Dr Mei Peng is a senior lecturer in Sensory Science in the Department of Food Science. With a background in Experimental Psychology, Mei uses multi-disciplinary approach (behavioural, cognitive-neuro, physiological) to study inter- and intra-individual differences in sensory processing and their links to food-related behaviour, and health issues, such as obesity and depression.
Mei's Laboratory is specialised in running large-scaled, multi-factored, human-participants based studies, including a few Marsden-funded projects (e.g., Searching for multi-sensory fingerprints: a personalised index of hedonic eating (2018–2020); How do sensory shifts shape our diet (2022-2025). In 2020, Mei initiated the establishment of the Otepoti-based longitudinal research cohort to track behavioural and neural-sensory changes related to pregnancy – the ENERGY Longitudinal Study Cohort – the very first pregravid longitudinal research cohort in Aotearoa.
Mei currently sits on the Editorial Board of Food Quality and Preference. She is also the founding member of Australasian Sensory Professional Network, and a main organiser of the annual NZOZ sensory symposium.
She is also a member of Food Waste Innovation, a University of Otago Research Theme.