Professor Lorenzo Pastrana

Professor Lorenzo Pastrana has a PhD in Pharmacy by the University of Santiago (Spain). He was postdoctoral fellow in the Centre de Transfert en Microbiologie et Biotechnologie–INSA at Toulouse. In 1991 he joined the University of Vigo (UVIGO) in Spain as Assistant Lecturer in Biochemistry. Since 2010, he is a Professor of Food Science at UVIGO where he was the Head of Knowledge Transfer Office and in 2006 founded the first Regional Food Innovation Cluster (Galician Agri-Food Technology Platform).

Since 2016, he is a member of the scientific board of Portugal Foods. His research is marked oriented with a multidisciplinary approach integrating methods and concepts of the biotechnology, nanotechnology and mathematical modelling.

Currently, he is working in three main areas, namely: micro and nano-encapsulation of bioactives for improving functional foods, edible, active and smart food packaging and creation of new gastronomic sensations/emotions by using nanotechnology.

He is author of more than one hundred fifty scientific papers and 4 licenced patents relating the development of new food products and process. He has a broad experience leading as PI National and European research projects as well industrial R&D contracts with food companies. In September 2015, he joined the International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory at Braga as Head of the Department of Life Sciences.