Prof. Dr. Veronika Somoza

Academic Career and Research Areas

Prof. Somoza (* 1965) deals with the isolation and characterization as well as the bioactivity and bioavailability of food ingredients. In 2004, she was awarded the Hans Adolf Cancer Prize by the German Nutrition Society for her special achievements in basic research. In 2016, she also received the FEMA Excellence in Flavor Science Award from the Flavor and Extract Manufacturers Association (FEMA) of the United States. The award is given to people who have achieved outstanding international results in the field of flavorings. Prof. Somoza received this award for her work on the identification of physiological effects of flavoring substances that go beyond their taste and smell impression.

Prof. Somoza studied ecotrophology at the Justus Liebig University in Gießen from 1985 to 1991. After completing her diploma, she worked as an assistant at the Institute for Nutritional Sciences at the University of Vienna in Austria and received her doctorate there in 1995 (Dr. rer. Nat., completed with honors - summa cum laude). In 1996, she became an assistant professor at the Institute for Food Science at Christian-Albrechts-University in Kiel. After a research stay in 2001 at the University of South Carolina, Columbia, USA, Department of Biochemistry and Chemistry, Prof. Somoza habilitated in 2002 under the supervision of Prof. Helmut F. Erbersdobler and received the venia legendi in Kiel for the subject "Human nutrition and food science”. In 2003, she moved to the German Research Center for Food Chemistry in Garching. There she received the venia docendi for "Food Science" from the Technical University of Munich, Faculty of Chemistry. Until 2009, she headed the "Bioactives" working group at the DFA in Garching and was also the Vice Director of the institute until 2007. From 2007 to 2009, she continued her research work as an associate professor (tenured) at the Department of Food Science at the University of Wisconsin / Madison, USA. In September 2009, she accepted a call from the University of Vienna, where she headed the research platform “Molecular Food Science” from 2009 to 2011 as a professor and chairperson. From January 2011 to October 2019, she was head of the Institute of Physiological Chemistry at the University of Vienna, and from September 2011 to 2018, she also headed the Christian Doppler Laboratory for Bioactive Flavoring located there. Further, from 2014 to 2019 she was Vice Dean of the Faculty of Chemistry at the University of Vienna, Austria.

Awards

• AGFD Fellow Award by the American Chemical Society (2020)
• FEMA Excellence in Flavor Science Award by Flavor and Extract Manufacturers Association (FEMA) of the United States (2016)
• Hans-Adolf Krebs Prize Awarded by the German Nutrition Society (2004)