Rate My Professor Imogen Foubert

Imogen Foubert is a full professor in the Faculty of Bioscience Engineering at KU Leuven, Kulak Kortrijk Campus, where she heads the Department of Microbial and Molecular Systems and serves as program director of the POC BioChem KULAK in the Faculty of Science. She leads the Food & Lipids laboratory, focusing on the lipid fraction of foodstuffs to develop healthier fat-rich food products that maintain sensory, nutritional, and technological properties. Her research explores new sources of nutritionally interesting lipids, particularly long-chain omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA from autotrophic microalgae, as well as phytosterols, carotenoids, and other lipid-soluble antioxidants from various sources including waste streams. Additional efforts address downstream processing of microalgae for applications in food, feed, and nutraceuticals. A parallel research line investigates fat crystallization, including in-line monitoring, its modification by nutritionally improved lipids, and lipid functionality in meat products.

Foubert earned her Bachelor’s degree as Kandidaat Bio-ingenieur from the University of Antwerp in 1996, followed by a Master’s in Bio-ingenieur scheikunde from Ghent University in 1999, with a dissertation on proteolysis of high-pressure treated cheeses. She obtained her PhD in Applied Biological Sciences from Ghent University in 2003, titled 'Modelling the isothermal cocoa butter crystallization: influence of temperature and chemical composition.' Her career began as a research fellow funded by FWO-Vlaanderen at Ghent University’s Laboratory of Food Technology and Engineering from 1999 to 2003, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship there until 2007. She joined KU Leuven Kulak Kortrijk as an assistant professor (docent) in 2007, advancing to associate professor (hoofddocent) in 2013, full professor (hoogleraar) in 2017, and gewoon hoogleraar in 2021. With over 12,000 citations and an h-index of 57, her work has significantly influenced food science, particularly in lipid technology and sustainable lipid sources from microalgae.