Research Topics : Near Infrared Spectroscopy, Water Science, Biomeasurement, Aquaphotomics.
NIRS Laboratory is the cradle of Aquaphotomics, a new scientific discipline, proposed by Professor Roumiana Tsenkova in 2005. The Laboratory is working on various applications and new developments in the area of near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) as non-destructive technology for monitoring and diagnosis of biological and aqueous systems. Qualitative and quantitative analysis applied in biological- and food-related research and technology, as well as understanding new phenomena related to water in biology are the main area of interest. We proposed a new scientific area called Aquaphotomics as a new member in the “omics” area devoted to examine “all about the interaction between water and light” and present spectroscopy as an important tool to study the functionality of water in Life science.
Group leader (former) : Assistant Professor Jelena Muncan
Affiliation: Biomedical Engineering Department, University of Belgrade, Serbia
Research Topics : Characterization of biomaterials and nanomaterials, Biomedical diagnostics and therapy, Aquaphotomics.
Jelena Munćan started her research career at Biomedical Engineering Department, University of Belgrade in Serbia. After graduating at Department of Manufacturing Engineering in 2008, her interest in artificial intelligence and neurprosthetics led her to pursue PhD in Biomedical engineering, with the initial focus on nanotechnologies and how they can help early diagnostics and/or therapy in the case of neurodegenerative diseases.
During her early years as a PhD student she meets Professor Dr Tsenkova, and starts initial explorations in aquaphotomics, with works on characterization of water, aqueous solutions of fullerol and other fullerene based nanomaterials, as well as cosmetic and therapeutic products based on fullerene. The framework of Aquaphotomics inspired her to search for better understanding of water phenomena and how it can be implemented for the purposes of biomedical diagnostics and therapy, as well as better understanding of the role of water in biological organisms.
After completing her PhD thesis on the topic of non-invasive glucose sensing, recognizing the potential and vast possibilities of aquaphotomics in biomedical science, she widened her research area to characterization of hydrogel based contact lenses, cancer and diabetes diagnostics, and efficacy of dialysis therapy. During this period, first as an Assistant, and then as an Assistant Professor at the Biomedical Engineering Department, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Belgrade she introduced some additions to the standard curriculum offering the courses such as BioStatistics and Data mining, Spectroscopy methods and techniques as well as a new PhD course entirely devoted to Aquaphotomics.
In 2017 she was awarded by Japanese Society for Promotion of Science, and after completing her 2-year postdoctoral fellowship on mastitis diagnosis in dairy, she decided to continue to live in work on aquaphotomics in Japan, where is currently employed as a Specially Appointed Assistant Professor at newly established, Aquaphotomics Research Department, Kobe University.
Affiliation : Institute of Analytical Chemistry and Radiochemistry, CCB-Center for Chemistry and Biomedicine, Leopold-Franzens University, Innsbruck, Austria
Research Topics : Near Infrared and molecular spectroscopy, bioanalysis, phytopharmaca, material science
Huck Lab is developing novel analytical approaches based on molecular spectroscopy (NIR, MIR, 2D-COS, Raman) with main focus on near-infrared (NIR). The lab has excellent knowledge in a broad field of analytical methodologies including chromatography/electrophoresis (LC, µ-LC, GC, CE, CEC), mas spectrometry (ESI, Q-TOF, MALDI) and selective sample enrichment procedures (SPE) used as a reference method. Beside multivariate data analysis, quantum chemical calculations, also bioninformatics is applied to get deeper insights into the diversity and inter-relation of spectral data. Samples of interest taken into consideration comprise biomolecules including also phyto relevant active ingredients and different materials.
BioAquaLab’s research is focused on the application of Aquaphotomics in the field of biotechnology and food technology. Our group is working on the development of NIR-spectral WASP libraries of food pathogens and lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and an assessment of the potential of the NIR spectroscopy and aquaphotomics as a precise, swift and non-invasive method for the observation of the growth and metabolic activity of probiotic and functional strains; detection of food pathogens in food products by identifying specific bacterial aquaphotomic models; application of aquaphotomics for evaluation of survival and metabolic activity of functional LAB and probiotic bacteria during the production and storage of food; utilization of aquaphotomics to assess the freshness and authenticity of food products; utilization of aquaphotomics to assess the antioxidative potential of food products and by-products from food industry; utilization of aquaphotomics to analyse food quality, detection of authenticity violations, adulterations and imitation products.
