How do technologies & processes affect food quality?
Need to learn advanced cutting-edge biotechnological tools. 

How can we reduce inflammation through the diet?
Different foods may stimulate inflammatory pathways, thus the knowledge of the underneath mechanisms can help to choose a proper diet 

How an excess of food (overnutrition) can negatively affect metabolism and hormonal balance?
Quality and quantity (energy intake) influence in many and complex ways the response of our body: not only by fat accumulation but also through negative effects on hormones production, cellular signaling, and hunger/satiety control at brain level. The correct management of food quantity/quality but also timing has deep impact on health’s outcomes 

How do we push consumers to adopt healthy dietary habits?
Need to know about consumers’ behavior and how (un)healthy food choices are affected by psychology, information & regulations.

How dietary requirements change during the life-course?
The dietary requirements change during the different stages of the human life, from childhood, to adulthood, pregnancy, lactation and ageing. The knowledge of the quantitative and qualitative requirements during the life-course could help in defining the bet diet for each individual.

How the quality and quantity of the foods can increase the risk of cancer?
The knowledge of the metabolic mechanisms linking nutrition to carcinogenesis could help to promote appropriate nutritional interventions for cancer prevention.  

How we can prevent metabolic and cardio-vascular disease through a healthy life-style?
A myriad of dietary patterns are suggested and promoted, but the design and implementation of appropriate nutritional guidelines for the prevention of metabolic and cardiovascular diseases should be based on the knowledge of available evidence from epidemiologic and interventional studies.

How we can temper the obesity epidemic worldwide?
Obesity is not the simple consequence of inadequate individual behaviors or gluttony. Obesity is a chronic complex disease caused by multiple genetic and environmental factors. The understanding of this complex interplay in a transdisciplinary and systemic approach could for the basis for the prevention of obesity and related diseases.

Is genomics related to nutrition?
Nutrition shaped human genome and evolution. Moreover, the way we assimilate nutrients with food is related to the information contained within our genes. Although, not all the molecular pathways related to nutrition have been identified, the effects on nutrients on our genome, and vice versa, is now a very promising field in biomedicine.

Do the genetic differences of human populations affect the way food is metabolized?
Yes. When humans spread out of Africa to the different continents 60.000 years ago, new gene variations have been acquired in our genome. These genetic differences resulted in skin color, body height, facial features and metabolic adaptations. Moreover, different life style and environmental factors such as nutrition, created an additional level of complexity in human genome. For example, alcohol and lactose intolerance have a different distribution between populations and regions.

Is it possible to identify the geographic origin of food?
Yes, if food contains microorganisms or bacteria communities called microbiome.  For example, molecular analysis of bacteria strains within microbiome might lead to identify genetic variants associated with the country of origin of a particular sample of food.

What is the role of ensuring food safety in human nutrition?
Guaranteeing the safety of the food intended for humans in an appropriate and balanced way is one of the major public health challenges of our time. Food safety directly affects human health as individual and as part of a modern society, and has also economic implications for the budget of those countries that export agri-food products.

Can microbes improve our health?
Microbes, particularly bacteria, are present in great amounts in many foods (e.g. cheese, yogurt, etc.) and inside our body (human microbiota). These microorganisms can produce substances (inside foods or in our gut) that can be useful to improve our health status. The knowledge of the composition of these microbial populations can help define the nutritional value of foods and the health status of the consumer.

How do we ensure a sustainable use of resources?
By implementing environmental foot-print & decarbonization strategies in sustainable agri-food chains.