My research has been directed towards the interactions of food components with the immune system both in vivo and in vitro, and how food components (particularly plant secondary metabolites thought to be beneficial to human health) are absorbed and metabolised. I was a pioneer of the extension of food science research to include human studies. I am interested in understanding more about food allergens and the sensitisation process and why these proteins are different to non-allergenic proteins. I have used polyclonal, monoclonal and recombinant antibodies (publishing the 1st recombinant antibody-based method validated for an agri-food application) in my research. I have supervised many PhD students to successful completion (20 in the last 20 years at Leeds alone). My ELISA for determination of aflatoxin in peanuts was the first immunoassay for a trace analyte to be given Official First Action Status by the AOAC. I have developed immunoassay procedures for determination of soya, gluten and peanut protein (as a ‘hidden’ allergen), and have developed and published strategies to solve the problem of changing immuno-recognition that occurs during food processing. The quality of my research was recognised by becoming only the 3rd person in 30 years at Norwich to achieve the status of Individual Merit Promotion for research activity; since coming to Leeds. I have been a regular PhD Examiner at Leeds, and externally in the UK and beyond.

Teaching

      In addition to my research I have been an enthusiastic lecturer to both undergraduate and taught postgraduate students. I developed several taught modules that were unique in the food science area (eg Functional Foods, Food and Cancer, Food Allergy). I received an award as one of a group of Faculty Teaching Stars in 2010. My lectures are perceived as enjoyable and stimulating but very tough going. My understanding of what students have found attractive has fed into marketing strategy for prospective undergraduates.

      I was BSc External Examiner to the School of Biological Sciences, Queens University, Belfast (2014-18). I have previously been BSc External Examiner to the School of Food Biosciences, University of Reading (2009-13), and to the Faculty of Chemistry, Food and Pharmacy (2009-13). I am the BSc External Examiner for Food Science for BSc (Hons) Food Science programme at Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, Malaysia (2015-to date).

Involvement in International Bodies

      I have worked with the UN Food & Agriculture Organisation in Cuba, China (3 projects) and Poland. I was the independent reviewer for an Australian government-funded ACIAR project on mycotoxins and pesticides (Ho Chi Minh City; Viet Nam). I have given British Council-sponsored lectures in the Department of Food Science, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil. I have given a number of plenary lectures, have chaired sessions, and have been a member of the scientific committees of a number of international scientific meetings in, for example, Europe, the USA, and China. Examples include being on the Scientific Committee for the 8th and 9th International Symposia on Immunological, Chemical and Clinical Problems of Food Allergy, and the AOAC International Meeting on Detection of GMOs; I have been the only European invited to FDA-sponsored meetings on Food Allergy in New York and New Orleans. I was a member of the 52nd and 54th WHO/FAO JECFA Committees in Rome and Geneva respectively. As detailed elsewhere, I have been an External Examiner for both PhD and undergraduate students at Universities outside the UK. Most recently, I have been working with grant-awarding bodies (eg the Finnish Academy of Sciences, the Cyprus University of Technology…). I am a Visiting Professor at Jiangsu University and at Zheijiang Gongshang University. I am Chair of the Consortium of Food Science and Nutrition, founded by the Universities of Wageningen (The Netherlands, Massey (New Zealand), Zhejiang Gongshang (China) and Leeds (UK).

Achievements as Head of School at Leeds

      When I started as Head of School, the School was renowned for its research achievements but student numbers were low and the School was in an extremely poor financial position, never having made an in-year surplus. Academic staff numbers were down to 7.4 full-time equivalents. When I stepped down as Head of School in 2017, I left the School in an exceptionally good financial position, academic staff numbers were up to 30 with further posts in the pipeline, and the School was widely recognised for its research and teaching quality.

      Upon appointment we began a Review which accepted my ideas, including the introduction of a new BSc in Nutrition, increasing A-level requirements on all UG programmes, and increasing student numbers and quality. There was investment in new staff which allowed a much better alignment of teaching and research, as well as increasing research capacity in general and in food processing in particular. The School met or exceeded all its student number targets and its targets for income. The School moved into a financial surplus position and has remained there, never having made an in-year surplus previously. The (Jan 2011) Quinquennial Review report on the School stated:

      ‘The panel congratulated the School on such a phenomenal achievement and particularly commended the Head of School whose clear vision for the future of the School, leadership and management that had enabled the School to deliver these achievements’.

      The School of Food Science & Nutrition won one of 33 subject awards made by the Sunday Times in its 2013 Good University Guide across the breadth of UK University teaching in all subjects. The School is now consistently in the top 3 of the major UK University League Tables (The Times/Sunday Times, The Guardian and The Complete University Guide, often being 1st in all 3 Tables in its subject area.

Research Publications (since 2001)

• Azmi AFM, Caroline Orfila, C and Morgan, MRA (2019) Development and Application of an Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) for the Analysis of the Cyanogenic Glycoside, Linamarin, in Food: Potential for Toxicity? Food Chemistry, submitted manuscript

• Azmi, AFM, Orfila, C and Morgan, MRA (2019) The Direct Analysis of Cyanogenic Glycosides in Food Materials: Optimisation of Problematic Sample Extraction. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, submitted manuscript

• Almagrabi, MA, Orfila, C and Morgan, MRA (2019) Detection of serum aflatoxin B1-lysine adduct in human serum samples by ELISA: association with rice consumption practices and domestic storage in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health, submitted manuscript

• Almagrabi, MA, Orfila, C and Morgan, MRA (2019) ELISA determination of aflatoxin in rice imported to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Food Chemistry, submitted manuscript

• Hernandez, LP, Sun, W, Nugrahini, K, Morgan, MRA and Orfila, C (2018) Bioaccessibility and anti-inflammatory effects of bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) polyphenols . Food Research International, submitted manuscript

• Holmes, P and Morgan, MRA (2017) Possible impacts of Brexit on Scottish Food, Agriculture and Farm Animal Welfare, and Their Policy Implications. Scottish Fabians, published on-line at http://scottish.fabians.org.uk/

• Sritongtae, B, Sangsukiam, T, Morgan, MRA, and Duangmal, K  (2017) Effect of acid pretreatment and the germination period on the composition and antioxidant activity of rice bean (Vigna umbellata). Food Chemistry, 227: 280-288  

• Sritongtae, B, Morgan, MRA, Duangmal, K (2017) Drying kinetics, physico-chemical properties, antioxidant activity and phenolic composition of foam-mat dried germinated rice bean (Vigna umbellata) hydrolysate. International Journal of Food Science & Technology, 52; 1710-1721

• Luo, Z, Morgan, MRA and Day, AJ (2015) Transport of trans-tiliroside (kaempferol-3-β-D-(6’’-p-coumaroyl-glucopyranoside) and related flavonoids across Caco-2 cells, as a model of absorption and metabolism in the small intestine. Xenobiotica, 45, 722-730

• Sindi, HA, Marshall, LJ and Morgan, MRA (2014) Comparative chemical and biochemical analysis of extracts of Hibiscus sabdariffa. Food Chemistry, 164: 23-29

• Bolarinwa, IF, Orfila, C and Morgan, MRA (2014) Determination of the cyanogenic glycoside, amygdalin, in apple seeds and in fresh and processed apple juice. Food Chemistry, 152: 133-139

• Bolarinwa, IF, Orfila, C and Morgan, MRA (2014) Development of a specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for the determination of amygdalin in food products. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 62: 6299-6305

• Bolarinwa, IF, Orfila, C and Morgan, MRA (2013) Amygdalin content of seeds, kernels and food products commercially-available in the UK. Food Chemistry, 152:133-139

• Langer S, Marshall LJ, Day AJ and Morgan MRA (2011) Flavanols and methylxanthines in commercially available dark chocolate: a study of the correlation with nonfat cocoa solids. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 59:8435-8441

• Orruno E and Morgan MRA (2011) Resistance of purified seed storage proteins from sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) to proteolytic digestive enzymes. Food Chemistry, 128:923-929

• Luo Z, Murray BS, Yusoff A, Morgan MRA, Povey M and Day AJ (2011) Particle-stabilizing effects of flavonoids at the oil-water interface. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 59:2636-2645

• Ghorbani M and Morgan MRA (2010) Protein characterisation and immunochemical measurements of residual macadamia nut proteins in foodstuffs. Food and Agricultural Immunology 21:347-360

• Maier I, Morgan MRA, Lindner W and Pittner F (2008) Optical resonance-enhanced absorption-based near-field immunochip biosensor for allergen detection. Analytical Chemistry 80:2694-2703

• Orruno E and Morgan MRA (2007) Purification and characterisation of the 7S globulin storage protein from sesame (Sesamum indicum L.). Food Chemistry 100:926-934

• Orruno E and Morgan MRA (2006) IgE binding to proteins from sesame and assessment of allergenicity: implications for biotechnology? Biotechnology Letters 28:1877-1888

• Dew TP, Day A and Morgan MRA (2005) Xanthine oxidase activity in vitro: Effects of food extracts and components. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 53:6510-6515

• Dew TP, Day AJ and Morgan MRA (2005) Xanthine Oxidase Activity in Vitro: Effects of Food Extracts and Components. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 53:6510-6515

• Rothwell JA, Day AJ and Morgan MRA (2005) Experimental determination of octanol-water partition coefficients of quercetin and related flavonoids. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 53:4355-4360

• Dew TP, Day AJ and Morgan MRA (2005) Dietary inhibition of xanthine oxidase: a positive contribution to health? 2nd International Conference on Polyphenols and Health, Davis, California, USA, pp 103, 2005.

• Dew TP, Day AJ and Morgan MRA (2005) Do the positive benefits of polyphenols mean that caffeinated foods have a positive effect on bone mineral density? 2nd International Conference on Polyphenols and Health, Davis, California, USA, pp 84, October, 2005.

• Rothwell JA, Day AJ and Morgan MRA (2005) Intra-individual absorption and metabolism of quercetin from onions and supplement. 2nd International Conference on Polyphenols and Health, Davis, California, USA, pp.203, October, 2005.

• Day AJ, Rothwell JA and Morgan MRA (2004) Characterization of polyphenol metabolites. In Phytochemicals in Health and Disease. Editors: Bao Y, Fenwick R. 57-76. Marcel Dekker, New York. 2004

• Karamonova L, Fukal L, Kodicek M, Rauch P, Mills ENC and Morgan MRA (2004) Immunoprobes for thermally-induced alterations in whey protein structure and their application to the analysis of thermally-treated milks. Food and Agricultural Immunology 15:77-91

• Lim K, Orruno E and Morgan MRA (2003) Effects of processing on food allergens. 225th National Meeting of the American-Chemical-Society. Abstracts of Papers of the American Chemical Society, 225: U82-U82. Mar 2003

• Lim K, Orruno E and Morgan MRA (2003) Purification of sesame and peanut storage proteins. 225th National Meeting of the American-Chemical-Society. Abstracts of Papers of the American Chemical Society 225: U78-U78. Mar 2003

• Rothwell JA, Day AJ and Morgan MRA (2003) Physico-chemical characteristics of flavonoids: contributing to understanding in vivo bioactivity. 1st International Conference on Polyphenols and Health, Vichy, France, November 18 - 21, 2003. 1st International Conference on Polyphenols and Health, Vichy, France, November 18 - 21, 2003. pp.355.

• Spinks CA, Wyatt GM, Everest S, Jackman R and Morgan MRA (2002) Atypical antibody specificity: advancing the development of a generic assay for sulphonamides using heterologous ELISA. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture 82:428-434

• Day AJ, O'Leary KA, Morgan MRA and Williamson G (2002) Metabolism of flavonoid glycosides in humans. International Symposium on Dietary Phytochemicals and Human Health, Salamanca, Spain, 17th - 20th April 2002.

• Day AJ and Morgan MRA (2002) Methods of polyphenol extraction from biological fluids and tissues. In Polyphenol Handbook. Editors: Santos-Buelga C, Williamson G. 17-47. Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge, London.

• Orruno Aguado E and Morgan MRA (2002) Sesame and sesame allergy. Food Allergy and Intolerance 3:151-167

• Brett GM, Mills ENC, Bacon J, Wellner N, Hussain RD, Tatham AS, Shewry PR and Morgan MRA (2002) Temperature-dependent binding of monoclonal antibodies to C hordein. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta 1594:17-26

• Day AJ, Mellon F, Barron D, Sarrazin D, Morgan MRA and Williamson G (2001) Human metabolism of dietary flavonoids: Identification of plasma metabolites of quercetin. Free Radical Research 35:941-952

• Chambers SJ, Brett GM, Mills ENC and Morgan MRA (2001) Multiantigenic peptides as standards in immunoassays for complex proteins: Use of LGQQQPFPPQQPY in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for gluten. Analytical Biochemistry 292:301-305

• Chambers SJ, Lodi F, Clark AT, Ewan PW and Morgan MRA (2001) A biochemical basis for multiple allergies. 8th International Symposium of Immunological, Chemical and Clinical Problems of Food Allergy, Venice, Italy. 2001