Anwesha Sarkar

Professor Anwesha Sarkar is an Indian-born food scientist and entrepreneur whose academic journey spans India, New Zealand, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. She earned her undergraduate degree in Dairy Technology from the West Bengal University of Animal and Fishery Science, completed a Master's in Food Technology at the Central Food Technological Research Institute in Mysore, and received her PhD in Food Technology from Massey University in New Zealand. Before joining academia, she spent four years at Nestlé's Global Research Centre in Lausanne and headquarters in Vevey, Switzerland, gaining deep industry insight into food innovation.

Sarkar joined the University of Leeds in 2014, where she became Professor of Colloids and Surfaces and Director of Research and Innovation for the School of Food Science and Nutrition. Her research sits at the intersection of colloid science and human health, with a particular focus on designing microscopic food structures that improve lubrication, texture, and nutrient delivery — work that has earned her more than 130 peer-reviewed publications, eight co-invented patents, and numerous honours including the IFT Research and Development Award (2024), the Society of Chemical Industry McBain Medal (2024), and the Royal Society of Chemistry Food Group Junior Medal (2019).

In 2024, Sarkar founded MicroLub Ltd as a University of Leeds spin-out to commercialise her pioneering ERC-funded MICROLUB technology. The company has developed a novel protein-and-water scaffold — coated with polysaccharides — that replicates the creamy mouthfeel of fats without the caloric load, offering food manufacturers a powerful tool to produce healthier, lower-calorie products. MicroLub closed a £3.5 million seed round led by Northern Gritstone in late 2024, with co-investors LIFTT and NPIF II – Praetura Equity Finance, and has already attracted strong interest from some of the world's largest food and dairy companies.