Danisco Innovation (DANISCO), Denmark

 

Danisco Innovation will be an active partner in the project in WP10. The group will contribute with expertise in High-Through-Put Screening of new protective and probiotic starter cultures. Strong expertise in cell and enzyme based assays in microtiter system will also be employed. The group will also deliver commercial strains with protective and probiotic properties.

 

Key persons for PathogenCombat

Jørn Dalgaard Mikkelsen (RTD II Pillar Leader, involved in WP10) will be project RTD Leader of the Diagnostics/detection methods, as well as manager for the work carried out by Danisco in the PathogenCombat project. Briefly, JDM has been employed in the industry (Carlsberg Brewery and Danisco) for a large number of years. He has many years of experience in management of national and international research projects and has coordinated two European Projects in Framework IV and V. The field of competence in Biotechnology ranges from plant disease resistance using antimicrobial components in GMO plants, bioconversion in micro-organims to produce Bioflavours, use of molecular evolution to generate new food enzymes, development of new yeast based products by classical and molecular tools, and production of tailor-made food ingredients by enzymatic modification.

 

Senior scientist, Dr. Birgitte Rønnow (involved in WP10) is a biochemist specialised in yeast genetics and molecular biology with emphasis on glycerol metabolism. Her areas of expertises are metabolic engineering, microbial genetics and physiology, biotransformation and classical development of microbial strains e.g. Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Streptomyces setonii, Pseudomonas putida, Lactococcus lactis. In addition to that, she is responsible for Danisco's high throughput screening facilities.

 

Senior scientist, Dr. Dieter Elsser (involved in WP10) is a food technologist with a main focus on food microbiology and food preservation. His working field at Danisco comprises the development of starter cultures for dairy and meat products as well as of food safety concepts by the use of protective and probiotic cultures. He developed a range of protective and probiotic cultures which work against food pathogens such as Listeria sp. or which can be used for an extension of shelf life of food products by the inhibition of food spoilage organisms. Furthermore, he is responsible for the coordination of scientific activities in the field “food safety and protection” at Danisco.

 

Research scientist, Dr. Mette Dines Cantor (involved in WP10) has a strong experience on the characterisation of starter cultures in cheese, including both molds (Penicillium roqueforti and P. camemberti and yeasts (Debaryomyces hansenii, Candida famata, Yarrowia lipolytica, C. lipolytica, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae) with respect to enzymatic activity, interactions and their impact on ripening. Furthermore, Mette has also experience in several additional fields, comprising production and purification of exopolysaccharides, acidification of Lactococci and miniaturisation of screening using a robotic system.

 

Danisco webpage: http://www.danisco.com/cms/connect/