Ozlem Tokusoglu has completed her PhD at Ege University Engineering Faculty, Dept of Food Engineering at 2001. She is currently working as Associate Professor Dr. faculty member in Celal Bayar University Engineering Faculty Department of Food Engineering. TokuÅŸoÄŸlu performed a visiting scholar at the Food Science and Nutrition Department /University of Florida, Gainesville-Florida-USA during 1999-2000 and as visiting professor at the School of Food Science, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, USA during April-May 2010. She has published many papers in peer reviewed journals and serving as an editorial board member of selected journals. Tokusoglu published the scientific edited two international book entitled Fruit and Cereal Bioactives: Chemistry, Sources and Applications and entitled Improved Food Quality with Novel Food Processing by CRC Press, Taylor & Francis, USA Publisher, and third book Food By-Product Based Functional Food Powders by CRC Press, too; Dr Tokusoglu also published three national books entitled Cacao and Chocolate Science and Technology , Special Fruit Olive: Chemistry, Quality and Technology and Frying Oils Science and Technology. She organized and/or administered as Conference Chair at many conferences and congress in various parts of USA and Europe.

In general bacteria tend to accumulate at interfaces between two phases in heterogeneous systems. As long as water is available for microbial growth, microorganisms can be found foods and processing environments at solids-liquid, gas-liquid, and solid-gas interfaces. In their natural environments, bacteria do not exist as isolated cells but grow and survive in organized communities on surfaces. These communities are called biofilms and can be simplistically defined as bacterial growth on a solid surface. When growing in a biofilm, bacteria are known to have different growth rate, morphology, and physiology than their planktonic counterparts and may exhibit varied physiological responses to nutrient conditions resulting in increased resistance to antimicrobials agents compared with their planktonic forms. Multispecies biofilms within food processing environments are a major source of L. monocytogenes in processed foods. When growing on surfaces, this organism exhibits enhanced resistance to conventional chemical sanitizers, germicides and heat making control even more challenging. My laboratory is interested in multiple aspects of biofilms: The genetics of Listeriasp. biofilm growth. The biological, physical and chemical aspects of bacterial adhesion, transfer and removal. Antimicrobial delivery systems for cleaning and sanitation

Initial Research on the isolation, purification and action of the putative cell growth protein, Chalones. Required biochemical, (Liquid Chromatography, electrophoresis, freeze-drying) cell culture (lymphocyte isolation, PHA and Con-A stimulated cell culture, cell counting. Monitoring cell growth using tritiated thymidine). Developed skills in monoclonal and polyclonal antibody production. Utilised these skills to study human diseases, developing tests for melioidosis and gastric ulcers. Developed ELISA assays as a method for monitoring proteins Lead to identification of Food proteins and the development of techniques for the identification of assays for meat speciation, development other immunoassays applicable to food quality assurance. Studied the effects of anaesthesia on the immune system. Studied Helicobacter pylori, initially identifying specific antigens suitable for diagnosis of ulcers and subsequently developing culture techniques for the culture of Helicobacter in fermentation systems. Adapted techniques to applications associated with other microbial human diseases. Worked on the Heat shock proteins in plants – potential for development of crops capable of survival when exposed to high temperatures. Developed immunoassays to pesticides, herbicides, antibiotics and other molecules of environmental importance. Studied functional food components e.g. arabinoxylans.

Prof. Lara Hanna-Wakim is Dean of the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences at the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik, (Lebanon) since 2013. She is the first scientist to represent the MENA Region as a regular member of the Governing Council of the International Union of Food Science and Technology – IUFoST since 2014. She is the Focal Point for Lebanon of the Arab States Green University Network at UNEP and the National Food Safety Expert at UNIDO. She served as Vice-President of GCHERA 2015 Conference. She is member of the Lebanese Association of Food Scientists and Technologists (LAoFST). She has been honored as Women Leader in Lebanese universities and research pioneers, at the Lebanese Parliament, by the National Initiative for the Centennial of Greater Lebanon, “Lebanon the State of Knowledge”. Prof. Lara Hanna-Wakim holds an Agricultural Engineering Diploma from USEK (Lebanon), an MS in Food Science from the INAP-G (France), and a PhD in Food Process Engineering from AgroParis Tech (France). She holds as well an MA/PG Diploma in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education from University of Chester (UK) and an MS in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education from University of Norwich (USA).

Gary Stoner, PhD., is professor emeritus in the College of Medicine, Ohio State University. His areas of expertise are chemical carcinogenesis and cancer chemoprevention. His early research was focused on lung cancer and tobacco carcinogenesis. Later he investigated the cancer preventative effects of naturally-occurring isothiocyanates and found them to be potent inhibitors of N-nitrosamine carcinogenesis. He then pioneered a “food-based” approach to cancer prevention using freeze-dried black raspberries. The berries significantly reduce tumorigenesis in the oral cavity, esophagus and colon of rodents and regress premalignant lesions in these same tissues in humans. His laboratory identified multiple mechanisms of cancer prevention by berries. His research is documented in more than 350 peer reviewed publications. He has received numerous awards for his research including the US NIH Merit Award and he is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is also a recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award and an Honorary Doctorate from Montana State University.

Gustavo V. Barbosa-Cánovas received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Uruguay and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Food Engineering at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst while being a Fulbright Scholar. Quite recently he was awarded a Honoris Causa Doctorate at Polytechnic University of Cartagena, Spain. He worked as an Assistant Professor at the University of Puerto Rico from 1985-1990, during which he was granted two National Science Foundation (NSF) awards for research productivity. Next, he went to Washington State University (WSU) where he is now a Professor of Food Engineering and Director of the Center for Nonthermal Processing of Food (CNPF). Dr. Barbosa-Cánovas was editor of the journal of Food Science and Technology International published by SAGE, as well as for the journal Innovative Food Science and Emerging Technologies published by Elsevier and the Food Engineering Theme in the Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS) published by UNESCO. Dr. Barbosa-Cánovas is the Editor-in-Chief of the Food Engineering Book Series published by Springer as well as the Food Preservation Technology Series published by CRC Press. At the same time, Dr. Barbosa-Cánovas is Editor-in-Chief of Food Engineering Reviews, published by Springer. He has edited several books on Food Engineering topics, and authored: Food Powders, Food Plant Design, Dehydration of Foods, Preservation of Foods by Pulsed Electric Fields, Unit Operations in Food Engineering, Nonthermal Preservation of Foods. Dr. Barbosa-Cánovas is also International Consultant for the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and a consultant for several major food companies around the World. Dr. Barbosa-Cánovas is the Immediate-Past-President of the International Society of Food Engineering (ISFE) and Chair of the Scientific Council of IUFoST (International Union of Food Science and Technology). He has received several prestigious awards such as the IFT Nicholas Appert Award (Highest Award in Food Science and Technology), IFT International Award and is an IFT, IFST, and IUFoST Fellow as well as Member of the Uruguayan Academy of Engineering. In 2010 he received the Sahlin Award for Research, Scholarship and Arts at Washington State University (highest research award at this University) as well as a Fulbright Fellowship. In 2013 he received another two relevant fellowship, the first granted by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) to lecture in several prestigious Japanese universities for three weeks and the second one by the University of Salerno, Italy to spend a sabbatical leave for six months to conduct research, offering lectures and teaching a senior course.

Yuanlong Pan is Principal Research Scientist at Nestlé Purina Research. He is also a Fellow of the Academy of Science-St. Louis. His research has been focused on nutritional management of healthy brain aging and cognitive dysfunction syndrome (CDS) in dogs and cats. CDS is a condition in pets similar to AD in people. His research projects use state-of-the-art cognitive, nutritional and metabolomics approaches to develop nutritional solutions to promote healthy brain aging and improve clinical symptoms of CDS in pets. He has published more than 20 papers and obtained 78 patents.

Dr. Alejandro (Alex) Castillo is associate professor in the Department of Food Science and Technology at Texas A&M University, teaching Food Microbiology, Food safety and Preventive Controls for Human Food, and conducting research on microbial food safety, focusing on fresh and fresh-cut produce and fresh meats. He leads a food safety program, seeking partnerships with international universities to promote global food safety. He has taught invited graduate and undergraduate courses in various topics of food safety at various Latin American universities and has collaborative research projects with various international universities Castillo received a bachelor’s degree in Biology and Pharmacy in 1977, a specialty in Sanitary Microbiology in 1980 and a master’s degree in Food Microbiology and Hygiene in 1987, all from the University of Guadalajara, Mexico. In 1998, he received a doctorate in Food Science and Technology from Texas A&M University and completed post-doctoral studies in 1999 at Texas A&M. Before joining the Texas A&M faculty in 2002, Dr. Castillo was a professor in the Department of Biology and Pharmacy at the University of Guadalajara. He has served the food industry in various countries by providing food safety training and conducting food safety process validation studies. Is an accredited lead instructor for HACCP, and Food Safety Preventive Controls and Produce Safety, and is accredited trainer of trainers for the Produce Safety Alliance. His research interests include the development and validation of control measures for minimizing and reducing pathogens in fresh and fresh-cut food products, the bacterial reduction on beef and pork products and fresh produce by sanitizing rinses, the ecology of bacterial populations on the surface of raw fruits and vegetables, and the use of electron beam irradiation for food safety purposes. Dr. Castillo has published 91 articles in peer-reviewed journals, 11 book chapters and 3 books as editor. Serves as Academic Editor for the International Journal of Food Science, and Foods and is an active member of various international and local food professional organizations.

Dr Watson’s first degree was in Applied Physics, followed by a PhD from the Engineering Faculty at the University of Glasgow in “Optimising the gaseous discharge and optical coupling of a pulsed CO2 laser” which was specifically designed for material processing of reflective and refractory materials. In the early 1990s he began to research the effects of high power laser beams on microorganisms and laser sterilization and inactivation. He has published on the direct effect of a range of lasers and their efficacy on treating different substrates, including solids, liquids and air and a range of microorganisms from E. coli to B. globigii, an anthrax simulant. As well as building lasers and laser scanning inactivation systems he has developed combined systems for decontamination and inactivation applications. These systems comprised: lasers, UV, pulsed flashlamp systems, microwave and chemical treatments. Laser and plasma systems have been specifically designed, fabricated and and successfully tested for treating air.

New Zealand