Professor Johannes le Coutre is a Professor of Food & Health at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), School of Chemical Engineering, where he joined in 2019. His research focuses on developing innovative solutions for sustainable food systems through cellular agriculture, with the goal of strengthening food security while reducing the environmental burden of traditional agriculture. Professor le Coutre holds a Ph.D. in Biophysics from the Max-Planck-Institute for Nutritional Physiology, where he studied the reaction mechanism of the light-driven proton pump bacteriorhodopsin using time-resolved Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. He also earned a Diploma (MSc) in Biology from the University of Regensburg, Germany, with a thesis on bacterial photosynthesis. Prior to joining UNSW, he had a distinguished career at the Nestlé Research Center in Lausanne, Switzerland, where he served as Head of Perception Physiology and later as Head of the Greater London Research Program. During his tenure at Nestlé, he also held visiting professorships at the University of Tokyo and Imperial College London. Professor le Coutre's research interests span cellular agriculture, food security, molecular taste physiology, and sustainable food systems. His work has been instrumental in identifying taste receptors expressed in the gastrointestinal tract and developing technologies that have been commercialized in key markets. He is particularly focused on cultivating meat alternatives through cellular agriculture to address global food security challenges. Professor le Coutre is the founding Field Chief Editor for FRONTIERS in Nutrition, an open-access journal that has become a leading publication in the field. His editorial leadership has helped shape the discourse around nutrition science and sustainable food systems. His scientific achievements have been recognized with numerous awards, including: Elected fellow of the Royal Society of New South Wales (RSNSW) (2021) PURINA Patent Incentive Award (2016) Nestlé R&D award for Innovation Partnership (2013, 2010) Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP) Long-Term-Fellowship (1997) Professor le Coutre has been actively involved in industry engagement, particularly through his work on cellular agriculture and sustainable food systems. He has been featured in numerous media outlets discussing the potential of cultured meat and sustainable food technologies. His research has led to the development of several patented technologies, particularly related to taste perception and food components. At UNSW, Professor le Coutre teaches within the food program and leads research initiatives focused on cellular agriculture. His laboratory is working on developing novel approaches to cultivate meat alternatives using advanced biotechnological methods.







