PROJECTS

The Center boast various projects of scientific and industrial research that have allowed the organization of operative platforms, the realization of services and the planning of products. The most characterizing projects are given below with the purpose of enlightening the Center’s activities.

PROJECT LIST

1) Food Social Sensor Network (FOOD NET)
  • Food Net is a Smart Cities and Communities project that aims
    • i) to identify and interpret the nutritional needs of specific consumers’ group,
    • ii) to facilitate the innovation of the product and the production chain in agri-food enterprises through the realization of infrastructures allowing to produce efficient functional food and
    • iii) to implement life quality and citizen diet through functional food, nutritional models and education processes that focus on the lifestyle improvement.
  • PI: Massimo Labra (Scientific Ref.); Fabio Elisei (General Coordinator - TSP Srl)
  • Foundings: Regione Lombardia
  • Project lifetime: the project started on and will finish on (Overall length: 36 months)
  • Website: https://food-net.ml/

2) Sviluppo Agricolo e Sistemi Sostenibili (SASS) - Sustainable Food System
  • The aim is the development of Responsible Research and Innovation actions (RRI) on key issues of african realities with a particular reference to agricultural and agri-food systems. The ultimate goal is the identification of sustainable strategies able to improve life quality, to safeguard the biodiversity and the environment and to stimulate the social and economic development.

  • PI: Massimo Labra (UNIMIB), Francesco Rampa (ECDMP)
  • Foundings: MIUR- Progetti FISR
  • Project lifetime: the project started on and will finish on (Overall length: 24 months)
  • Website:

3) Microalgae and Yeasts SUStainable fermentation for HIgh quality fish feed formulation (MySUSHI)
  • The general aim of MYSUSHI is to improve the aquaculture sector through enabling biotechnologies to transform crude glycerol, a renewable industrial by-product still having the potential of being substrate for microbial bioconversions, into the essential lipid ingredients for fish feed. Specifically, the project has two parallel objectives: i) Biotechnological aim - development of a sustainable and viable biotransformation process producing the key lipid ingredients for fish feed (n-3 Long Chain Fatty Acids, LCFA, PolyUnsaturated FA, PUFA and carotenoids); ii) Responsible Research Innovation (RRI) aim - transfer of the key enabling technologies to aquaculture by establishing interactive processes between innovator and social actors to allow a proper embedding of technological and scientific advances in aquaculture society.

  • PI: Paola Branduardi
  • Foundings: Fondazione Cariplo
  • Project lifetime: the project started on and will finish on (Overall length: 36 months)
  • Website:.mysushibiotech.com
4) Progetto Caffè
  • Del Productor al Consumidor. Por una cadena de Valor Sostenible del Café, Añil, y Hortalizas (El.Sa.so)

    The aims of the project are:
    1) Strengthen the sector's inclusive and sustainable growth agro-food in El Salvador, integrating the valorisation of the biodiversity in crops as a measure of adaptation to climate change.
    2) Enhancement of the agricultural supply chain of coffee, in particular by the valorisation of the waste, starting from an agro-ecological approach up to sustainable socio-economic development through the production of cosmetics or medical devices.

  • PI:Ilaria Bruni
  • Foundings: Comisión Europea delegation El Salvador
  • Project lifetime:the project started on 01/12/2016 and will finish on 31/05/2019 (Overall length: 30 months)
5) Progetto Naturha- Natural Actives & Technologies Under Research for Healthy Aging
  • The goal of the project is the production of new functional supplements able to improve the nutritional status and well-being of elderly consumers who present the dysmetabolism related to intestinal absorption and an inefficient immune response. In particular, the project aims to obtain new functional foods based on prebiotics, phenolic compounds and probiotics starting from waste vegetable matrices.

  • PI: Patrizia Di Gennaro
  • Foundings:Regione Lombardia
  • Project lifetime: the project started on and will finish on (Overall length: 24 months)

EDUCATION PROJECTS

1) Healthy and well nourished teeth!
    • Due to the growing spread of unhealthy eating habits, caries continue to afflict children since early childhood. In the face of an increase in the demand for dental care related to caries, the only sustainable and desirable strategy remains the early prevention of risk factors. For this reason, we consider as primary important the education at every phase of the evolutionary age. We propose a project of food and oral hygiene education addressed to the parents of children enrolled in nursery and to children enrolled in kindergarten and elementary school. This project born from the collaboration between nutritionists of masterADA, Nutrition and Applied Dietetic, and students of the degree in Dental Hygiene.

  • PI: Emanuela Cazzaniga
  • Team

    Emanuela Cazzaniga, nutrition education,

    Antonina Orlando, nutrition education,

    Maria Cristina Panzeri, dental hygienist,

    Students of the degree in Dental Hygiene.


2) Do you know what you drink?
  • As the popularity of caffeinated energy drink (ED) use continues to increase, so do concerns about possible adverse effects. Many EDs contain substantive amounts of caffeine and heavy caffeine consumption can lead to such adverse effects as agitation/jitteriness, insomnia, tachycardia, and muscle tremors. EDs are particularly popular in adolescent where, in the last years is increase the consume of EDs combined with alcohol. Alcohol mixed with energy drinks (AmED) consumption is associated with alcohol dependence, binge drinking and susceptibility to and engagement in riskier behavior.
    In order to inform teenagers about the effects of alcohol and abuse of EDs, seminar were organized at some high schools. www.iisfrisi.gov.it The project "Do you know what you drink?" will also be re-released next year.

  • PI:Paola Palestini