About

Gavin Sacks is the Chair and Professor of Food Science at Cornell University. His research focuses on developing and applying new tools for the analysis of flavor compounds, particularly in wine and other alcoholic beverages. He has a background in chemistry and chemical biology, holding a Doctorate and a Masters of Science from Cornell University, and a Bachelor of Science from the University of Virginia. Professor Sacks teaches courses related to wine and grape flavor chemistry, viticulture, and enology, and is actively involved in research that benefits the grape and wine industry. His work includes creating innovative technologies to enhance wine analysis and quality, contributing to advancements in the field of food science and enology.

Research topics

• Biology
• Genetics
• Chromatography
• Chemistry
• Food science
• Medicine
• Anatomy
• Botany
• Andrology
• Inorganic chemistry
• Organic chemistry
• Cell biology
• Biochemistry

Selected publications

• Catechol functionalized biopolyester coating with enhanced corrosion protection for aluminum cans

  Progress in Organic Coatings · 2025-12-29 · 1 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Outcomes and impacts of community food hubs: a rapid review

  Proceedings of The Nutrition Society · 2025-04-01 · 2 citations

  reviewOpen access

  In Australia and other high-income countries, communities are experiencing diet-related diseases due to social inequities and food systems that promote the production and consumption of unhealthy foods (1) . Community food hubs have the potential to strengthen local food systems and improve access to healthy, affordable, culturally appropriate food by selling local food to local people (2) . The primary aim of this rapid review was to identify short- and medium-term outcomes and long-term impacts associated with community food hubs. In January 2024, four databases and the grey literature were searched for relevant studies and reports published in English between 2013 and 2023. Empirical evaluations of food hubs in high-income countries that included a physical market selling healthy local food were eligible for inclusion. A narrative synthesis was conducted, and descriptive statistics were used to summarise outcomes and impacts under five categories: economic development and viability; ecological sustainability; access to and demand for healthy local food; personal and community wellbeing; and agency and re-localisation of power (3,4) . A total of 16 studies/reports were included, reporting on 24 community food hubs (USA n = 16; Australia n = 7; Canada n = 1). Food hubs were often described as farmers’ markets (n = 9, 37% of food hubs), some of which offered financial incentives/subsidies to people living on low incomes. Some food hubs also sold food wholesale and/or provided nutrition education and community gardens. Across the 24 food hubs, a total of 83 short- and medium-term outcomes were assessed. No long-term impacts were evaluated. Outcomes were considered ‘positive’ if evaluation results reflected desirable changes. Overall, 86% of outcomes were positive (n = 71). Within the personal and community wellbeing category, 42 outcomes were assessed, and 83% (n = 35) were positive (e.g., increased fruit and vegetable consumption, increased community connection). Within the access to and demand for healthy local food category, 25 outcomes were assessed, and 96% (n = 24) were positive (e.g., increased access to and/or demand for affordable local produce). Outcomes under the remaining three categories were assessed less frequently. Within the economic development and viability category, 6 outcomes were assessed, and 50% (n = 3) were positive (e.g., access to new markets for food hub suppliers). Within the ecological sustainability category, 6 outcomes were assessed, and 100% (n = 6) were positive (e.g., reduction in food packaging and food waste). Within the agency and re-localisation of power category, 4 outcomes were assessed, and 75% (n = 3) were positive (e.g., integration of community members from low income and cultural minority groups into local food systems). Community food hubs can promote personal and community wellbeing, access to and demand for healthy local food, economic development and viability, ecological sustainability, and agency and re-localisation of power. Future research should focus on methods for evaluating long-term impacts under all five categories.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• The APROVE (Anti-coagulation/platelet treatment in Pancreatic Resections invOlving Vascular rEconstruction) Study. Results from a Worldwide Snapshot Survey

  HPB · 2025-01-01

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Outcomes of Patients with Concurrent Intraductal Papillary Mucinous Neoplasm and Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumor

  HPB · 2025-01-01

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• An International Proposal for a Simple and Concrete Definition for Determining Local Resectability in Pancreatic Cancer: The Concept of the “Nice Target”

  HPB · 2025-01-01 · 1 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Using Sensory Evaluation and Volatile Analysis to Determine the Enological Potential of Concord Juice Processed by Nanofiltration-Resin

  American Journal of Enology and Viticulture · 2025-02-01

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  <h3>Abstract</h3> <h3>Background and goals</h3> Most premium wines are produced from grapes of <i>Vitis vinifera</i> parentage. Concord and related <i>Vitis labruscana</i> cultivars are typically considered unacceptable for premium wine production due to the musky aroma of their juice, often described as “foxy”. In this work, we compared the sensory attributes of a wine produced from nanofiltration-resin (NFR)-treated Concord juice to the sensory attributes of a standard Concord wine, a <i>V. vinifera</i> wine, and an NFR:<i>V. vinifera</i> blend. The volatile composition of NFR and Concord wines was evaluated to determine the extent to which the “foxy” character of Concord juice could be lessened with NFR, thus potentially improving the overall consumer liking of its wine. <h3>Methods and key findings</h3> Wine was prepared from NFR-treated Concord juice and evaluated by a trained descriptive sensory panel and by untrained wine consumers alongside a standard Concord wine, a representative <i>V. vinifera</i> wine, and 75:25 blend of <i>V. vinifera</i>:NFR Concord wine. Both trained panelists and untrained consumers reported that the “foxy” character in the NFR Concord wine was significantly lower than that found in a standard Concord wine. Consumers reported an increase in overall liking of the NFR Concord wine over the standard Concord wine. Volatiles (n = 34) in the NFR Concord and standard Concord wine were quantified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Most volatiles were similar between the two wines, with the largest difference observed for methyl anthranilate (“Concord grape” aroma), which was 96% lower in the NFR Concord wine. <h3>Conclusions and significance</h3> Wine produced from NFR Concord juice had labrusca (“foxy”) character only slightly higher than <i>V. vinifera</i> wine. NFR pretreatment may expand winemaking options for Concord juice.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Analysis in Wine Research: Current and Emerging Approaches

  2024-05-24

  other

  Eenologists would like to measure all potentially important wine compounds in every experiment (i.e., metabolomics ). This differs from the needs of winemakers in a production setting, but this chapter outlines the tools used in research. Unsupervised tools such as principal component analysis, hierarchical cluster analysis, and factor analysis are often used as part of initial exploration of data sets. Supervised tools like Partial Least Squares, multiple linear regression, linear discriminant analysis, canonical variate analysis, and machine learning algorithms more recently, such as support vector machine, random forests, and extreme gradient boosting discriminant analysis, are used to determine the measurements that best differentiate samples based on known classes. Chemometrics combined with chromatographic and mass spectrometric-based data offers a powerful approach to wine chemical research, but spectroscopic techniques utilizing different wavelengths of light and Nuclear magnetic resonance also hold an important place.

  PublisherDOI

• Natural Wines

  2024-05-24

  otherOpen access

  The increase in demand for natural wines has been remarkable – in the United States, although there are no official (e.g., government) data on this category, a wine delivery platform has reported growth of 200% per year (from a very small base of under 1% of the market) in 2021. Beyond the use or avoidance of specific winemaking technologies, there is a consumer expectation that natural wines are artisanal, or in other words, are made in small quantities by dedicated winemakers who oversee every step. Wine flavors associated with cheese, pickles, or yogurt would be considered defects by conventional standards, but lactic acid bacteria that would produce such flavors are found in natural wines. Beyond the measurable differences between natural and conventional wines, there is a clear preference by a cohort of purchasers who prefer “natural” wines or other adjacent terminology.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Lactic and Acetic Acids in Sour Beers Promote Corrosion During Aluminum Beverage Can Storage

  Journal of the American Society of Brewing Chemists · 2024-10-15 · 3 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Natural history of the remnant pancreatic duct after pancreatoduodenectomy for non-invasive intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm: long-term results from an international consortium

  HPB · 2024-01-01

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Anna Katharine Mansfield

  Cornell University

  31 shared

• Justine E. Vanden Heuvel

  Cornell University

  28 shared

• J. Thomas Brenna

  The University of Texas at Austin

  18 shared

• Paolo Sabbatini

  University of Turin

  17 shared

• David C. Manns

  New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets

  16 shared

• Tony K. Wolf

  16 shared

• Timothy E. Martinson

  Iowa State University

  16 shared

• Misha T. Kwasniewski

  Pennsylvania State University

  15 shared

Labs

• Sacks Research LabPI

  Current Sacks Lab members and their research projects