Biography:

Dr. Gulustan Ozturk joined the IMGC Scientific Advisory Committee in 2026. She is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, an affiliate faculty member in Biological Systems Engineering, and a faculty member of the Dairy Innovation Hub. Her research integrates dairy processing, ingredient innovation, and translational nutrition to recover, enrich, and characterize dairy-derived bioactive components and evaluate their biological functions. She investigates how dairy composition and processing influence the functionality and health-related properties of these components, with particular emphasis on the valorization of dairy co-products. A major focus of Dr. Ozturk’s research is whey protein phospholipid concentrate (WPPC), an underutilized dairy co-product enriched in milk fat globule membrane (MFGM)-associated bioactive components, including proteins, phospholipids, and glycoproteins. Her work explores the potential applications of WPPC and other dairy-derived bioactive ingredients in gut health, healthy aging, and chronic disease prevention. Dr. Ozturk received her PhD in Food Science from the University of California, Davis, following BS and MS degrees in Food Engineering from Ankara University. She currently serves as Vice Chair of the AOCS Phospholipids Division, Member-at-Large of the ADSA Dairy Foods Division, and a member of the editorial boards of Frontiers in Nutrition, JDS Communications, and the International Journal of Food Properties.