Professor Metabolic Nutrition | Robert Gordon University
Valorisation of by-products from the agri, food and drink sector for identification of high value/low yield bioactives for use as nutraceuticals, pharmaceuticals or cosmeceutical
Professor Bermano is a Registered Nutritionist (Nutrition Science) with the UK Voluntary Register of Nutritionists (UKVRN), held by the Association for Nutrition. She obtained her degree (Laurea) in Food Science and Nutrition from the University of Milan, and her PhD in Molecular Nutrition from the Rowett Research Institute/University of Aberdeen. She joined Robert Gordon University in 2003 and, after 6 years (2009-2015) as Theme Leader for Cardiovascular and Metabolic Health research within the multi-disciplinary Institute for Health & Wellbeing Research, she is now Professor in Metabolic Nutrition. She is also Director of the Centre for Obesity Research and Education (CORE) and Co-Director of the Centre for Natural Products in Health, which focuses on the identification of novel pharmaceutical and nutraceutical agents from plant, marine algal and food processing waste-derived sources. Professor Bermano's research focuses on identifying novel “nutraceuticals” for optimal nutrition and disease prevention and to assess their effects at molecular and cellular levels in in vitro and in vivo models of disease, or clinical studies. Her work in sustainable nutrition and nutraceuticals has led to collaborations with food and drink industries to develop methods for valorisation of by-products, isolation of high-value/low-volume chemicals, assessing their activities in biological systems and identification of mechanisms of action for use as nutraceuticals. She has ongoing partnerships with several food & drink businesses and have secured funding from Zero Waste Scotland (Circular Economy Development Grant), BBSRC-IBioIC and InnovateUK (KTP).
