Rate My Professor Jane White

Dr. Jane White serves as Global Head of Discipline for Bioscience and Assistant Professor in Brewing and Distilling within the School of Engineering and Physical Sciences at Heriot-Watt University’s Edinburgh campus. She is affiliated with the Institute of Biological Chemistry, Biophysics and Bioengineering and the International Centre for Brewing and Distilling. With over 15 years of experience in both academia and industry, her expertise centers on biomass processing, separation technologies, fermentation, and scale-up operations. She specializes in the valorisation of by-products from the brewing and distilling sectors, advancing sustainable practices through innovative waste management and resource recovery.

Jane White’s research tackles critical issues in sustainable distilling, such as CO2 emissions reduction, energy decarbonization, and the repurposing of by-products into valuable resources. She holds patents for a process producing biobutanol from spent grains and food waste, and for generating protein-rich feed for salmon from pot ale. Her studies on yeast biology explore quorum sensing in Saccharomyces cerevisiae brewing strains, including the effects of 2-phenylethanol on proteomic, lipidomic, and metabolomic profiles, as well as filamentous growth and morphogenic switching in Dekkera spp. and other yeasts. Key publications encompass the book chapter “Sustainable distilling: CO2 emissions, energy decarbonization, and by-products” in Distilled Spirits (2023); “Quorum Sensing in Saccharomyces cerevisiae Brewing Strains: Effects of 2-Phenylethanol on Proteomic, Lipidomic, and Metabolomic Profile” (FEMS Yeast Research, 2025); “Excitation of filamentous growth in Dekkera spp. by quorum sensing aromatic alcohols 2-phenylethanol and tryptophol” (FEMS Microbiology Letters, 2025); “Disparity in Pseudohyphal Morphogenic Switching Response to the Quorum Sensing Molecule 2-Phenylethanol in Commercial Brewing Strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae” (FEMS Microbes, 2023); and “HYPHAEdelity: a quantitative image analysis tool for assessing peripheral whole colony filamentation” (FEMS Yeast Research, 2022). She contributes to the bioeconomy as a member of the KTN/IBioIC Bioeconomy Cluster Builder and commercial reviewer for IBioIC grants, supporting UN Sustainable Development Goals 9, 12, and 13. White accepts PhD students and participates in projects like Horizon Proteins for circular economy innovations from whisky by-products.