier Gasser is Team Leader at the Malaghan Institute of Medical Research, Wellington. Dr Gasser’s research interests lie in the bidirectional communication between the immune system and host metabolism, with a strong emphasis on the gut and its resident microbes. As the Principal Investigator of the High-Value Nutrition Immune Health Research Programme, he brings much experience in evaluating novel mechanistic aspects of the human immune system that could provide immediate impact to the fields of immune health as it relates to cancer, inflammatory and infectious diseases
https://www.malaghan.org.nz/our-people/science-leadership/dr-olivier-gasser/
Associate Professor Jennifer Miles-Chan
Associate Professor Jennifer Miles-Chan is a Director of the Human Nutrition Unit at the University of Auckland; Australasia’s only long stay residential nutrition facility with the capability of conducting diet-controlled interventions in order to demonstrate cause and effect relationships between diet, health and disease. Jennifer is an integrative physiologist and Principal Investigator of the High-Value Nutrition Metabolic Health Research Programme. Jennifer’s research focuses on inter-individual variability in nutritional energetics and the regulation of body composition and metabolism – in essence, trying to work out why some of us are more susceptible to poor metabolic health than others, and how we might be able to tailor prevention and treatment strategies accordingly. Her experience covers a diverse range of settings: including a solid background in pre-clinical models and molecular analyses, clinical intervention studies, and experience in more epidemiological-type investigations. Jennifer is also an Associate Investigator for the Riddet Institute Centre of Research Excellence.
Dr Jane Mullaney
Dr Jane Mullaney is the Vision Mātauranga Leader for the High-Value Nutrition Ko Ngā Kai Whai Painga. Jane is a senior scientist at AgResearch, Adjunct Senior Researcher for Massey University and an Associate Investigator for the Riddet Institute. Her key expertise is in the microbiome. Jane has worked on High-Value Nutrition’s Infant Health and Digestive Health Priority Research Programmes as an Associate Investigator. She has also been actively involved on the research team for two other High-Value Nutrition projects, working with the Macorja Group to develop a Rongoā beverage and with Ngāti Kuia on understanding and characterising the effects of maramataka of Kānuka harvesting.
Professor Nicole Roy
Professor Nicole Roy is with the Department of Human Nutrition at the University of Otago. Professor Roy has research interests in nutrition and health, host-microbiome interactions, gastrointestinal physiology, and gut-brain communication. She is based in Palmerston North and leads the High-Value Nutrition Digestive Health Research Programme. Professor Roy completed her PhD in Canada and the United States and postdoctoral studies in Scotland, where she focused on how nutrition and food components can modify inter-organ nutrient partitioning and communication using tracer kinetics, animal models and in vitro models. She is also an Adjunct Professor at the Riddet Institute and a Principal Investigator in the Riddet Institute Centre of Research Excellence.
https://www.otago.ac.nz/humannutrition/staff/professor-nicole-roy
Distinguished Professor Harjinder Singh
Distinguished Professor Harjinder Singh is currently Director of the Riddet Institute, based at Massey University, Palmerston North. His leadership has contributed to the creation and advancement of new multidisciplinary alliances, most notably between food science and nutritional sciences. Dr. Singh’s career has advanced the understanding of food colloids, protein functionality, delivery systems, and food digestion. His prolific research output is evident in his approximately 500 publications (H-index 104) and 25 patents. Beyond science impact, his ability to translate fundamental science discoveries into industrial outcomes has been a significant achievement, as indicated by the sustained funding ($100 million) he has secured from government and multinational companies and his recent involvement as a cofounder of two startup companies. Dr. Singh has mentored 50 doctoral students and 37 postdoctoral researchers; many have become leaders in their field. His international standing and outstanding contributions have been recognized by several prestigious awards: the William Haines Dairy Science Award, Marschall Rhodia International Dairy Science Award, JC Andrews Award, Shorland Medal, ADSA Distinguished Service Award, International Dairy Foods Association Research Award in Dairy Foods Processing, the Prime Minister’s Science Prize and more recently the 2024 IFT Lifetime Achievement Award in honour of Nicolas Appert. He is an elected Fellow of IFT, the Royal Society of New Zealand, and the International Academy of Food Science and Technology.
https://www.massey.ac.nz/massey/expertise/profile.cfm?stref=742130
Professor Clare Wall
Professor Clare Wall heads the Nutrition Department at the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences at the University of Auckland and is the Principal Investigator of the High-Value Nutrition Infant Health Research Programme. Clare’s main research focus is the interrelationship between the determinants of nutritional status and health outcomes in early life.
Contact Us
