Maya Davidovich-Pinhas

The Laboratory of Food Materials Engineering (opens in a new tab), which she has led since 2015, develops foods that are more nutritious and sustainable without compromising taste. Too much saturated and trans fats found in products like butter, cheese, and red meat can lead to heart disease and other health problems. Prof. Davidovich-Pinhas is developing “bigels” — a combination of water-based and oil-based gel-like alternatives created from water, plant oils, and edible materials such as plant proteins that can be used to replace unhealthy fats. Other research in the lab includes the development of eco-friendly edible food packaging material and the use of oleogel (oil-based gel) nanoparticles for pharmaceutical applications. The lab explores the relationship between such materials’ nanoscale molecular structure and their meso-scale characteristics and overall material functionality. Her team’s work to develop new soft matter systems has attracted the attention of several companies who are interested in bringing this technology to market.

The Technion is leading the revolution towards sustainable food-protein sources with the Sustainable Protein Research Center (SPRC), and Prof. Davidovich-Pinhas’ work is part of those efforts. The SPRC addresses the global challenges of human health, food insecurity, and climate change by developing and promoting protein alternatives.

Prof. Davidovich-Pinhas is also associated with Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute.

She earned her degrees at the Technion. During her graduate studies, she developed a new family of mucoadhesive polymers for biomedical and pharmaceutical applications. She moved into the field of food materials and oleogels during her postdoctoral work in the Department of Food Science at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada. She joined the Technion faculty in 2015.