Yajing achieved her BSc in Food Quality and Safety and a MSc in Food processing and Safety in China. Currently, she is a full time PhD candidate under the supervision of Prof. Vincenzo Fogliano (Food Quality and Design group), Prof. dr. HJ van der Fels-Klerx (Wageningen Food Safety Research), and Dr. SPJ van Leeuwen (Wageningen Food Safety Research).
The PhD project is about the investigation of thermal processing contaminants, particularly focus on dietary advanced glycation end-products (dAGEs), in different types of infant formulas. Studies include the occurrence and mitigation of dAGEs in cow-, goat-, and soy-based infant formulas, aiming at gaining more insights into the formulation and/or processing effects on the formation of dAGEs and the different behavior of milk proteins and plant proteins during the formation of dAGEs. A variety of dAGEs will be analyzed using LC-MS/MS to fill in the current data gaps and knowledge gaps. A multi-response kinetic modeling will be set up in order to help in predicting the dAGEs formation during the storage and the shelf life of cow-, goat-, and soy-based infant formulas.