Position Title
Professor and Food Engineer
- Biological and Agricultural Engineering
- Food Science and Technology
Research
Dr. Nitin is interested in using a combination of interdisciplinary approaches encompassing biomolecular engineering, mathematical modeling, material science and molecular imaging to study the following key research areas. The research interests of the laboratory can be broadly classified into two main categories:
(a) Food Engineering Research: The goal of this research plan is to develop technologies for addressing key issues in areas of food safety and food for health initiatives (e.g. development and validation of non-thermal food processing operations for food safety; engineering of food formulations to improve bioavailability of nutraceuticals). These projects will provide students with skills in areas of molecular imaging, spectroscopy, mathematical modeling, molecular biology, microbiology and material science with a strong foundation in food engineering. (b) Biological/Biomedical Engineering Research: The goal of this research is to develop molecular imaging technologies from a single cell level to a whole body imaging. These imaging technologies will enable early stage detection of diseases, novel delivery vehicles for therapeutic applications and quantification of molecular processes for fundamental understanding of patho-physiology. These projects will provide students with skills in areas of molecular imaging, mathematical modeling, molecular biology and material science with a strong foundation in bioengineering.
Selected Publications
For the most up-to-date list of publications, visit Google Scholar
R. Tikekar, A. Johnson and N. Nitin, “Fluorescence imaging and spectroscopy for real- time, in-situ characterization of interactions of free radicals with oil-in-water emulsions”, Food Research Intl, Nov., 2010.
R. Tikekar, A. Johnson, N. Nitin, “Real-time measurement of oxygen transport across an oil-water emulsion interface.” Journal of Food Engineering, Volume 103, Issue 1, March 2011.
R. Tikekar and N. Nitin, “Effect of physical state (solid vs. liquid) of lipid core on the rate of transport of oxygen and free radicals in solid lipid nanoparticles and emulsion.” Soft Matter, 7(8), 2011.
A Altan, KL McCarthy, R Tikekar, MJ McCarthy, N. Nitin, “Image analysis of microstructural changes in almond cotyledon as a result of processing”, Journal of Food Science 76 (2), E212-E221., 2011.
Z Luo, CW Simmons, JS VanderGheynst, N. Nitin, “Quantitative real time measurements of bacteria–bacteriophages interactions in fresh lettuce leaves”, Journal of Food Engineering, March, 2012.
RV Tikekar, N. Nitin, “Distribution of encapulated materials in colloidal particles and its impact on oxidative stability of encapsulated materials”, Langmuir, June, 2012.
CW Simmons, N. Nitin, JS VanderGheynst, “Rapid, in situ detection of Agrobacterium tumefaciens attachment to leaf tissue”, Biotechnology progress, Sep;28(5):1321-8, 2012.
M. Loja, Z. Luo, D. Farwell, Q. Luu; P. Donald; D. Amott, A. Truong,; R. Gandour-Edwards, N. Nitin, “Optical molecular imaging detects changes in extracellular pH with the development of head and neck cancer”, International Journal of Cancer, (Accepted -2012).
Z. Luo, R. Tikekar, K. M. Samadzadeh, N. Nitin, “Optical molecular imaging approach for rapid assessment of response of individual cancer cells to chemotherapy”, Journal of Biomedical Optics, Oct., 2012.
D. Bricarello, M. Prada, N. Nitin, “Physical and chemical modifications of lipid structures to inhibit permeation of free radicals in a supported lipid membrane model, Soft Matter, 2012,8, 11144-11151.