Rate My Professor Alan Carne

Associate Professor Alan Carne has been a pivotal figure in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Otago, part of the School of Biomedical Sciences. Born in the United Kingdom and raised in Taumarunui, New Zealand, he obtained his PhD from Massey University. He then pursued a postdoctoral position in the laboratory of Nobel Prize winner John Walker at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, followed by further postdoctoral research in Biochemistry at the University of Otago. Joining the university in 1982 as a technician in the Protein Sequencing Facility—initially within the Zoology Department—Carne advanced to senior technician before his appointment as a lecturer in protein chemistry in 1986. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 2012. Over four decades, he has taught protein chemistry and biochemistry to thousands of undergraduate students in lectures and laboratories, while supervising numerous postgraduate researchers as a mentor and administrator.

Carne's research specializes in protein chemistry, focusing on bioactive peptides and proteins derived from food industry by-products and waste streams to promote health benefits. His projects encompass separating health-promoting proteins, peptides, and pigments from agriculture and fisheries materials, such as milk cheese whey, meat and blood waste, oilseed cake residues, sea urchin pigments, and milk proteins across species. He established the protein chemistry unit, precursor to the Centre for Protein Research, renowned for his precise 2D protein gels. With over 170 publications and more than 5,400 citations, his work has advanced nutraceutical development from ruminant milk whey proteomes, marine lipids, edible insects' nutritional profiles, and digestion-resistant proteins. Notable contributions include book chapters like 'Non-Traditional Meat Sources, Production, Nutritional and Health Aspects' (2022) and 'Algae as an Alternative Source of Protein' (2022), alongside Lottery Health Research's $100,000 equipment grant in 2019 for chromatography systems to enhance biomolecule isolation. Carne's dedication has profoundly influenced food biochemistry, sustainable resource utilization, and postgraduate training at Otago.