Dr. Jitendra Mata

 

Post Doctoral Fellow Bragg Institute Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation ANSTO, Building 87, PMB 1 Menai NSW 2234 Australia. Research Group: Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, Materials and Engineering Science (Functional Materials); and Bragg Institute   Webpage: http://www.ansto.gov.au/research/bragg_institute/contacts/mata,_j Email: link Phone: +61-2-97177221 Fax: +61-2-97173606

 

Current Research Activities

After two years of postdoctoral experience at The Australian National University, Jitendra Mata joined the Food Science Group in June 2009. His work is applying a multidisciplinary approach to understand the factors that influence the material properties of proteins. Particular focus is on correlating the molecular properties of proteins with their behavior in solution, during drying and re-hydration, pure and as mixed systems. He is also interested to study the protein and its interaction with range of organic and inorganic additives. Small angle X-ray and neutron scattering and quasi-elastic neutron scattering techniques are proposed to study protein behavior in different environment. Both structural and dynamic information based on a range of factors including moisture content, temperature, pH, ionic strength and co-solutes are areas of interest. He works closely with collaborators in Food Science Australia and The University of Queensland and with industry through a protein research consortium. He is also an associate with the instrument advisory team of USANS and SANS instrument at the OPAL Reactor, ANSTO.

He worked with Prof. John White on soft matter, including the air water interface and the high internal phase emulsions and their characterization by range of different techniques. The work was in collaboration with ORICA, Australia's largest chemical company. He has also studied the milk protein structure, effect of high pressure on milk micelles and behavior of proteins at air water interface. His doctoral work with Prof. P. Bahadur at V.N.S.G. University, India was on Investigation of polymeric surfactant and mixed surfactant system by different techniques. It involved characterization and phase transition study of self-assembling system such as block copolymers, conventional surfactants and their multi component mixtures.