Sophie Dodd

Areas of expertise

• Food Quality
• Food Safety

Background

Sophie Dodd achieved her BSc in Forensic Biology at Nottingham Trent University, where her final year research project focused on the authentication of commercial herbal medicinal products. During this time she also completed a internship at RIKILT Institute of Food Safety working on a variety of projects using bio-analytical methods for the detection of natural food toxins.

Sophie continued her studies at Queen’s University Belfast, obtaining a MSc in Advanced Food Safety. Her research project assessed the potential of natural antimicrobials, testing both plant extracts and commercial natural preservatives and evaluating their efficacy in a cosmetic matrix.

Sophie has now joined the School of Water, Energy and the Environment at Cranfield University to undertake her PhD in Environment and Agrifood with the project ‘Honey authentication using intrinsic DNA markers and metabolic fingerprint’.

Current activities

Sophie is currently developing methods to authenticate premium monofloral honeys, with a particular focus on UK heather honey.

The aim of the project is to simultaneously identify the botanical origin/s and detect common adulterants in honey samples. This will be done by identifying unique chemical and DNA biomarkers and combining with machine learning algorithms to create a decision making tool. Additionally the bioactivity of heather honey will be investigated at her partner university Queen’s University Belfast.

Sophie is a part of the FoodBioSystems DTP, which is funded by the BBSRC.