Cornell food science professor wins $50K research grant

ITHACA, N.Y. — Cornell University Professor Carmen I. Moraru received a $50,000 Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Collaborative Research Grant in honor of Marcel Loncin. The funding provides research funding for conducting basic chemistry, physics, or engineering research applied to food processing and improvement of food quality, according to a press release from the university. She will be honored at IFT First: Annual Event and Expo, which takes place July 14-17 in Chicago. Moraru, a professor in the Department of Food Science, joined Cornell in 2003. Her research focuses on physical and engineering properties of foods, food and dairy processing, and food-safety engineering. Prior to joining Cornell, she served as a research assistant professor at Rutgers University in New Jersey. She is the recipient of several awards including the Cornell CALS Alumni Association Outstanding Faculty Award, the SUNY Chancellor’s Excellence in Teaching award, and the International Dairy Foods Association’s Teaching Award in Dairy Manufacturing. In addition to the IFT grant, she also serves as an IFT fellow Moraru received her undergraduate degree and Ph.D., both in food engineering, from Dunarea de Jos University of Galati in Romania. The Institute of Food Technologists is a global organization of more than 11,000 members from more than 90 countries committed to advancing the science of food.