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Dr. Shuva Bhowmik serves as a Teaching and Research Fellow in the Centre for Bioengineering and Nanomedicine at the University of Otago, with an affiliation in the Department of Oral Rehabilitation within the Faculty of Dentistry, Health Sciences Division. He completed his Doctor of Philosophy in Bioengineering from the University of Otago in May 2025, having commenced his doctoral studies in 2021 under the supervision of Professor Azam Ali and Dr. Dominic Agyei at the Sir John Walsh Research Institute. His PhD thesis, titled 'Utilisation of bioactive chitosan for sustainable active and intelligent food packaging,' was supported by the prestigious Otago Doctoral Scholarship. This research focused on the development, fabrication, and characterization of biopolymer-based smart packaging and sensor systems aimed at extending the shelf life of perishable foods such as fish, meat, and dairy products while enabling the detection of spoilage biomarkers.
Bhowmik's academic interests and research specializations lie in bioactive biomaterials, active and intelligent food packaging, food preservation technologies, biosensing for food safety, and functional biopolymers for biomedical and food applications. His prolific publication record underscores his contributions to these fields, featuring highly cited works including 'Conventional and advanced detection techniques of foodborne pathogens: A comprehensive review' (Heliyon, 2023), 'Bioactive chitosan and essential oils in sustainable active food packaging: Recent trends, mechanisms, and applications' (Food Packaging and Shelf Life, 2022), 'Smart chitosan films as intelligent food packaging: An approach to monitoring food freshness and biomarkers' (Food Packaging and Shelf Life, 2024), 'Biodegradable chitosan hydrogel film incorporated with polyvinyl alcohol, chitooligosaccharides, and gallic acid for potential application in food packaging' (Cellulose, 2024), and book chapters such as 'Application of nanochitosan in the preservation of fish and oil' (2023) and 'Edible packaging for fruits, vegetables, and other plant foods' (2026). These publications demonstrate his influence in advancing sustainable food technologies and biomaterials research, garnering significant citations and recognition in food science and bioengineering communities.
