Contact Dr Carla Cervini
- Email: Carla.Cervini@cranfield.ac.uk
- Twitter: @CerviniCarla
- Google Scholar
- ResearchGate
Areas of expertise
- Agrifood Systems
- Food Safety
Background
Carla graduated in Nutritional Biology at the University of Camerino (Italy) and then studied for an MSc in Human Nutrition at the University of Rome Tor Vergata (Italy). In March 2020 she obtained her PhD in Translational Medicine and Food: Innovation, Safety and Management at the Institute of Science of Food Production of the National Research Council in Bari (Italy) while registered at the University of Foggia (Italy). During her PhD she worked on understanding the effect of possible climate change scenarios on the ecophysiological behaviour of Aspergillus carbonarius in the South Italy wine production chain. In 2018 she joined the Applied Mycology Group at Cranfield University as a visiting PhD student gaining additional skills on fungal growth and incubation in in vitro system to simulate climate change scenarios. In 2020 she joined the Applied Mycology Group to work as a Research Fellow.
Research opportunities
Food safety
Nutrition
Current activities
Carla's current core project is "EWA-Belt: linking East and West African farming systems experience into a BELT of sustainable intensification” funded by EU Horizon 2020 in which she is working as a Research Fellow managing multiple partners towards developing effective pre- and post-harvest mitigation strategies to avoid mycotoxin contamination in stored food and feed products.
In 2024, she won a Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) project aiming at defining pre- and post-harvest measures to control aflatoxin occurrence in Ethiopian peanuts.
Carla is contributing to the development of the short-courses as part of the Mycotoxin Training Hub and she is also collaborating with senior colleagues to the creation of the Magan Centre of Applied Mycology (MCAM).
Publications
Articles In Journals
- Cervini C, Naz N, Verheecke-Vaessen C & Medina A. (2024). Impact of predicted climate change environmental conditions on the growth of Fusarium asiaticum strains and mycotoxins production on a wheat-based matrix. International Journal of Food Microbiology, 416
- Cervini C, Abegaz B, Mohammed A, Elias R, Medina A, .... (2023). Assessment of agricultural practices by Ethiopian women farmers: existence of gender disparities in access to mycotoxins training. World Mycotoxin Journal, 16(3)
- Cervini C, Verheecke-Vaessen C, He T, Mohammed A, Magan N, .... (2022). Improvements within the peanut production chain to minimize aflatoxins contamination: An Ethiopian case study. Food Control, 136(June)
- Mohammed A, Seid A, Terefe H, Cervini C & Verheecke-Vaessen C. (2022). Harvest and post-harvest handling practices associated with fumonisin B1 contamination in maize (Zea mays L.): dietary exposure and risk characterization in eastern Ethiopia. Mycotoxin Research, 38(4)
- Ferrara M, Gallo A, Cervini C, Gambacorta L, Solfrizzo M, .... (2021). Evidence of the Involvement of a Cyclase Gene in the Biosynthesis of Ochratoxin A in Aspergillus carbonarius. Toxins, 13(12)
- Cervini C, Verheecke-Vaessen C, Ferrara M, García-Cela E, Magistà D, .... (2021). Interacting climate change factors (CO2 and temperature cycles) effects on growth, secondary metabolite gene expression and phenotypic ochratoxin A production by Aspergillus carbonarius strains on a grape-based matrix. Fungal Biology, 125(2)
- Cervini C, Gallo A, Piemontese L, Magistà D, Logrieco AF, .... (2020). Effects of temperature and water activity change on ecophysiology of ochratoxigenic Aspergillus carbonarius in field-simulating conditions. International Journal of Food Microbiology, 315
