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Biography
Dr Ni Yang (Nicole) is an Associate Professor in Flavour Science at the University of Nottingham. As an academic at the International Flavour Research Centre, she also serves as the Laboratory Manager for Food and Feed Analysis Consultancy and Training Service (http://nottingham.ac.uk/facts). She fulfils the role of the International Outreach Lead for the Food Science and Nutrition courses, leading the development of the Xerte course website (https://xerte.nottingham.ac.uk/play_33586). As a dedicated member of the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Committee at the School of Biosciences, she secured the University's EDI funding as the Project Lead for EndoConnect. Through this initiative, she actively promotes awareness of Endometriosis, a condition that affects more than 1 in 10 women.
Nicole's research aims to shape a sustainable flavour system by embedding flavour science from soil and plant, processing and production, to consumption and health. Her current research includes flavour chemistry applied to the fields of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and trigeminal sensations (e.g., chilli).
Her research stands at the forefront of the intersection between flavour and health, with a primary focus on the development of an innovative training tool for individuals with flavour perception impairment - a condition that significantly impacts overall quality of life, yet currently lacks a cure.
Dr Yang has over 16-years of experience transferring and applying flavour science and technology to various industries and applications. With her passion and experience in managing knowledge-transferable projects, she is also actively applying her knowledge and skills to various activities, such as exploring collaboration opportunities globally. She has strong links in China and is developing a collaborative platform internally and internationally.
She is a member of the Royal Society of Chemistry (MRSC), the member of the Institute of Food Science and Technology (MIFST), and fellow of The Higher Education Academy (FHEA)
More information on her research profile can be found on ORCID (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6920-8569)
Expertise Summary
Nicole's research interests are embedding flavour science from soil to health to understand how flavours are generated and affected by the plant (e.g., tea and coffee flavour can be affected by soil and growing conditions), by animal feeding (e.g., different feed compositions can result in varied flavour quality in the final food product), how different food processing and engineering would affect flavour formation and stability in the final product, how flavour science can help developing healthy food product or tailored to a particular population (e.g., food for elder group).
She has a particular passion for investigating the impact of trigeminal stimuli, such as chilli/spicy sensations.
Teaching Summary
Nicole believes in student-centred teaching and respects individual learners in diverse learning communities. She has been actively applying blended learning design in her teaching and learning… read more
Research Summary
Nicole is enthusiastic about international collaboration in the field of food flavour research. Her current passion is about trigeminal sensation evoke from capsaicin and how it interacts with… read more
Nicole believes in student-centred teaching and respects individual learners in diverse learning communities. She has been actively applying blended learning design in her teaching and learning activities. She has completed her Postgraduate Certificate in High Education (PGCHE) and has achieved the status of Fellow of Higher Education Academy (FHEA).
She teaches at undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate levels in the following 9 modules at the School of Biosciences: International Food Commodities (UG), Trends in Food Research (UG), Food Flavour and Advanced Sensory Science (UG), Food Factory Operations (UG), Molecular Biological Laboratory Skills (UG), Food - Technical Team Challenges (UG), Food Flavour (PG), Advanced Practical Methods in Food Science (PG), and Food Production Management - Research Projects (PG).
She is the module co-convenor for the Food Flavour (PG) module, which is a 1-week course that is also open to external delegates (https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/facts/training-courses.aspx). She led the re-design of the course to be delivered virtually and blended the problem-based learning into the interactive online sessions.