Dr Deirdre Mikkelsen
Dr

Deirdre Mikkelsen

Email: 
Phone: 
+61 7 334 69642

Background

United Nations (UN) member states in 2015 agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. Dr Deirdre Mikkelsen's postition as a Teacihng and Research Acacemic contributes towards the following UN SDGs:

GOAL 2 - ZERO HUNGER

GOAL 3 - GOOD HEALTH AND WELL-BEING

GOAL 4 - QUALITY EDUCATION

GOAL 12 - RESPONSIBLE CONSUMPTION AND PRODUCTION

GOAL 13 - CLIMATE ACTION

GOAL 15 - LIFE ON LAND

Deirdre is a Microbiologist with experience in molecular microbial ecology techniques, bioinformatics and fermentation microbiology.

Deirdre has a B.Sc with First Class Honours in Microbiology (1999) and PhD in Microbiology (2005) from The University of Queensland (UQ, Australia). She worked at the Advanced Wastewater Management Centre (UQ; 2005), until moving to the Centre for Nutrition and Food Sciences (CNAFS) in 2006. She worked as Postdoctoral Research Fellowship and Research Fellow in CNAFS, Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation, UQ. Deirdre joined the School of Agriculture and Food Susstainability in 2019 as a Teaching and Research Academic, and is presently a Senior Lecturer in Food Science. She course coordinates and lectures FOOD2000 Food Science, FOOD3017 Food Safety & Quality Management and the work integrated learning course FOOD7021 Professional Experience. Deirdre's research is molecular microbial ecology and biopolymer science-based, aiming to provide a mechanistic understanding of how foods, diets and nutrients influence the host gut microbiota. Deirdre has 75 peer-review publications with an h-index of 26 and 2746 citations.

Deirdre is a Member of the Australian Institute of Food Science and Technology (AIFST) and sits on the Queensland Branch Committee. She is also a Member of the Australian Society for Microbiology (ASM). Deirdre is part of the International Union of Food Science and Technology (IUFOST) Food Safety Working Committee, in an education-focused role.

Availability

Dr Deirdre Mikkelsen is:
Available for supervision

Fields of research

Food sciences Microbiology Resources engineering and extractive metallurgy

Qualifications

  • Bachelor (Honours) of Microbiology, The University of Queensland
  • Doctor of Philosophy, The University of Queensland

Research impacts

Deirdre is a passionate microbiologist, with a strong research background in molecular microbial ecology and biopolymer science (construction and fermentation of “model” dietary fibres). Her research predominantly focuses on how food components are broken down by the host’s gut microbiota, be it in human and/or monogastric animal models, and understanding their role in promoting/maintaining host health.

Specifically, hes has worked on:

i) modelling plant cell walls of cereals and grasses;

ii) investigating the fermentability of cell wall components as potential prebiotics;

iii) developing molecular microbiology techniques to investigate gut microbe-dietary fibre interactions; and

iv) investigating how do plant cell walls/dietary fibres alter the gut microbiota in terms of diversity and relative verses absolute abundances.

Over 80% of Deirdre's publicatons are in the top 25% of journals (Q1 journals) in that subject category.To date, she has 75 peer-review publications, and an h-index of 26, with 2746 citations. Her most exciting achievement was a Nature Communications publication in 2020 with CNAFS and KTH Sweden colleagues.

Search Professor Deirdre Mikkelsen’s works on UQ eSpace

126 works between 2002 and 2025
All (126) Journal Article (85) Book Chapter (3) Conference Publication (37) Other Outputs (1)

61 - 80 of 126 works

2018

Journal Article

Extracellular depolymerisation triggers fermentation of tamarind xyloglucan and wheat arabinoxylan by a porcine faecal inoculum

Feng, Guangli, Flanagan, Bernadine M., Williams, Barbara A., Mikkelsen, Deirdre, Yu, Wenwen and Gidley, Michael J. (2018). Extracellular depolymerisation triggers fermentation of tamarind xyloglucan and wheat arabinoxylan by a porcine faecal inoculum. Carbohydrate Polymers, 201, 575-582. doi: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2018.08.089

Extracellular depolymerisation triggers fermentation of tamarind xyloglucan and wheat arabinoxylan by a porcine faecal inoculum

2018

Journal Article

Mechanical properties of bacterial cellulose synthesised by diverse strains of the genus Komagataeibacter

Chen, Si-Qian, Lopez-Sanchez, Patricia, Wang, Dongjie, Mikkelsen, Deirdre and Gidley, Michael J. (2018). Mechanical properties of bacterial cellulose synthesised by diverse strains of the genus Komagataeibacter. Food Hydrocolloids, 81, 87-95. doi: 10.1016/j.foodhyd.2018.02.031

Mechanical properties of bacterial cellulose synthesised by diverse strains of the genus Komagataeibacter

2018

Journal Article

Food starch structure impacts gut microbiome composition

Warren, Frederick J., Fukuma, Naoki M., Mikkelsen, Deirdre, Flanagan, Bernadine M., Williams, Barbara A., Lisle, Allan T., Ó Cuív, Páraic, Morrison, Mark and Gidley, Michael J. (2018). Food starch structure impacts gut microbiome composition. mSphere, 3 (3) e00086-18. doi: 10.1128/mSphere.00086-18

Food starch structure impacts gut microbiome composition

2018

Journal Article

Mechanisms of utilisation of arabinoxylans by a porcine faecal inoculum: competition and co-operation

Feng, Guangli, Flanagan, Bernadine M., Mikkelsen, Deirdre, Williams, Barbara A., Yu, Wenwen, Gilbert, Robert G and Gidley, Michael J (2018). Mechanisms of utilisation of arabinoxylans by a porcine faecal inoculum: competition and co-operation. Scientific Reports, 8 (1) 4546, 4546. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-22818-4

Mechanisms of utilisation of arabinoxylans by a porcine faecal inoculum: competition and co-operation

2017

Journal Article

Gut fermentation of dietary fibres: physico-chemistry of plant cell walls and implications for health

Williams, Barbara A., Grant, Lucas J., Gidley, Michael J. and Mikkelsen, Deirdre (2017). Gut fermentation of dietary fibres: physico-chemistry of plant cell walls and implications for health. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 18 (10) 2203, 2203. doi: 10.3390/ijms18102203

Gut fermentation of dietary fibres: physico-chemistry of plant cell walls and implications for health

2017

Journal Article

Multi-scale characterisation of deuterated cellulose composite hydrogels reveals evidence for different interaction mechanisms with arabinoxylan, mixed-linkage glucan and xyloglucan

Martinez-Sanz, Marta, Mikkelsen, Deirdre, Flanagan, Bernadine M., Gidley, Michael J. and Gilbert, Elliot P. (2017). Multi-scale characterisation of deuterated cellulose composite hydrogels reveals evidence for different interaction mechanisms with arabinoxylan, mixed-linkage glucan and xyloglucan. Polymer, 124, 1-11. doi: 10.1016/j.polymer.2017.07.036

Multi-scale characterisation of deuterated cellulose composite hydrogels reveals evidence for different interaction mechanisms with arabinoxylan, mixed-linkage glucan and xyloglucan

2017

Journal Article

Effects of tea extracts on the colonization behaviour of Candida species: attachment inhibition and biofilm enhancement

Wang, Yi, Bandara, H. M. H. N., Mikkelsen, Deirdre and Samaranayake, Lakshman P. (2017). Effects of tea extracts on the colonization behaviour of Candida species: attachment inhibition and biofilm enhancement. Journal of Medical Microbiology, 66 (8), 1244-1252. doi: 10.1099/jmm.0.000555

Effects of tea extracts on the colonization behaviour of Candida species: attachment inhibition and biofilm enhancement

2017

Journal Article

Optimizing prednisolone loading into distiller’s dried grain kafirin microparticles, and in vitro release for oral delivery

Lau, Esther T. L., Johnson, Stuart K., Williams, Barbara, Mikkelsen, Deirdre, McCourt, Elizabeth, Stanley, Roger, Mereddy, Ram, Halley, Peter J. and Steadman, Kathryn (2017). Optimizing prednisolone loading into distiller’s dried grain kafirin microparticles, and in vitro release for oral delivery. Pharmaceutics, 9 (2) 17, 17. doi: 10.3390/pharmaceutics9020017

Optimizing prednisolone loading into distiller’s dried grain kafirin microparticles, and in vitro release for oral delivery

2017

Journal Article

Characterisation of bacterial cellulose from diverse Komagataeibacter strains and their application to construct plant cell wall analogues

Chen, Si-Qian, Mikkelsen, Deirdre, Lopez-Sanchez, Patricia, Wang, Dongjie, Martinez-Sanz, Marta, Gilbert, Elliot P., Flanagan, Bernadine M. and Gidley, Michael J. (2017). Characterisation of bacterial cellulose from diverse Komagataeibacter strains and their application to construct plant cell wall analogues. Cellulose, 24 (3), 1211-1226. doi: 10.1007/s10570-017-1203-3

Characterisation of bacterial cellulose from diverse Komagataeibacter strains and their application to construct plant cell wall analogues

2016

Journal Article

Aluminium effects on mechanical properties of cell wall analogues

McKenna, Brigid A., Wehr, J. Bernhard, Mikkelsen, Deirdre, Blamey, F. Pax C. and Menzies, Neal W. (2016). Aluminium effects on mechanical properties of cell wall analogues. Physiologia Plantarum, 158 (4), 382-388. doi: 10.1111/ppl.12472

Aluminium effects on mechanical properties of cell wall analogues

2016

Journal Article

Porphyromonas loveana sp. Nov., isolated from the oral cavity of Australian marsupials

Bird, Philip S., Trott, Darren J., Mikkelsen, Deirdre, Milinovich, Gabriel J., Hillman, Kristine M., Burrell, Paul C. and Blackall, Linda L. (2016). Porphyromonas loveana sp. Nov., isolated from the oral cavity of Australian marsupials. International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology, 66 (10) 000898, 3771-3778. doi: 10.1099/ijsem.0.000898

Porphyromonas loveana sp. Nov., isolated from the oral cavity of Australian marsupials

2016

Journal Article

Multi-scale model for the hierarchical architecture of native cellulose hydrogels

Martinez-Sanz, Marta, Mikkelsen, Deirdre, Flanagan, Bernadine, Gidley, Michael J. and Gilbert, Elliot P. (2016). Multi-scale model for the hierarchical architecture of native cellulose hydrogels. Carbohydrate Polymers, 147, 542-555. doi: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2016.03.098

Multi-scale model for the hierarchical architecture of native cellulose hydrogels

2016

Journal Article

Investigation of the micro- and nano-scale architecture of cellulose hydrogels with plant cell wall polysaccharides: a combined USANS/SANS study

Martinez-Sanz, Marta, Mikkelsen, Deirdre, Flanagan, Bernadine M., Rehm, Christine, de Campo, Liliana, Gidley, Michael J. and Gilbert, Elliot P. (2016). Investigation of the micro- and nano-scale architecture of cellulose hydrogels with plant cell wall polysaccharides: a combined USANS/SANS study. Polymer, 105, 449-460. doi: 10.1016/j.polymer.2016.07.015

Investigation of the micro- and nano-scale architecture of cellulose hydrogels with plant cell wall polysaccharides: a combined USANS/SANS study

2016

Journal Article

Soluble arabinoxylan enhances large intestinal microbial health biomarkers in pigs fed a red meat-containing diet

Williams, Barbara A., Zhang, Dagong, Lisle, Allan T., Mikkelsen, Deirdre, McSweeney C. S., Kang, Seungha, Bryden, Wayne L. and Gidley, Michael J. (2016). Soluble arabinoxylan enhances large intestinal microbial health biomarkers in pigs fed a red meat-containing diet. Nutrition, 32 (4), 491-497. doi: 10.1016/j.nut.2015.10.008

Soluble arabinoxylan enhances large intestinal microbial health biomarkers in pigs fed a red meat-containing diet

2016

Journal Article

Visualization of microbe-dietary remnant interactions in digesta from pigs, by fluorescence in situ hybridization and staining methods; effects of a dietary arabinoxylan-rich wheat fraction

Gorham, John B., Williams, Barbara A., Gidley, Michael J. and Mikkelsen, Deirdre (2016). Visualization of microbe-dietary remnant interactions in digesta from pigs, by fluorescence in situ hybridization and staining methods; effects of a dietary arabinoxylan-rich wheat fraction. Food Hydrocolloids, 52, 952-962. doi: 10.1016/j.foodhyd.2015.09.011

Visualization of microbe-dietary remnant interactions in digesta from pigs, by fluorescence in situ hybridization and staining methods; effects of a dietary arabinoxylan-rich wheat fraction

2016

Journal Article

Addition of arabinoxylan and mixed linkage glucans in porcine diets affects the large intestinal bacterial populations

Gorham, John B., Kang, Seungha, Williams, Barbara A., Grant, Lucas J., McSweeney, Christopher S., Gidley, Michael J. and Mikkelsen, Deirdre (2016). Addition of arabinoxylan and mixed linkage glucans in porcine diets affects the large intestinal bacterial populations. European Journal of Nutrition, 56 (6), 1-14. doi: 10.1007/s00394-016-1263-4

Addition of arabinoxylan and mixed linkage glucans in porcine diets affects the large intestinal bacterial populations

2015

Journal Article

Soluble arabinoxylan alters digesta flow and protein digestion of red meat-containing diets in pigs

Zhang, Dagong, Williams, Barbara A., Mikkelsen, Deirdre, Li, Xiuhua, Keates, Helen L., Lisle, Allan T., Collins, Helen M., Fincher, Geoffrey B., Bird, Anthony R., Topping, David L., Gidley, Michael J. and Bryden, Wayne L. (2015). Soluble arabinoxylan alters digesta flow and protein digestion of red meat-containing diets in pigs. Nutrition, 31 (9), 1141-1147. doi: 10.1016/j.nut.2015.03.006

Soluble arabinoxylan alters digesta flow and protein digestion of red meat-containing diets in pigs

2015

Journal Article

Formulation and characterization of drug-loaded microparticles using distillers dried grain kafirin

Lau, Esther T. L., Johnson, Stuart K., Stanley, Roger A., Mereddy, Ram, Mikkelsen, Deirdre, Halley, Peter J. and Steadman, Kathryn J. (2015). Formulation and characterization of drug-loaded microparticles using distillers dried grain kafirin. Cereal Chemistry, 92 (3), 246-252. doi: 10.1094/CCHEM-05-14-0096-R

Formulation and characterization of drug-loaded microparticles using distillers dried grain kafirin

2015

Journal Article

Interactions of Arabinoxylan and (1,3)(1,4)-β-Glucan with Cellulose Networks

Mikkelsen, Deirdre, Flanagan, Bernadine M, Wilson, Sarah M, Bacic, Antony and Gidley, Michael J (2015). Interactions of Arabinoxylan and (1,3)(1,4)-β-Glucan with Cellulose Networks. Biomacromolecules, 16 (4), 1232-1239. doi: 10.1021/acs.biomac.5b00009

Interactions of Arabinoxylan and (1,3)(1,4)-β-Glucan with Cellulose Networks

2015

Journal Article

Preparation and in vitro release of drug-loaded microparticles for oral delivery using wholegrain sorghum kafirin protein

Lau, Esther T. L., Johnson, Stuart K., Stanley, Roger A., Mikkelsen, Deirdre, Fang, Zhongxiang, Halley, Peter J. and Steadman, Kathryn J. (2015). Preparation and in vitro release of drug-loaded microparticles for oral delivery using wholegrain sorghum kafirin protein. International Journal of Polymer Science, 2015 343647, 1-8. doi: 10.1155/2015/343647

Preparation and in vitro release of drug-loaded microparticles for oral delivery using wholegrain sorghum kafirin protein

Current funding

  • 2024 - 2027
    Comprehensive use of whole body computed tomography, microbiome and metabolomics analysis to measure the effects of dietary and exercise interventions on body fat content in dogs
    Hill's Pet Nutrition, Inc
    Open grant
  • 2022 - 2027
    Sustainable Precision Feeding in Broiler Chickens in Australia
    AgriFutures Chicken Meat Program Nutrition, Gut Health and Environment Research Program
    Open grant
  • 2022 - 2026
    Point-of-care microbiome therapy in koalas during antimicrobial treatment for Chlamydia
    Morris Animal Foundation
    Open grant

Past funding

  • 2023 - 2025
    Evaluation of bioprotective bacteria to reduce Campylobacter on raw chicken meat at the end of primary processing (Agrifutures funded project led by QLD DAF)
    Queensland Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
    Open grant
  • 2021 - 2024
    Optimising and industrialising black soldier fly (BSF) production: redirecting food waste to livestock feed production using insects
    Fight Food Waste CRC
    Open grant
  • 2020 - 2023
    Dopamine as a new diagnostic tool for horses with pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction and its effect on the equine intestinal microbiota
    Australian Companion Animal Health Foundation
    Open grant
  • 2019 - 2021
    Nasal microbiota in shelter dogs and carriage of Staphylococcus spp.
    Canine Research Foundation
    Open grant
  • 2014
    Automated in vitro fermentation gas measurement
    UQ Major Equipment and Infrastructure
    Open grant
  • 2012 - 2017
    Use of plant derived compounds to condition piglet intake at weaning and reduce post-weaning use of therapeutics
    CRC for High Integrity Australian Pork
    Open grant
  • 2010 - 2012
    ResTeach 2010 0.2 FTE School of Land,Crop and Food Sciences
    UQ ResTeach
    Open grant

Availability

Dr Deirdre Mikkelsen is:
Available for supervision

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Supervision history

Current supervision

Completed supervision

Enquiries

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