I studied chemistry at Moscow State University. I was working in polymer chemistry and was offered a scholarship to study biophysics in Japan, so I thought, why not? My PhD was in DNA biophysics at Nagoya University. I was looking at the mechanisms of DNA folding, how it compacts, collapses and how to get it into the body. After that, I did a post-doctorate in Sweden, at the University of Lund and from there I was approached by Unilever in 1999.
At Unilever I began working in the emulsions group in Foods research & development, investigating structural problems in mayonnaise and margarine. The application of phytosterols to spreads was our interest at the time, so the question was to understand how they work. What was particularly interesting to me, coming from a chemical background, was that we were exploring the mechanism of action. It was original research rather than technological application or routine analysis. We wanted to know how to use this knowledge to design novel, efficacious phytosterol-based food. We performed studies, ran experiments and, what’s very satisfying for a scientist, published papers. Essentially looking at food-body interactions and bioaccessibility. To me, this is a fascinating area. It’s playing in the grey area between food and nutraceuticals.
I have been very lucky, there was real synergy between the business focus on investigating phytosterols and my research interests. So my group published a lot, at the same time as developing novel structures for mayonnaise and salad dressings and patenting these novel technologies. It’s been a nice balance of academic and industry, a combination of technology and theory. I would like to see technological expertise benefiting marketing and marketing influencing the feasibility of research. So, I would like to be more involved in the decision making. To influence marketing decisions on the basis of scientific experience.
Unilever was very good in helping me to learn Dutch. My colleagues were incredibly supportive. Trying not to laugh when I spoke to them. Coming from outside the European Union I caused some bureaucratic problems for Unilever in getting me a work permit. On the other hand, getting scientists from all over the pays off in technical expertise. It also creates a multicultural atmosphere. Multiculturalism brings about a sort of practical creativity, with new solutions to old problems. To me there are no good or bad cultures, only different cultures. Which makes it fascinating working with people from all over the world. As we are talking about food, each culture has its own relationship with food and we can learn from that.
