Mohammadreza is Associate Professor A in Food Science at Proteins and Peptides Research Group – Department of Biological Sciences at UL. He is an expert in (bio)production and characterisation of sustainable proteins such as plant proteins. He was formerly Assistant Professor at UCD Food & Nutrition section and a member of UCD Institute of Food & Health.

Mohammadreza has a broad international experience at KULeuven, Imperial College London, University of Manchester, South China Agricultural University, University of Liège, University of Tehran and Shiraz University. He has been involved in several projects relevant to sustainable proteins as Project Coordinator e.g., HORIZON-MSCA-2023-PF-01 (Grant Agreement No. 101150806), Principle Investigator or Research Fellow e.g., H2020-MSCA-Career-FIT (2019-2022, Grant Agreement No. 713654).

Mohammadreza has published significant number of high quality articles relevant to plant-enriched product development. Some of his projects led to the knowledge transformation to the food industry for solving the product’s issues (e.g., in breweries) and prototype generation (e.g., for dairy industry). Many of his graduated students progressed to employment, some within the STEM; Mohammadreza has extensive collaboration with the main Irish dairy/food industry and some organisations such as DPTC, FHI and FSAI. Mohammadreza is currently the coordinator/co-coordinator of 5 modules at UL.

Publications
  • Khalesi, M., Cermeño, M., FitzGerald, R.J. (2023). Contribution of Whey Protein Denaturation to the In Vitro Digestibility, Biological Activity and Peptide Profile of Milk Protein Concentrate. Journal of Functional Foods, 104, 105543–105552. DOI: 10.1016/j.jff.2023.105543
  • Naderi Bab Anari, H., Majdinasab, M., Shaghaghian, S., Khalesi, M. (2022). Development of a Natamycin-Based Non-Migratory Antimicrobial Active Packaging for Extending Shelf-Life of Yogurt Drink (Doogh). Food Chemistry, 366, 130606-130614. DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2021.130606.
  • Fathi, P., Moosavi-Nasab, M., Mirzapour-Kouhdasht, A., Khalesi, M. (2021). Generation of Hydrolysates from Rice Bran Proteins Using a Combined Ultrasonication-Alcalase Hydrolysis Treatment. Food Bioscience, 42, 101110-101117. DOI: 10.1016/j.fbio.2021.101110
  • Khalesi, M., Salami M., Moslehishad, M., Winterburn, J., Moosavi-Movahedi, A.A.* (2017). Biomolecular Content of Camel Milk: A Traditional SuperFood Towards Future HealthCare Industry. Trends in Food Science & Technology, 62, 49-58. DOI: 10.1016/j.tifs.2017.02.004
  • Khalesi, M.,* Jahanbani, R., Riveros-Galan, D., Sheikh-Hassani, V., Sheikh-Zeinoddin, M., Sahihi, M., Winterburn, J., Derdelinckx, G., Moosavi-Movahedi, A.A. (2016). Antioxidant Activity and ACE-Inhibitory of Class II Hydrophobin from Wild Strain Trichoderma reesei. International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, 91, 174-179. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2016.05.068