At TUM in Freising, she will therefore develop new analysis strategies to improve food safety and food quality. She is investigating the complex interplay between the structure, functionality and bioactivity of food proteins in a multidisciplinary manner. The fundamental insights gained from this can help people suffering from coeliac disease, for example. In coeliac disease, the ingestion of gluten, which is contained in certain types of grain, leads to chronic inflammation in the small intestine.
What fascinates Katharina Scherf in particular about her field of research?
"Food chemistry is an interdisciplinary field that enables many exciting collaborations with different specialist areas, from plant breeding to product technology," explains Prof. Scherf. Her research activities are based on combined expertise in the fields of food chemistry, analytical chemistry, proteomics and immunological tests.
What is the new professor looking forward to in her work at our campus in Freising?
After her studies and the beginnings of her scientific career at the Technical University of Munich, she returned to the Weihenstephan campus after almost five years as a professor at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). At the same time as her professorship at the TUM School of Life Sciences, she has been a professor at the Leibniz Institute for Food Systems Biology at the Technical University of Munich, which is located in the immediate vicinity, since April 2024.
In her professorship at the Freising campus, she is looking forward to "continuing and establishing a large number of collaborations within the Leibniz Institute, as well as at TUM and with other institutes (e.g. LfL, KErn, Helmholtz Center Munich). I am also looking forward to the interactions with students in the context of courses and theses as well as many exciting doctoral projects, including as part of my ERC Starting Grant GLUTENOMICS."
Scientific contact:
Prof. Dr. Katharina Scherf
Food Biopolymer Systems
Technische Universität München
Lise-Meitner-Str. 34
85737 Ismaning
katharina.scherf(at)tum.de
Press contact TUM School of Life Sciences:
Elisabeth Habisch
Press and public relations
Tel.: +49 8161 71-3207
elisabeth.habisch(at)tum.de