Akshay Bisht is currently a Research Scientist at the Quadram Institute, where his research focuses on dietary fibres, gut function, and human health. He completed his undergraduate degree at the National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management (NIFTEM), India, and earned both his Master’s degree and PhD from Massey University, New Zealand. His doctoral thesis, The Tale of the Shear-Thickening Mamaku Polysaccharide: From Forest to Gut, explored the relationship between industrial polysaccharide processing and health outcomes through a multidisciplinary approach integrating food physics, powder technology, in vitro gut models, clinical trials, and bioinformatics. The thesis was recognised on the Dean’s List of Exceptional Theses. Following the completion of his PhD, Akshay undertook postdoctoral research at the University of Hohenheim, Germany, where he investigated inter-individual differences in oral processing and their implications for digestion.