PROFESSOR MARTIN COLEDIRECTOR, COMMONWEALTH SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH ORGANISATION,

FOOD AND NUTRITION FLAGSHIP

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CSIRO’s Food and Nutrition Flagship is delivering mission directed science across three core programmes – food, bioproducts, and nutrition and health. In an exclusive interview,

Director Professor Martin Cole highlights just how the Flagship is continuing to dedicate its efforts towards improving public health, providing impact through great science

Can you provide an overview of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)’s National Research Flagships Programme? How do these Flagships contribute to CSIRO’s core mission and vision?

The National Research Flagships are our delivery platforms and have a strong focus on translating science to adoption and impact. The Flagships bring together large-scale multidisciplinary research partnerships between CSIRO, Australian universities and publicly funded research institutions, the private sector and international organisations to deliver mission directed science against a broad range of national challenges and priorities.

Prior to your appointment as Director of the Food and Nutrition Flagship, what were the key moments to have shaped your career?

While it is difficult to single out just a few key moments, five international moves and the chance to play roles across academia, industry and government have certainly given me a good understanding of the importance and complexity of technology-based innovation. 12 years in the private sector with Unilever in Europe and Nabisco in the US was a great training ground for research management. The opportunity to lead global platforms on food safety and preservation was key to understanding the importance of bringing different disciplines together around high performing teams. Being Director of one of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s Centres of Excellence gave me a unique vantage point to understand the importance of collaboration and early engagement with the regulatory authorities, in the path to commercialisation of novel technologies. The various roles that I have played within Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, have given me the chance to look at the innovation system at a national level.

As the Flagship’s Director, what are the main responsibilities you hold?

Working with the executive team, and in consultation with staff, I am responsible for developing the strategic plan for the Flagship and articulating it with internal and external stakeholders. Obviously, the critical aspect is implementation of the plan and ensuring that our research is translated into measureable impact for industry and the community.

There are many aspects to this. We need to ensure that the Flagship continues to develop its capability so that we can continue to produce great science, build new partnerships and deliver on our commitments with existing customers. We must strengthen our relationships with other Flagships and research institutes to collaborate on multidisciplinary projects.

In order to achieve impact on a national scale for the benefit of Australia, my role must go beyond CSIRO and must provide leadership, vision and collaboration within the national food innovation system.

Can you elaborate on the specific areas encompassed within CSIRO’s Food and Nutrition Flagship?

The Food and Nutrition Flagship aims to deliver valuable and sustainable ‘post-farm gate’ products and services for Australia’s domestic and export markets in the premium food, wellbeing and renewable bioproducts sectors. This Flagship has three core research programmes. The food programme delivers science that underpins the development and delivery of healthy, safe and sustainable foods, food ingredients and beverages for Australia’s food industry and global consumers. The nutrition and health programme delivers innovation to Australia’s food and health industries with a focus on nutrition and gut health, obesity, personalised nutrition and healthy ageing. Our bioproducts programme develops and delivers technologies to support the transition of the Australian industrial economy to a sustainable, renewable resource base with reduced environmental impacts.

To what extent is CSIRO addressing the health obstacles currently facing Australia, and the wider world?

Research in the Food and Nutrition Flagship explores the role of food, nutrition and lifestyle in human health and wellbeing. We work with manufacturers to develop safer, more nutritious food products for consumers, and we deliver the science that underpins evidence-based diet and lifestyle programmes that are proven to effectively reduce weight and improve a range of health markers. These are just a couple of examples of how we deliver economic and health impacts in Australia. Other Flagships in the organisation are also addressing health challenges with the development of new products and services, from new grains with improved nutrition profiles, advanced 3D manufacturing technologies delivering benefits in surgical outcomes, to information technology solutions that improve the efficiency and effectiveness of healthcare service delivery.

Further to this, what are the principal challenges the Flagship is targeting at present?

Our Flagship has an important role to play in supporting the food manufacturing industry to develop and deliver healthier foods to consumers. With significant growth opportunities in local and export markets, we are working with our clients to develop products that will cater to these increasingly prosperous market segments. Obesity rates are continuing to rise in Australia and other developed countries – this increases the risk of a number of chronic diseases which continue to place a significant burden on healthcare systems. CSIRO has a proud history of translating science into evidence-based diet (eg. the CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet) and lifestyle programmes that have proven to be effective; and we are continuing to develop new programmes in partnership with industry. We live in a world of finite resources and science has an incredibly important role to play in addressing this challenge. Whether it is food and food ingredients, bio-based fuel, industrial chemicals or polymers, we are developing the technologies

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and processes that will deliver a pipeline of innovation for a sustainable industrial economy.

The Flagship comprises projects and programmes spanning the full width of the food and nutrition spectrum. Are there any particular projects you would specifically like to draw attention to?

It is quite a broad spectrum of work, but it is sufficiently focused to ensure that we can deliver on our objectives. Our CYBERNOSE® technology is an excellent example of taking inspiration from nature to develop innovative solutions for a wide range of market applications. The sensor mimics the sophisticated smell receptors of nematode worms to detect and measure odours and chemicals in a range of substances. This new biosensor technology will have a range of applications across the food supply chain, medical diagnostics, environmental monitoring, pest control, biosecurity and defence.

A decade ago we published the CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet, which was an unprecedented move for our organisation. The diet’s incredible popularity was a clear indication of public demand for nutrition advice based on scientifically validated research. With more than a million copies sold, the diet has made its way into a significant proportion of Australian households and made a considerable impact in terms of improved public health. Today, we are applying the same principles in delivering new and improved diet and lifestyle programmes to the market with our industry partners.

Our work on new food processing technologies is another exciting area of research that deserves recognition. The Food Innovation Centre is a national facility with a vast array of capabilities and resources which have proven to add value to the Australian food industry. In recent years, we have applied our expertise in high pressure processing (HPP) technologies in the development of long shelf life food products with improved safety, taste, texture, quality, fresh-like characteristics and nutritional value. A partnership with Preshafruit Ltd led to the commercialisation of a new range of HPP premium fruit juice products which have no additives or preservatives. The heat-free pasteurisation process ensures that it

tastes better and has higher nutritional values, also the 210 day shelf life facilitates the product’s export into Asian markets.

Australia assumed the presidency of the Group of Twenty (G20) in 2014. In your opinion, how has this appointment benefited the activities of CSIRO and your Flagship in particular?

Hosting the G20 was an excellent opportunity to bring world leaders to Australia and showcase a number of opportunities for Australia within the global community. This is especially true for the nation’s wonderful food and agriculture products. The recent signing of free trade agreements between our country and its trading partners will likely further drive exports of premium, safe, healthier and sustainable Australian food products. By 2030, it is estimated that there will be close to 3.5 billion people in this part of the world who will be able and willing to pay extra for these qualities.

The UN has designated 2014 as the International Year of Family Farming. How has this initiative impacted upon the work of the Food and Nutrition Flagship?

Most of the work that the Food and Nutrition Flagship carries out is about increasing the demand for value added food export products and maximising the value through the supply chain from bio-based products. Although there is still a pre- versus post-farm gate argument here in Australia, especially around R&D investment, increasingly there needs to be a through chain approach to driving value. It is therefore very important that we are able to express the value of what we do post-farm gate to the farming community. For example, economic modelling that we have carried out indicates that innovation that leads to efficiencies on the farm are often not captured by the farmer but instead these benefits flow to the processor or retailer further up the value chain. However, if innovation leads to an increased demand, say to an export market, then significant benefits flow back to the farmer. Therefore, the work of the Food and Nutrition Flagship to innovate from commodity exports to higher value and higher demand food and bio-based products is extremely relevant to our farming families and businesses.

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To what extent is collaboration facilitated through the National Research Flagships Programme? Can you highlight the collaborative efforts currently underway within the Food and Nutrition Flagship?

CSIRO and the Flagships have a number of pathways for collaboration. Within the organisation, a number of research projects utilise science resources across a variety of disciplines, science areas and Flagships. We are able to co-fund certain commercial projects when it is clear that it is a good investment for the organisation and industry. The Flagship collaboration fund programme was established in CSIRO many years ago as a contestable funding pool designed to further strengthen collaboration between the Flagships, universities and other publicly funded research institutions. Lastly, the science and industry endowment fund provides grants to science and scientists for the purposes of assisting Australian industry, furthering the interests of the Australian community and contributing to the achievement of Australian national objectives.

One significant collaborative effort that is funded through the endowment fund is the EpiSCOPE project. Working with the Garvan Institute, the University of South Australia and the Women’s and Children’s Research Institute, this project seeks to identify the epigenetic signatures associated with development of obesity and to characterise at a genome-wide level the effects of early nutritional environment on the epigenome. Ultimately, EpiSCOPE aims to develop biomarkers to guide intervention, and in the longer term, to identify new approaches for prevention and the treatment of obesity.

More broadly, CSIRO has led the National Food and Nutrition Research and Development and Technology Transfer (R,D&TT) Strategy, which is aimed at promoting collaboration and focus between all stakeholders within the national innovation system towards a sustainable and vibrant Food and Agribusiness here in Australia.

How does the Food and Nutrition Flagship disseminate information regarding its research and wider activities?

Above and beyond the numerous contributions that we make to peer reviewed science journals, CSIRO and the Flagships are very

active in communicating our science and the social, economic and environmental impacts of the research. Our scientists frequently attend conferences and symposiums across the globe, where they communicate research outcomes and exchange ideas with peers and collaborators. CSIRO researchers and business development staff actively engage with industry where they promote the benefits of working with us in translating our science into commercial offerings. More broadly, our organisation has the support of a team of science communication professionals who work with the researchers in promoting their science across a variety of traditional and emerging communication channels.

In your view, what are the strengths of the Flagship? How do you hope to build on these and steer the focus of the Flagship in the future?

Without doubt, our greatest strength is the quality of the science. I am incredibly proud of the passion that our people have in applying their knowledge to address our nation’s most significant challenges. Similarly, our ability to translate research outcomes into positive impact is exceptional and admired by research peers and the community alike.

Impact relies on great science. This has always been, and will continue to be, our core focus.

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