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Birmingham Food Network

A rapidly growing global population means we must produce more food than ever. Yet climate-caused shortages, little availability of agricultural land and rising sea levels pose significant challenges.

The Birmingham Food Network is an interdisciplinary team of academics working across supply, access, health, policy, sustainability and security to address the future of food. Bringing together experts in chemical engineering, public health, economics, biology, policy, sociology, gender and development studies, business management and other fields, the Network takes a holistic approach to tackling our global food challenge.

Policy

Food Security

At the University of Birmingham, we believe that policies and investments can significantly improve our resilience and provide meaningful contributions to our global collaborative effort to tackle climate change. Ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP 28), our experts set out steps to address major global challenges in a series of policy briefs.

Our Members and Expertise

Core members

Professor Liza Jabbour
Professor of Business Economics
Liza's main research interest is applied international economics.
Dr Taghi Miri
Assistant Professor (Lecturer)
Dr Taghi Miri is a Chemical Engineer. His research covers industries including food and household chemicals and processes.

Dr Helen Onyeaka
Associate Professor
Helen's research interests include microbial responses to environmental stress, use of natural preservatives in food processing, food safety, quality and spoilage and antimicrobial resistance.

Chemical Engineering

Dr Amir Anvarian (Teaching Fellow in Food Safety)
Dr Taghi Miri (Assistant Professor (Lecturer))
Dr Helen Onyeaka (Associate Professor)
Dr Xinfang Wang (Assistant Professor)
Professor Bettina Wolf (Professor in Microstructure Engineering)

Public Health

Professor Peymané Adab (Professor of Chronic Disease Epidemiology & Public Health)
Marco Bardus (Assistant Professor in Public Health; Social Marketing Expert)
Professor Emma Frew (NIHR Research Professor, Professor of Health Economics)
Dr Lin Fu (Research Fellow)
Dr Marie Murphy (Research Fellow)
Professor Miranda Pallan (Professor of Child and Adolescent Public Health)
Irina Pokhilenko (Research Fellow)
Dr Catarina Rendeiro (Lecturer in Nutritional Sciences)

Business and Economics

Dr Liza Jabbour (Senior Lecturer in Business Economics)
Dr Paul Lewis (Senior Lecturer in Political Economy)
Caroline Moraes (Professor of Marketing and Consumer Research; Director of the Centre for Responsible Business)
Dr Gu Pang (Associate Professor in Procurement and Operations Management)
Dr Eric Shiu (Assistant Professor in Marketing and Innovation Management)

Biology

Dr Oluwaseyi Shorinola (Assistant Professor in Genetics and Bioinformatics)

Sociology

Dr Kayleigh Garthwaite (Associate Professor, Deputy Director of Research (Impact) for School of Social Policy, Birmingham Fellow)
Dr Özlem Ögtem-Young (Research Fellow,
Research Lead: Poverty, Precarity, Saving and Debt)
Dr Neil Stephens (Senior Lecturer in Technology and Society)
Dr Ben Warwick (Reader in Human Rights Law, Head of Planning and Strategy)

Birmingham Institute for Sustainability and Climate Action (BISCA)

Tanvi Deshpande (Research and Impact Fellow)
Thomas King (Research and Impact Fellow)