Welcome to the
Institute of
Food Research
IFR is a world leader in research into harnessing food for health and preventing food-related diseases. It is the only institute in the UK wholly dedicated to the food science, diet and health agenda. Our scientists address the UK’s Grand Challenges of obesity and healthy ageing by defining the relationship between food, diet and health, and they are making a vital contribution to the food security agenda.
We undertake internationally-ranked fundamental, strategic and applied research with high socio-economic impact, making a real difference to quality of life.
Mission-driven Institutes
IFR is one of eight institutes that receive strategic funding from the BBSRC. The institutes deliver innovative, world class bioscience research and training, leading to wealth and job creation, generating high returns for the UK economy. They have strong links with business, industry and the wider community, and support policy development.
The institutes' research underpins key sectors of the UK economy such as agriculture, bioenergy, biotechnology, food and drink and pharmaceuticals. In addition, the institutes maintain unique research facilities of national importance.
IFR research maps closely onto BBSRC’s key strategic research priorities :
- Food Security bioscience for a sustainable supply of sufficient, affordable, nutritious and safe food, adapting to a rapidly changing world
- Basic bioscience underpinning health driving advances for better health across the life course and improved quality of life, reducing the need for medical and social intervention
- Bioenergy and industrial biotechnology biofuels and industrial materials from novel biological sources, reducing dependency on petrochemicals and helping the UK to become a low carbon economy
Our Research Themes
We aim to understand how the major components of the GI Tract - the bacteria, the epithelial cells lining the gut, and the immune system interact to preserve gut health. This will help explain how and why these interactions go wrong in chronic disorders such as food allergy, inflammatory bowel disease and colorectal cancer.
Foodborne bacterial pathogens continue to cause public health and economic concerns in the UK and worldwide. Our research combines mathematical biology with experimental science to answer fundamental questions and to deliver scientifically exciting and applicable outputs aimed at removing pathogens from the food chain and generating savings for the health service.
Some key plant natural products are associated with potential health benefits. Our research extends from their synthesis and accumulation in plants, through their metabolism and excretion in humans, their biological interactions with human tissues and resultant downstream effects upon health. Collaboration with plant scientists and clinically-orientated researchers is a key feature.
To help prevent diet-related conditions such as obesity, diabetes, allergy and some cancers we need to maximise the nutritional benefit of the food we eat. Scientists at IFR are discovering how the structure of food responds to the gut environment and how this in turn affects the digestion of food, release and uptake of nutrients.
To seek to enhance the exploitation of food-chain residues and co-products. This will be achieved by developing a greater understanding of how to disassemble plant structures to produce biofuels and other marketable ingredients. It contributes to local initiatives eg Innovation in Non-Food Crops and the Sustainable Agriculture and Land Use challenge.
Fax: +44(0)1603 507723 
