There is significant concern about climate change (CC) abiotic factors and their impact on microbial contaminants and their toxins in staple food and feed chains pre- and post-harvest.
For mycotoxigenic fungi, there is interest in the impact that CC factors may have on contamination of cereals, nuts, spices, and animal feed ingredients. The question is: Will this lead to increased mycotoxin contamination or a change in the predominant types of toxins present?
To address these concerns, on June 13th, during the Webinar “Impacts of climate change on mycotoxins and food/feed safety: do we know enough?“ hosted by Dr. Jog Raj (R&D Manager at Patent Co, Serbia), we will learn all about the challenges we can expect in the future regarding mycotoxin occurrence due to climate change with Prof. Naresh Magan & Prof. Ángel Medina Vaya (Cranfield University, UK).
The webinar will have a duration of 45 minutes + 15 minutes for questions.
Prof. Naresh Magan DScE
Chair in Applied Mycology at Cranfield University
Professor Magan holds the Chair in Applied Mycology at Cranfield University. He has been carrying out research on food security/safety and spoilage fungi for 35+ years. Current research includes molecular ecology and ecophysiology of spoilage/mycotoxigenic fungi in food production systems, especially the impact of climate change factors on mycotoxins in staple commodities and the development of minimization and prevention strategies. These include physical approaches to minimizing mycotoxin contamination, ecophysiology of biological control agents for improved efficacy against pests/fungal diseases, rapid methods for the early detection of microbes for food/environment/health applications, and solid/liquid fermentation systems for enhancing the production of high-value pharma-related products. He has published widely in these research areas with 350+ peer-reviewed Journal papers. He has an H-index of 62 (Scopus) and 82 (Google scholar).
Dr. Ángel Medina Vaya
Reader in Food Mycology, Acting Director of Environment & AgriFood
Angel obtained his Ph.D. degree in Microbiology in 2007 at the University of Valencia (Spain). He was awarded the prize for the best Ph.D. Thesis by the University of Valencia-based on the novelty and quality of his research in 2008. Subsequently, he worked for almost 2 years in the food industry until he obtained a post-doctoral grant from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation to work in the Applied Mycology Group at Cranfield University (UK). Angel has published 104 peer-reviewed journal papers and 14 book chapters and has an H-factor of 29 (Scopus) and 35 (Google Scholar). He combines his research with the role of Director of the MSc taught program in AgriFood, and in September 2020 he has been awarded the British Mycological Society Berkeley Award for his contribution to mycology as early academic. In August 2021, Dr. Medina became the Head of the Applied Mycology Group and started a new position as Acting Director of Environment and Agrifood.
Micotoxicosis prevention