Associate Professor Alice Lee

Associate Professor & Postgraduate by Coursework Coordinator (Food Program) in the School of Chemical Engineering

I currently serve as Associate Professor and Postgraduate by Coursework Coordinator for the Food Program in the School of Chemical Engineering. 

Our immune system in health and disease is very much dependent upon the types and conditions of food that we eat every day. I believe that Food is our best medicine and training our gut to be “healthy” with right combinations of foods is critical in maintaining an overall health.

I lead an active research program in three related areas of food chemistry, food analysis (inc. immunodiagnostics) and food safety (inc. food allergies and allergens). My research goal is to achieve a better understanding in molecular allergology - what happens to food components at the molecular level when they go through various processing techniques and conditions, how they may interact with our “gut” immune system and how these interactions may affect our overall health status especially with respect to food allergy.

My current research, thus, focuses on the molecular interaction of food components during processing and their effects on allergenic potential; digestibility and bio-accessibility, the interaction of food components with the immune system; characterisation and purification of allergenic proteins and the development of rapid diagnostic tests.