Carmen Moraru is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Food Science. She received a B.S. in Food Technology in 1989, and a Ph.D. in Food Engineering and Equipment in 1999 from the University of Galati, Romania, where she has also served as a faculty member between 1991-1999. In 1999 she joined the Department of Food Science at Rutgers University as a Postdoctoral Associate, and since 2001 as an Assistant Research Professor in Food Engineering. Moraru joined the Cornell faculty in 2003.

Current Research

Moraru’s group research program is dedicated to developing technical solutions for improving the safety and quality of foods and to advancing the knowledge in the area of physical and engineering properties of foods, particularly dairy foods. Our efforts are channeled in two distinct research areas: Food Safety Engineering and Food Quality.

In the Food Safety Engineering area, we focus on the development of new and improved processing methods able to reduce the microbial load in food systems, of current interest being membrane separation and Pulsed Light treatment. The broader goal is to combine various processing techniques and hurdles in complex processes capable of delivering safe foods with un-altered quality and nutritional value.

The Food Quality component of our research aims at elucidating the intermolecular interactions and structural transformations that occur during processing of dairy and complex foods, and using this understanding to improve their quality and functionality. To achieve this, we are using theoretical concepts and advanced analytical techniques specific to polymer science research.