About Us

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The Institute of Food Sciences – National Research Council (ISA-CNR), is located in the city Avellino.

The Institute is hosted in a modern eight floors building of about 10,000 square meters. Common technological facilities, a well-equipped animal facility house and a parking area are located in the building basement levels.

The Institute holds a unique position within the National Research Council. In fact, it was established in 1994 to meet the need for a research center in which physicians, biochemists, food technologists and other different trained scientists could synergistically collaborate to understand how to improve human health through innovative nutritional approaches.
The research activities of CNR-ISA are focused on the study of food quality and safety, as well as the relationship between food composition and health. They are described in details under the “Research activities” page. In addition, technology transfer is a particularly relevant activity in the mission of CNR-ISA.
Many research activities of the Institute are well integrated with the productive activities of local and national SMEs operating in the agro-food sector. In this respect, relevant scientific achievements have been reached by the ISA scientists as testified by the number of national and international patents and/or industrial collaborations. For instance, novel food for celiac patients produced by an enzymatic detoxification process has been developed by ISA-CNR scientists. Similarly, an international patent focused on the rapid mycotoxins and antibiotics detection in milk and dairy products has been filled in collaboration with a national leader industry operating in the milk sector.
The design and development of new optical bio/sensors for food safety and quality is a new research line established at the Institute as a consequence of the moving to CNR-ISA of the Laboratory for Molecular Sensing.
The research activities performed at CNR-ISA are mainly funded by competitive national and international grants as well as by contracts of collaborations with food industries. These performances have attracted a high number of students and junior researchers trained at different levels of their academic and/or scientific career.