Nada El Darra

I am an associate professor of food safety and technology and coordinator of the M.Sc program of Food Analysis and Safety at the Faculty of Health Sciences, Beirut Arab University, Lebanon. My research projects focus on food safety and technology. I address these topics with partners from different research institutions. At the international level, I collaborated with the Institute of Sciences of Food Production (ISPA), National Research Council of Italy, on a project related to screening for mycotoxins in spices and herbs commercialized in Lebanon and Italy.

Another food safety concern in Lebanon is the bacterial contamination of spices. To solve this issue, I also worked on the development of decontamination systems for spices with the School of Engineering, University of Glasgow. I further collaborated with the Institute of Food Science, National Research Council, Italy, to develop an advanced rapid technique to quantify antibiotic residues in food samples. I co-supervise graduate students with Drs. from the University of Technology of Compiegne, France. At the national level, I conducted many research projects with the Lebanese Agricultural Research Institute and the Industrial Research Institute and some Lebanese universities (AUB, USJ). My ongoing innovative projects focus mainly on the valorization of food by-products: Currently, I am developing (1) a prototype to decontaminate spices and (2) a hurdle technique to extract essential oils from food by-products.

AGYA provides me with partnership-building opportunities as well as funding resources to support my innovative projects. It helps me to address food safety issues through collaborating with partners from different disciplines and research institutions and exchanging knowledge and expertise.

Academic career