DrAleksandra Konic Ristic

My main research interests are in the area of food bioactives and health and I am looking for strong and comprehensive scientific evidence to support the rationale that certain foods and their constituents have the potential to promote health and prevent, or even reverse, the disease. My research is focused on clarifying the mechanisms of interaction between the non-nutritive compounds, nutrients and homeostatic mechanisms of human body, both in health and in states of disturbed metabolism (pre-diabetes, diabetes, dyslipidemia), CVD, immune and malignant diseases.

Most of my research involves conducting clinical trials/dietary interventions in healthy subjects, subjects at risk of disease and patients. Very often the hypotheses arising from human trials are tested in vitro and ex-vivo. I am particularly interested in advancing the methodology of clinical trials and in the elucidation of factors that determine inter- and intra-individual variability observed in response to food bioactives.

An important aspect of my research is to demonstrate that while promoting health in humans the consumption of certain food does not harm the planet. Therefore, the focus of my research is primarily on plant foods and their constituents, including traditional foods and natural resources exploited in a sustainable way. That also includes providing scientific knowledge to underpin the design of accessible, low-cost healthy food, aiming to minimize the risk of diet-related diseases and other consequences of sub-optimal nutrition in cases or during the periods of transient or chronic decline in purchasing-power.