SHOW

Irena Rogelj graduated from Food Science and Technology at Biotechnical faculty, University of Ljubljana in 1978 and became a Doctor of Science in Food Science in 1990. She was appointed as associate professor in Dairy Science in 1997 and full professor in Dairy Science and in Nutrition in 2003. She was a Head of the Chair of Dairy Science at Biotechnical faculty, University of Ljubljana until 2010 when she became a Head of the newly established Institute of Dairy Science and Probiotics. She was a National Coordinator for the research field of Animal production and processing, a member of the Commission for Research and Development at the University of Ljubljana, and a VicePresident of the Scientific Council for Biotechnical Research, at Slovenian Research Agency. She holds lectures to students of Food Science and nutrition and to students on doctoral studies of Biosciences at the Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana. She has 30 years of research experience in the field of biochemistry and microbiology of milk and milk products, different aspects of nutrition, the development of methods for the identification and study of functional properties of lactic acid bacteria and probiotics, the development and control of starter cultures, functional foods and probiotic products. She has experiences in testing probiotic bacteria in animal models (pigs, mice) and in humans. In the last period, her research has been focused on the study of the early development of the intestinal microbiota and the impact of early nutrition and gut microbiota in the development and health of the child. The results of the research group that she leads, were presented at several international conferences and published in 136 scientific articles.