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Jayendra Amamcharla
Director, Midwest Dairy Foods Research Center of University of MinnesotaDr. Jayendra (Jay) Amamcharla obtained his B.S. (Dairying) in 1998 from Acharya N. G. Ranga Agricultural University, India and M.S. (Dairy Engineering) in 2001 from National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI), India. Dr. Amamcharla received his Ph.D. (Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering) in 2008 from North Dakota State University. Subsequently, he worked as a Postdoctoral Research Associate (2008-2012) at the Dairy Science Department, South Dakota State University. In July 2012, Dr. Amamcharla joined the Department of Animal Sciences and Industry at Kansas State University as an Assistant Professor with teaching and research responsibilities. His teaching responsibilities include Physical Methods of Food Analysis (FDSCI 728) and Research and Development of Food Products (FDSCI 740). His research focuses on the development and validation of rapid and nondestructive sensing technologies for quality and safety of dairy and food products. Dr. Amamcharla recently joined the Univesity of Minnesota and currently serves as the director for the Midwest Dairy Foods Research Center.
Zeynep Atamer
Ph.D. at Oregon State UniversityDr. Zeynep Atamer obtained her BSc degree in Food Engineering from the Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey, together with a minor degree in Environmental Chemistry. Afterwards she attended the international MSc Program in Environmental Protection and Food Production at the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart, Germany. She carried out her master thesis project at Tetra Pak Research and Development Stuttgart, where she gained her first industrial experience. In 2006, she subsequently started her PhD in the Department of Soft Matter Science and Dairy Technology at the University of Hohenheim, which she completed successfully in 2011. Following her PhD, she then worked as a visiting researcher at the Department of Food Engineering of Akdeniz University, Antalya, Turkey within the scope of an international cooperation project with the University of Hohenheim. Since 2015, she has been working as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Hohenheim, meanwhile writing her habilitation thesis on “Fractionation and enrichment of milk proteins, analytical tools for their quantification and functional applications”. Currently she is in Oregon for an international cooperation project between the University of Hohenheim and OSU, which is on biobased adhesives from casein proteins. She is actively involved in teaching, supervision of master’s and doctoral students as well as projects on dairy science and technology.
Shelley Balanko
SVP, Business Development at Hartman GroupShelley Balanko is a seasoned ethnographer with a deep background in social psychology whose expertise lies in dissecting cultural influences into actionable, future-focused insights. She has spent nearly two decades steeped in the food and beverage industry, with her finger on the pulse across consumer packaged goods, retail, and foodservice segments. As a member of The Hartman Group leadership team, Shelley spearheads business development where her focus is understanding industry challenges and needs.
Shelley graduated from the University of Windsor with a Ph.D. in Applied Social Psychology. She has a MA in Applied Social Psychology from the University of Saskatchewan and a BA in Psychology from the University of British Columbia.
David Barbano
Professor at Cornell UniversityDavid Barbano is a professor in the Department of Food Science. Dave received his BS in Biology/Food Science in 1970 at Cornell University and his MS/Ph.D. in Food Science also at Cornell University (MS in 1973 and Ph.D. in 1976). He joined the Department of Food Science as an Assistant Professor in 1980. In 1988 he became the Director of the Northeast Dairy Foods Research Center. He is a member of ADSA, IFT, IDFA, AOACI, IAMFES, IDF, and NYS Assoc. of Milk and Food Sanitarians. Dave is past president of the American Dairy Science Association (ADSA), a fellow of ADSA and the Association of Official Analytical Chemists. Dave receive the Harvey Wiley Award of AOAC in 2010. Dave in on numerous International Dairy Federation Committees for milk analysis.
Eric Bastian
VP, Innovation Partnerships at Dairy WestEric D. Bastian was born in central Utah and reared on a dairy farm. He obtained his education at Utah State University with a BS degree in Dairy Science, and MS and Ph. D. (1989) degrees in Nutrition and Food Sciences. He spent one year (1989-1990) as a research fellow with the Danish Government Research Institute for the Dairy Industry in Hillerod, Denmark.
In 1992, Eric accepted a faculty position at the University of Minnesota in the Department of Food Science and Nutrition and for six years he led a research team focused on milk protein and enzyme chemistry, process cheese functionality, and milk protein fractionation. In 1998, he was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure. In the same year, he accepted a position with Avonmore West (now Glanbia) as Director of Research & Development (R&D) and relocated to Twin Falls, Idaho.
Eric was promoted to Vice President of R & D for Glanbia Nutritionals in 2006 and he began leading the cheese R&D for Glanbia Foods in 2013 (both divisions were part of Glanbia PLC). In 2015, Eric was promoted to Senior Vice President of Innovation. During his time at Glanbia Nutritionals, he developed a research team, starting with 5 people and building to a team of 80.
In July of 2016, Eric joined Dairy West as Vice President of Innovation Partnerships and, in 2019, he also became the Director of the Western Dairy Center. Eric has been instrumental in developing the BUILD Dairy Program, a research/workforce development for the dairy industry.
Melinda Burn
Vice President of Marketing at Solecta, Inc.Melinda Burn is the Vice President of Strategic Marketing at Solecta where she is responsible for the development and implementation of the global growth strategy for the business including the development of a robust innovation funnel. With more than 25 years of experience, Melinda has focused her career on connecting people and ideas at the intersection of marketing, technology and the customer to transform businesses, bring complex scientific solutions to the marketplace and build a sustainable customer experience.
Prior to joining Solecta in 2019, Melinda held a variety of roles from R&D to operations to business leadership in the Industrial Water Treatment and Specialty Chemical industries. Most recently she was Vice President of Strategic Marketing and Innovation at Solenis, a leading producer of specialty chemicals for water-intensive industrial operations.
Melinda is an ardent champion of the next generation of innovators and the building of an innovation ecosystem working with thought leaders in industry, government and academia and serves on the board of the Delaware Sustainable Chemistry Alliance (DESCA). Melinda holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from the University of Alberta and a PhD degree in Chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley.
Kimberlee Burrington
VP of Technical Development at American Dairy Products InstituteKimberlee (KJ) Burrington is the Director of Training, Education and Technical Development of ADPI. Prior to joining ADPI, KJ served as the Ingredient Applications Program Coordinator for the Wisconsin Center for Dairy Research (CDR). She has over 25 years of experience in product development including her past positions at Ridgeview Industries, the Keebler Company, and as a consultant to the baking industry. KJ has served as a member of ADPI’s Center of Excellence since its inception in 2012.
In her previous position at CDR, she provided technical support for U.S. dairy processors and end users on dairy ingredient functionality and applications. She also provided technical expertise for food companies internationally through visits and seminars in conjunction with the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) to countries such as Mexico, Latin America, China, South Korea, Japan, Vietnam, and Thailand. KJ has also been an instructor/presenter in various ADPI events and activities.
KJ Burrington holds a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science degree in Food Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is also an IFT Certified Food Scientist.
Stephen Cain
Director, Economic Research and Analysis of National Milk Producers FederationStephen serves as the Senior Director of Economic Research and Analysis for National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) and the US Dairy Export Council (USDEC). Stephen supports the federation and council through the analysis of both domestic and international dairy markets. He regularly publishes reports on dairy market dynamics and provides ad-hoc analysis on a wide range of dairy and related topics.
Prior to joining NMPF and USDEC, Stephen worked as an agribusiness consultant with IHS Markit, where he covered a number of commodities and specialized in economic impact analysis. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Agribusiness and a master’s degree in Agricultural Economics, both from Texas A&M University.
Younas Dadmohammadi
Research Associate at Cornell UniversityYounas is a Research Associate at Cornell University Department of Food Science. Since 2017, he has been working with industry, non-profit organizations, and federal agencies on tackling challenges at the nexus of Food, Health, and the Environment. Younas leads a dynamic team of postdocs and graduate students who concentrate on micronutrients delivery, clean-label functional foods, and protein functionalization, alongside taking a proactive stance in addressing issues related to food loss and waste. With a robust background in cross-disciplinary engineering, Younas holds a B.Sc., M.Sc., and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering. His professional journey spans prestigious institutions like Texas A&M, Oklahoma State, University of Oklahoma, and Cornell University. This diverse experience has honed a unique skill set, seamlessly integrating Engineering and Food Science. Through this blend, Younas spearheads advancements in sustainability and bioeconomy
within the agrofood sector.
MaryAnne Drake
William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor of Food Science at North Carolina State UniversityMaryAnne Drake, PhD, is an internationally recognized expert in dairy flavor. She has been at North Carolina State University since 2001 where she is currently a William Neal Reynolds Professor, and Director of the Sensory Service Center, and Director of the Southeast Dairy Foods Research Center (SDFRC).
Research in her program is focused on sensory analysis and flavor chemistry of dairy products and ingredients, how flavor varies with processing and storage and how these parameters relate to consumer perception. Qualitative market research, descriptive analysis, consumer testing, and preference mapping are all used. Instrumental analysis techniques including gas chromatography/olfactometry, gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, and liquid chromatography and are used to relate sensory properties to the chemical components of foods. Fundamental research on methods development is conducted as well as the application of these techniques to solve industrially relevant problems.
MaryAnne has a BS in Biology from Central Washington and earned a MS and PhD in Food Science from Washington State University.
Micah Drummond
PhD at University of UtahDr. Drummond completed a postdoctoral fellowship at University of Texas Medical Branch in skeletal muscle protein metabolism. Currently, he is a Professor in the Department of Physical Therapy and Athletic Training at the University of Utah with a research emphasis in skeletal muscle aging and physical inactivity and rehabilitation. The research projects within Dr. Drummond’s laboratory hold two general themes: 1) Understanding the cellular and molecular regulation of muscle mass and insulin sensitivity in healthy and physically inactive older adults and 2) utilization of therapeutic approaches such as nutrition and exercise to slow muscle atrophy and metabolic dysfunction in older adults and enhance muscle recovery during rehabilitation.
Nana Farkye
Professor Emeritus of Dairy Science at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis ObispoNana Farkye, PhD received his BSc (Hons.) in Biochemistry & Nutrition from the University of Ghana and earned his MS and PhD in Food Science & Nutrition from Utah State University, Logan, UT. He is currently a consultant to the dairy industry and a professor emeritus of Dairy Science at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. Nana taught undergraduate and graduate level courses in dairy chemistry, milk processing, and cheese and fermented dairy foods during his tenure at Cal Poly. He supervised and advised undergraduate senior projects, graduate student thesis projects and postdoctoral scientists from grants received from industry, trade groups and associations, and government agencies.
Nana has authored or co-authored numerous peer-reviewed publications, including book chapters and encyclopedia articles in areas of his academic interests including dairy enzymology, dairy processing, fermented dairy foods, specialty cheese manufacture and technology, cheese ripening, use of starters to effect flavor development in dairy foods and dairy foods safety. He has served as a judge at the American Cheese Society cheese contest, U.S. Championship Cheese Contest and World Championship Cheese Contest. Nana also frequently volunteers for USAID-funded international assignments in cheese and dairy foods technology transfer around the globe.
Stephen Fuchs
Ginkgo BioworksStephen Fuchs has more than 25 years as an expert in protein structure and function and the engineering of microbial strains to produce functional proteins. He currently is a Director of Commercial Operations at Ginkgo Bioworks headquartered in Boston where he is responsible for cultivating relationships between commercial partners and the Ginkgo Bioworks platform. He joined Ginkgo Bioworks in 2022 after several years of overseeing Partnerships and Strategic Alliances at the Institute for Protein Innovation and before that was an Assistant Professor at Tufts University. Steve received a B.S. in Chemistry from Penn State University, a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and postdoctoral studies at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. He has been recognized and his work has been supported by the NIH, Department of Defense, the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, and the Kavli Foundation along with the National Academy of Sciences.
Rani Govindasamy Lucey
Senior Scientist at University of WisconsinRani Govindasamy Lucey is a Distinguished Scientist with the Center for Dairy Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She joined the center in 1999 and since then she has been working in the Cheese Research Program area on a wide range of research and industrial projects. She serves as the co-coordinator for CDR’s Cheese Research Program Area. She was recipient of the College of Agricultural Sciences (CALS) Academic Staff Award for Excellence in Research in 2017. She graduated from National University of Singapore with an Honors BS degree in Biochemistry and a PhD. in Food Technology. Prior to coming to US, she worked as a post-doctoral fellow in the Fonterra Research Institute. Her research focus areas are mostly on cheese, such as, improving yield and functionality, use of membrane processing, impact of high-pressure processing and approaches to extend the performance shelf-life. She is involved with the activities of the American Dairy Science Association, currently serving on the Board as a Director.
Gabrielle Gunter
Cheese Technical Manager at HilmarFor the past 10 years, Gabrielle has been a part of the Cheese Research and Development / Technical Service team at Hilmar Cheese Company. Her work has focused on developing products and recipes for the cheese process.
Gabrielle received her B.S. Food Science and Technology from Clemson University. She received her M.S. in Dairy Science from Cal Poly under the supervision of Dr. Phil Tong in 2016. She received her MBA from Aston University.
Federico Harte
Professor of Food Science at Pennsylvania State UniversityFederico Harte is a Professor in the Food Science Department at the Pennsylvania State University and the current President of the American Dairy Science Association. He received a BSc in Agricultural Engineering from the University of Uruguay, and a PhD in Food Engineering from Washington State University. For the last 10+ years, members of the Harte Lab focused on developing functionality from casein proteins for food and pharmaceutical application, and the use of novel processing technologies in the dairy industry, with support from State and Federal agencies as well as the dairy industry. The core of Dr. Harte’s original research is published in the Journal of Dairy Science, where he was senior editor for the Dairy Foods Section from 2016 to 2022. At PSU he teaches dairy foods processing and food rheology, and participates in several of the continuous education programs offered by the Food Science Department.
Paul Hughes
Assistant Professor at Oregon State UniversityPaul graduated with a bachelor and PhD degree from the University of London. After a brief spell with the Health and Safety Executive, in 1990 Paul began a life-long career with the brewing industry at the Brewing Research Foundation. Here he worked on beer quality and hop-oriented research before joining Heineken in the Netherlands as principal scientist in 1999. Here he coordinated international research in both beer quality and product safety/integrity. In 2005 he joined Heriot-Watt University as a full professor in brewing and distilling, before becoming a full-time consultant in 2014. In 2015 he joined Oregon State University to establish a distilled spirits program de novo. Paul’s research has uniquely earned both Institute of Brewing’s Cambridge prize for research and the American Society of Brewing Chemists Eric Kneen award for excellence in scientific publishing.
Over the past eight years whilst at OSU, Paul has been applying brewing and distilling know-how to the management of co-products from a range of industries, including whisky and cheese production, specifically looking for valorization opportunities for these and other related processing operations.
Paul has worked widely in the international community, including Western Europe, Africa, South America and South East Asia. He holds an MBA from the University of Surrey, specializing in innovation in mature industries, and the Institute of Brewing’s diploma in brewing. He is author of more than 60 peer-reviewed publications, numerous book chapters and articles, and co-author of four books and four patents.
Andrew Hurley
Ph.D. at Clemson UniversityPackaging and entrepreneurship came together at an early age for Dr. Andrew Hurley. As a young boy, he molded and sold pewter figurines, but inadequate shipping materials led to breakage. Frustrated, he set to researching better packaging alternatives … and he hasn’t ever stopped.
He has worked on projects at companies like Kraft Foods, Milliken, and Quad, to name just a few. His passion for lifelong learning is evidenced by his degrees in packaging and design. What he’s learned on the job and in the boardroom, he shares with students as an Associate Professor and Director of Entrepreneurship at Clemson University.
One of many ventures founded by Dr. Hurley is PackagingSchool.com, a combination of his passions for packaging and learning. He teaches courses leading to the Certificate of Mastery in Packaging Management and the Certificate of Sustainable packaging which enables anyone to establish brand-relevant goals and assess the environmental impact of any design.
Rodrigo Ibanez
Associate Scientist, Center for Dairy Research at University of WisconsinRodrigo A. Ibáñez holds a Ph. D. in Food Science and Technology from University College Cork – National University of Ireland. He currently works as an Associate Scientist in the Cheese Research Group from the Center for Dairy Research (CDR) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, studying topics related to cheese defects, impact of cheese components in human health and use of dairy ingredients to improve cheese quality. Additionally, Rodrigo supports teaching activities in CDR short courses, including those offered in Spanish.
Iswandi Jarto
Research Engineering Manager at HilmarIswandi Jarto, originally from Indonesia, is a Chemical Engineer with M.Sc. in Food Science from University of Wisconsin Madison under the supervision of Dr. John Lucey in 2009. His graduate work at the time focused around the area of whey defatting and milk microfiltration. For the past 15 years, he has been a part of Hilmar Cheese Company in Research and Development/Technical Service capacity developing products and process technologies related to milk, cheese, whey, lactose, and functional dairy ingredients.
Yong-Su Jin
Professor of Food Microbiology at University of Illinois, Urbana-ChampaignYong-Su Jin is Professor of Food Microbiology in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition and a faculty member of the Institute for Genomic Biology (IGB). He is a principal investigator of the Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI), and is also a member of the Center for Advanced BioEnergy Research (CABER) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Dr. Jin received B.S. (1996) and M. S. (1998, advisor: Prof. Jin-Ho Seo) degrees in Food Science and Technology from Seoul National University and received Ph. D. degree (2002, advisor: Prof. Thomas Jeffries) in Food Science and Bacteriology (minor) from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. After completing a post-doctoral training (2003-2005, advisor: Prof. Greg Stephanopoulos) in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he served as an Assistant Professor (2006-2008) in the Department of Food Science and Biotechnology at the Sungkyunkwan University in Korea.
Dr. Jin’s research is centered on metabolic engineering of microorganisms to produce biofuels and chemicals from renewable biomass. His research aims to identify, characterize, and engineer beneficial genetic perturbations eliciting rapid and efficient production of target products, such as biofuels, nutraceuticals, and food ingredients. In addition, his group performs food safety related research: rapid methods for food pathogen detection, elucidation of bactericidal mechanisms by antimicrobial compounds, and investigation of cellular toxicity caused by nanomaterials. Dr. Jin was a Faculty Fellow of National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) for 2009-2010 and received the ACES College Faculty Awards for Excellence in Research.
Mitch Kanter
Chief Science Officer at Global Dairy PlatformMitch Kanter, PhD serves as the Chief Science Officer for the Global Dairy Platform (GDP), a
position he has held since December 2018. GDP leads a global collaboration of dairy companies, associations, scientific partners, and others to demonstrate the role of dairy in a healthy diet, as well as the dairy sector’s commitment to sustainable food production.
Dr. Kanter has worked in the healthy food and beverage industry as well as the agricultural
sector for over 30 years, serving in diverse roles for various multinational companies,
including Director of The Gatorade Sports Science Institute and Director of Nutrition Science
& Scientific Communications for the Quaker Oats Company; Director of Nutrition Research
for General Mills; Discovery Director, Director of Venturing, and Senior Research Fellow for
Cargill, and Chief Science Officer for the Alliance for Potato Research & Education (APRE).
Dr. Kanter has also served as the Executive Director of the American Egg Board and as Chief
Science Officer for FoodMinds.
Dr. Kanter holds BS and MS degrees from Queens College in New York City, as well as MS
and PhD degrees from the Ohio State University. He served as an NIH Postdoctoral Research
Fellow in the Preventive Medicine Dept. at the Washington University School of Medicine
after receiving his PhD, and spent four years as an assistant professor at Northeastern
Illinois University and Rush Medical School after graduation. He currently holds an Adjunct
Associate Professorship at the University of Minnesota.
Rohit Kapoor
VP, Product Research at Dairy Management Inc.As Vice President of Product Research at Dairy Management Inc., Rohit leads National Dairy Council research programs in important areas such as milk powders, whey and milk protein ingredients and dairy co-products at major Universities to drive dairy innovation and sales on behalf of America’s dairy farmers.
Rohit has 15 years of dairy foods R&D experience in industry and academia combined. During his tenure, Rohit worked at various leading dairy and food companies such as Nestlé USA, Bongards MN, and Kerry Americas where he provided R&D leadership towards cheese and dairy ingredient-focused innovation.
Rohit received his B.S. in Dairy Technology from National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal, India and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Food Science with an emphasis on dairy science and technology from University of Minnesota.
Charles Lee
Research Chemist at USDACharles Lee is a research scientist at the USDA Agricultural Research Service. He has over 20 years of experience using microbiological and enzymatic approaches to convert underutilized agricultural resources into value-added products. He has collaborated with numerous companies and distributed the technologies he has developed through more than 90 formal material transfer agreements.
Charles holds a Ph.D. in Molecular and Cell Biology from the University of California, Berkeley. Outside of work, he coaches high school students in scientific competitions, such as Science Olympiad.
Nicole Helen Martin
Assistant Research Professor, Associate Director of Cornell UniversityDr. Nicole Martin is an Assistant Research Professor and the Associate Director of the Milk Quality Improvement Program (MQIP) in the Department of Food Science at Cornell University. Nicole grew up in the beautiful Southern Tier of New York State where she began a lifelong love of dairy by working on a local dairy farm. She received her BS (’06), MS (’11) and PhD (’18) degrees in Food Science from Cornell University with minors in microbiology and animal science.
Nicole works closely with dairy industry stakeholders including producers and processors to drive the farm to consumer dairy research conducted in the MQIP. Nicole’s research interests take a holistic approach to dairy product quality and safety, with the mindset that providing consumers with high quality dairy products must start at the farm and be a priority throughout processing, distribution, and retail. In particular, Nicole is interested in the transmission of dairy associated spoilage organisms from environmental niches into raw and processed dairy products, strategies to reduce or eliminate this transmission, the implications of spoilage organisms on finished product, and the development of practical, industry relevant methods of detection.
Owen McDougal
Professor/Chair Chemistry at Boise State UniversityDr. McDougal is a natural products chemist with 26 years of academic experience. He has served as the President of the Boise State University Faculty Senate from 2009-2011, chair of the department of Chemistry and Biochemistry from 2016-2023, Director for the Food and Dairy Innovation Center since 2021, and principal investigator for the National Science Foundation Convergence Accelerator Track J, Phase 2 program in food and nutrition security.
Dr. McDougal was recruited into the BUILD Dairy program in 2017 by co-founders Eric Bastian and Don McMahon to engage Boise State University as an academic partner in training students for careers in the dairy industry. Seeing the incredible potential to bring chemistry and other disciplines not generally engaged in dairy science research, like computer science, McDougal engaged fully in network activities, fostering strong partnerships with industry leaders. He leveraged this professional network, securing funds from the state of Idaho in 2021, to establish the Food and Dairy Innovation Center focused on addressing industry-priority projects through technical skill training for students in real-world projects of impact to food and dairy processors.
McDougal’s lab uses analytical instrumentation to extract, separate, quantitate, qualitative, and assess the structure and bioactivity of analytes from plant, food, and dairy sources. In his role as the PI for the NSF Convergence Accelerator program, McDougal leads a team of exceptional individuals that constitute the Dairy NutriSols team.
Paul McSweeney
Ph.D. at University College CorkHolding a Personal Chair of Food Chemistry in University College Cork, Ireland, Paul McSweeney has an active research profile in dairy chemistry and cheese science. The major thread running through his research is dairy enzymology, including the use of novel coagulants in cheese manufacture and the role of the coagulant in ripening, the study of proteolytic enzymes from lactic acid bacteria, investigation of some of the many indigenous enzymes in milk, studies on various approaches to accelerate and control the cheese ripening and investigation of proteolysis and lipolysis in during ripening. He is the co-author or co-editor of 18 books and about 300 research papers and reviews and is the lead editor/editor-in-chief of the Advanced Dairy Chemistry series (Springer, NY), Cheese: Chemistry, Physics and Microbiology (Elsevier) and Encyclopedia of Dairy Sciences (Elsevier). He was awarded the Marschall Danisco International Dairy Science Award of the American Dairy Science Association in 2004 and in 2009 a higher doctorate (DSc) on published work by the National University of Ireland.
Professor Paul McSweeney is also currently Vice-President for Learning and Teaching in University College Cork. His office coordinates the activities of the University’s libraries, learning and teaching centre, continuing and outreach education centre, digital education, English language education and study skills for students, together with responsibility for delivering aspects of the University’s Academic Strategy and strategic plan.
Hari Meletharayil
VP, Product Research at National Dairy CouncilAs Vice President of Product Research at Dairy Management Inc., Hari leads various product research programs in cheese and dairy beverages. Hari also coordinates activities across the different dairy centers and application labs that are a part of the nationally coordinated network of technical centers to drive dairy innovation and sales on behalf of America’s dairy farmers.
Hari has more than 16 years of experience in academia and industry, most recently at PepsiCo leading beverage innovation efforts. He also has experiences with Nestle and the National Dairy Development Board in India.
Hari received his B.S. in dairy technology followed by his M.S in Dairy chemistry from National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal, India. He has a Ph.D. in dairy manufacturing from South Dakota State University.
Ryan Mertes
Chief Solutions Officer at Ever.AgEver.Ag’s Chief Solutions Officer Ryan Mertes is responsible for the commercial operations of four software business units within the company, specializing in In Plant software solutions.
Mertes’ career in dairy began as President of Data Specialists, Inc. (DSI). During his eighteen years at DSI, he visited over 100+ dairy plants and worked with dozens of companies, implementing software systems to support their growth.
Ryan holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Arizona State University. He is a Certified Public Accountant and worked with manufacturing companies in Australia and the United States for five years prior to his work at DSI.
Michael Miller
Professor of Food Microbiology; Associate Head for Graduate Programs at University of Illinois, Urbana-ChampaignMichael Miller is a Professor of Food Microbiology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Miller’s lab solves problems related to various aspects of fermentation. He develops strategies to improve the safety of fermented dairy products, especially Hispanic-style cheeses. He evaluates the microbial metabolism of dietary components in the gut to maximize health benefits for humans. He develops novel genetic tools for Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB) to enable precision fermentation applications. He evaluates microbial metabolites in fermented foods that promote human health.
Sylvain Moineau
Professor at Universite LavalSylvain Moineau is Professor of Microbiology at the Faculty of Sciences and Engineering at Université Laval (Québec, Canada), a position he has held since 1996. His research group studies phage biology and the interactions between phages and bacteria.
His group studies phage resistance mechanisms such as CRISPR-Cas systems to develop phage-resistant bacterial strains for food applications. He is developing various strategies to use phages as biocontrol or therapeutic agents in various industrial sectors and public health. He has held the Canada Research Chair in Bacteriophages since 2011 and has also been the Curator of the Félix d’Hérelle Reference Center for bacterial Viruses since 2003.
Sylvain has been awarded several academic prizes, including among others the the NSERC John C. Polanyi Award, the Canadian Society of Microbiologists Murray Award for Career Achievement, Prix Marie Victorin, and the Flavelle Medal of the Royal Society of Canada. He was also awarded industry-related prizes such as the DuPont Excellence Medal (Denmark), the NSERC-Synergy Award (Canada), the European LABIP International Science Award, and the DSM Food Specialties Award (USA) as well as civil recognitions including Officer of the Order of Canada and Officer of the National Order of Quebec.
Sylvain obtained his PhD degree in Food Sciences and Technology in 1993 and spent two years as an industrial postdoctoral fellow at Quest International (a division of Unilever at the time) in the USA. He has published over 260 original articles and over 20 book chapters. He also has an H-index over 75 and is among the most cited microbiologists (Clarivate Analytics).
Melinda Moss
Formulation & Innovation Technical Manager at Pivotal IngredientsMelinda is a product formulator in the food and dietary supplement industry with 18 years of experience. Her education is in Food Science and Nutrition, and she has a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree from Utah State University in those disciplines. She also has a Master of Public Administration degree from Brigham Young University and a PhD in molecular biology also from BYU. She currently works as the Product Development and Innovation Manager for Pivotal Ingredients, a dairy and wellness focused ingredient supplier.
Vikki Nicholson-West
Senior Vice President Global Ingredients Marketing at U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC)Vikki Nicholson-West is the Senior Vice President Global Ingredients Marketing with U.S. Dairy Export Council and Executive Director U.S. Dairy Export Council Singapore Ltd. Nicholson-West is responsible for marketing strategy, business development and program development to promote utilization of U.S. dairy products. She leads a team working with USDEC’s international representative offices focused on promoting U.S. ingredients while communicating the U.S. dairy story to food and beverage manufacturers, importers and key opinion leaders. As the USDEC Global Ingredients Marketing and Strategy lead she is responsible for developing the global strategy for the global Ingredients programs leveraging identified insights and market drivers. In this role, she is also the staff champion for the U.S. processor comprised Ingredient Advisory Group.
As Executive Director of the newly formed USDEC Singapore Ltd, Nicholson-West leads the operations and strategic direction of the new U.S. Center for Dairy Excellence in Singapore that works to accelerate opportunities for the U.S. Dairy industry in Southeast Asia while enhancing awareness and understanding of U.S. Dairy.
These programs reinforce U.S. Dairy’s commitment to investing in innovation to meet all facets of customers’ needs for growth with a safe, trusted, high quality product that is sustainability produced.
Vikki is a results-driven executive with 30+ years in the food industry with a technical and marketing background. She has worked on brands like Oreo, Breyer’s, Oscar Mayer, Kraft Cheese and Maxwell House while at Kraft Foods/Mondelez in food service, retail and ingredients marketing prior to transitioning to the U.S. Dairy Export Council in 2009. During her tenure at Kraft Foods, Vikki spent her first nine years in technical research and product development working on emulsion/lipid technology and flavor encapsulation.
She has a bachelor’s of science degree in chemistry and mathematics from Howard University in Washington, D.C. and a master’s in marketing and business policy from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Nicholson-West is also a U.S. patent holder in micro-encapsulation technology.
Tim O'Brien
Urschel LaboratoriesTim O’Brien is the North American Sales Director at Urschel Laboratories, Inc. As The Global Leader in Food Cutting Technology, Urschel manufactures high-capacity machinery to provide food cutting solutions to processors everywhere. O’Brien’s longstanding career at Urschel has spanned more than 33 years. His experience encompasses both U.S. and global leadership roles within the company.
Mr. O’Brien has led the Urschel global and North American initiatives to successfully deliver valuable cutting solutions to a wide array of food production environments. His expertise extends across all food processing industries with emphasis on dairy. He graduated from University of Missouri with a BS in Business. Leadership roles within the food industry include being a long-time director for Food Processors Suppliers Association.
Taylor Oberg
Assistant Professor, Food Science at Utah State UniversityTaylor grew up in in northern Utah in the U.S. working for his grandfather ranching and farming. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Microbiology from Weber State University and a Ph.D. in Food Science from Utah State University where he studied genetics and the transcriptional stress responses of probiotic bacteria. After graduation, he spent five years working in the dairy industry for the world’s largest mozzarella cheese producer as a senior research microbiologist. He then returned to his roots and joined the faculty at Utah State University where he is an Assistant Professor of Food Microbiology and currently serves as the faculty director of the Aggie Creamery. His research interests include the use of next generation molecular methods to improve the quality, functionality, and safety of dairy foods.
Gulustan Ozturk
Assistant Professor at University of WisconsinGulustan is an assistant professor in the Department of Food Science at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Her work focuses on discovering unique health-promoting compounds in milk and dairy streams and bringing them into practice and is supported by the UW Dairy Innovation Hub.
Gulustan was born and grew up in Turkey. She got her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in food engineering from Ankara University in Turkey. During her master's, she developed edible films to extend ground beef's shelf life. Then, she moved to the US and completed her Ph.D. in food science with a designated emphasis in biotechnology from the University of California, Davis. During her Ph.D., her research focused on understanding the molecular mechanism used by the foodborne pathogen Yersinia enterocolitica to colonize humans and cause disease. Her curiosity about natural health-promoting compounds led her to continue her postdoctoral training at UC Davis, where she began developing human and bovine milk-based antimicrobials and prebiotics that led to industrial applications supporting healthy microbial communities.
Fred Payne
President at ReflectronicsFred Payne is founder and President of Reflectronics, Inc, a company formed in 1993 to manufacture an optical sensor for automating the coagulation endpoint selection in cheese making. He has led the development of a fluorescent sensor technology that has been applied to the cutting time control on milk coagulation and the measurement of protein in dairy permeates. Reflectronics is currently active in developing new optical automation technologies for the dairy industry.
He is also Professor Emeritus of the Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering at the University of Kentucky where he taught courses in food process engineering for 27 years and researched optical sensor technologies for process monitoring and control. He is an active member and Fellow of his professional organization, ASABE (American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers) where he is a member of the Finance Committee.
Caleb Power
Exec Area Technical Support Coordinator at Ecolab, Inc.Caleb Power is an Executive Technical Support Coordinator at Ecolab where he runs the membrane cleaning program. Caleb's education is in chemistry and has been with Ecolab for the past 10 years, serving in several different roles from research and development to technical sales. He is considered today as one of the membrane cleaning experts in the industry.
Andy Powers
VP - Technical Services at ADPIAndy brings over 30 years of commercial, scientific, and technical (QA/Regulatory/Food Safety) experience to ADPI where he is Vice President of Technical Services. Prior to ADPI, Andy most recently worked for Newton Enterprises as VP & Senior Consultant. He has also held positions at Hoogwegt U.S./Lone Star Dairy, Archer Daniels Midland Company, Akorn Pharmaceuticals, and Biosys Biotech, Inc. It should be noted that during his tenure at Hoogwegt US/Lone Star Dairies, Andy served on ADPI’s Technical and Standards Committees.
Andy is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and holds both a Bachelor of Science degree in Molecular Biology, and a Master of Business Administration. He is a current member of the American Chemical Society, and the American Society for Quality. In addition, he is a Certified Lead Auditor & Practitioner – Safe Quality Food(SQF) Institute; Certified Lead Auditor – HACCP & ISO 9000; and a member of Beta Gamma Sigma International Business Honor Society.
Andy and his family reside in Queen Creek, Arizona.
Rob Richter
Senior Manager Supplier Quality at Great Lakes Cheese Co., Inc.Rob Richter leads the Cheese Quality Programs for Great Lakes Cheese, a leading national cheese maker and packager of cheese, headquartered in Hiram Ohio. Rob is a WI Master Cheesemaker, an award winning cheese maker, and leads cheese-grading groups, as well as, company cheese supplier teams. Rob has been in cheese making, affinage, whey processing, and dairy packaging for over 25 years. Rob’s primary role focuses on cheese quality, consistency, and application through the supply chain. In this role, Rob spends a significant amount of time leading the evaluation of cheeses, educating the next generations of cheese professionals, and collaborating with Producers.
Rob is an ambassador for the dairy industry, participates in multiple industry committees, serves as contest judge, and sits on the ADPI Board of Directors.
Dean Roberts
Director of Technology and Market Development at Bruker ScientificDean Roberts is currently the Director of Technology and Market Development for Bruker Applied
Spectroscopy, focusing on expanding the use of FTIR, FT-NIR and Raman spectroscopy for quality
control, process monitoring, and other industrial applications. Dean obtained a BS in chemistry from the University of Wisconsin – Madison in 1982. After several years working in quality control laboratories, Dean joined Mattson Instruments as an Application Scientist working with FTIR spectrometers. Dean joined Bruker Optics in 1999 as the Midwest Regional Sales Manager, later moving into management roles within Bruker Optics. Dean’s current areas of interest include development of new applications for both benchtop analyzers and in-line systems for Dairy and Biopharma manufacturing operations.
Prafulla Salunke
South Dakota State UniversityPrafulla Salunke is an Assistant Professor of Dairy Manufacturing at the Dairy and Food Science Department, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD. He is a seasoned dairy professional, teacher, researcher, and leader with over 21 years of experience in the dairy industry. Additionally, work as the Midwest Dairy Food Research Centre (MDFRC) Associate Director and as an Advisor and Executive Secretary to the North Central Cheese Industry Association (NCCIA). Act as principal investigator for the Institute for Dairy Ingredient Processing (IDIP), SDSU, Brookings, SD, and carries out student research and research for outside companies. He has been highly trained in dairy operations, research, and management areas and has developed many new products and processes over the years. Currently advising 3 Doctoral, 6 Master’s, and 1 undergraduate student. The primary research focuses on new dairy-based ingredient development, the use of enzymes (crosslinking, hydrolytic, and modifying), and food-grade ingredients to change the functionality of milk proteins, various kinds of cheese, new processes, and product development. He has peer-reviewed articles for various journals and has published many articles. Conducts short courses for farmers and cheese companies and is involved with the activities of ADSA and IFT.
Prateek Sharma
Assistant Professor at Utah State UniversityDr. Prateek Sharma is an Assistant Professor of Dairy Technology in Department of Nutrition, Dietetics and Food Science at Utah State University. He is affiliated with Western Dairy Center through BUILD dairy program at Utah State University. Prateek has completed a Ph.D. degree in Food Technology from Riddet Institute, Massey University, New Zealand in collaboration with Fonterra Research and Development Centre on a project on cheese process rheology. Dr. Sharma is an experienced dairy foods Scientist with more than 14 years of research experience in commercial and institutional R&D sectors. Dr. Sharma has a strong research interest in the material properties of the foods, especially, mechanical, rheological, physical, and chemical properties of dairy foods. He worked in multinational (Ireland, New Zealand and India) environments on number of product portfolios such as cheese, whey ingredients, UHT products and liquid emulsions. At Utah State University, he has diverse research portfolio with focus upon understanding structure-function relationships in cheese and dairy powders, wear behavior, and use of advanced rheological techniques in dairy foods. Dr. Sharma is recipient of prestigious awards including ADSA Foundation Scholar Award, Marie-Curie post-doctoral fellowship and Erasmus Mundus scholarship from European Commission, and William C. Winder and Rebecca Steward Winder Professorship Award 2022. Dr. Sharma is currently serving as a Chair for IFT Dairy Foods Division for year 2022-23.
Jacob Smith
Innovation Advisor at RTI InternationalJacob Smith is an Innovation Advisor with RTI International's Innovation Advisors business unit. With over 12 years of experience in research and innovation, Dr. Smith is passionate about harnessing advanced technologies to make a positive transformative impact on society within the food and agriculture sector. He leads teams to deliver data-driven insights and actionable recommendations on innovation and commercialization strategy for R&D and business leaders in both public and private sectors, addressing the toughest challenges in research, sustainability, and product development. Dr. Smith’s experience spans functional ingredients, novel processing technologies, proteins and alternative proteins, food biotechnology, and digital technologies for R&D and manufacturing (e.g., Artificial Intelligence and Digital Twins). Jacob received his bachelor’s degree in chemistry and Spanish from Austin College in Sherman, Texas and his PhD in chemistry from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he also spent a year as a fellow in the Office of Technology Commercialization.
Moises Torres Gonzalez
Vice President, Nutrition Research at National Dairy CouncilDr. Moises is Vice President of Nutrition Research at the National Dairy Council (NDC). At NDC he serves as the subject matter expert (SME) on whole-fat dairy foods, cardiometabolic health, milkfat ingredients, inflammation and cognition. As SME lead, his main role is to strategically define, develop and manage the research needed to build our scientific understanding about the role that dairy, whole-fat dairy foods as well as milkfat ingredients play on cardiometabolic health, inflammation and cognition. Advancing the science on these areas will ultimately help better position dairy and whole-fat dairy foods within dietary recommendations and stimulate product innovation.
Dr. Moises earned his bachelor’s degree in Biochemical Engineering with major in biotechnology and food sciences at the Instituto Tecnologico de Colima, Mexico. He later obtained a Master’s degree in Biochemical Engineering at the Instituto Tecnologico de Veracruz, in Mexico. He earned an additional Master’s degree as well as a Doctoral’s degree in Nutritional Sciences at the University of Connecticut, USA.
Dr. Moises possess a strong research and educational background on lipid and macronutrient metabolism, and overall in human nutrition and its implications with cardiometabolic diseases (e.g. cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, obesity and metabolic syndrome); his research experience also comprises areas of food sciences, processing of vegetable oils as well as mitochondrial DNA damage and its connection with mitochondria and cardiac dysfunction.
Dr. Moises has authored and co-authored more than 20 peer-reviewed scientific articles and has written book chapters in the area of dairy foods and human health.
Additionally, he previously held research scientific positions at the Linus Pauling Institute at the Oregon State University, and at the School of Medicine at the University of California in San Diego. He is active member of scientific organizations such as the American Society for Nutrition, American Oil Chemistry Society, International Society for Atherosclerosis among others.
Alison Van Eenennaam
Ph.D. at University of California DavisAlison Van Eenennaam is a Distinguished Professor of Cooperative Extension in the field of Animal Genomics and Biotechnology in the Department of Animal Science at the University of California, Davis where she has been on faculty for over 20 years. She received a Bachelor of Agricultural Science from the University of Melbourne, and both an MS in Animal Science, and a PhD in Genetics from UC Davis. Her research and outreach program focuses on the use of animal genomics and biotechnology in livestock production systems. She has a multifaceted research program that has included work on the uses of DNA information and biotechnologies in beef cattle production systems, and the development of genome editing approaches for cattle and sheep. She has served as a past member of the USDA’s National Advisory Committee on Biotechnology and 21st Century Agriculture, a temporary voting member on the FDA’s AquAdvantage Genetically-Engineered Salmon Veterinary Medicine Advisory Committee, and was on the United States NASEM study committee for “Science Breakthroughs 2030: A Strategy for Food and Agricultural Research”. She has given over 750 invited presentations to audiences globally, and uses a variety of media to inform general public audiences about science and technology. She frequently provides a credentialed voice on controversial scientific topics, and has appeared on national media including Weird, True and Freaky, The Dr Oz Show, Science Friday, and the Intelligence Squared debate series. She appeared in the 2017 documentary on genetically modified food “Food Evolution” narrated by science-communicator Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson, and the 2022 documentary Science Friction about scientists deceptively edited by the media. A passionate advocate of science, Dr. Van Eenennaam was the recipient of the Council for Agricultural Science and Technology 2014 Borlaug Communication Award, and the American Society of Animal Science 2019 Rockefeller Prentice Award in Animal Breeding and Genetics. Twitter: @BioBeef
Abdul Wazed
PhD at Oregon State UniversityAbdul is a postdoctoral scholar at Dallas Lab, School of Public Health and Nutrition, Oregon
State University. He is a food engineer and has expertise in food processing techniques and
their impact on nutritional profile. He investigates how emerging technologies affect food
proteins and bioactivity of peptides released in the gut of infants following digestion assay,
proteomics and peptidomics. He is passionate about specialty dairy ingredients and New
Product Development (NPD) through integrating engineering principles with the science of food
to innovate and enhance dietary solutions.
Dr. Abdul earned a BSc (hons) in Agriculture and MS in Horticulture, both from Sher-e-Bangla
Agricultural University, Bangladesh. He then moved to New Zealand and obtained a PhD in
Chemical and Materials Engineering (Dairy food processing, preservation and formulation) from
University of Auckland.
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Adam Wylie
Director of Global Responsibility at Leprino Foods CompanyAdam manages Leprino Food’s Global Responsibility business priority. Prior to dedicating his time to GR full time in 2021, he also managed environmental compliance at Leprino and before that as a consultant and at other companies mostly in heavy industry. These days, he spends most of his time just trying to keep up with the daily changes in ESG/Sustainability.
Haotian Zheng
Assistant Professor at NC State UniversityDr. Haotian Zheng is a tenure-track assistant professor in Food Chemistry at North Carolina State University (NC State). He directs the Food Rheology Laboratory and affiliates to Southeast Dairy Foods Research Center at the university. Dr. Zheng’s research interests include developing novel dairy ingredients, improving food ingredient functionality, food structure design for improved stability, textural attributes, and health benefits of processed foods, and solving real life problems in the food industry. He also teaches Food Chemistry and Food Ingredient Functionality related courses at NC State. Prior to NC State, Dr. Zheng gained professional research experiences from both industry and academia including Fonterra Research Center (New Zealand), Lincoln University (New Zealand), Riddet Institute (New Zealand), and Cal Poly. Currently, Zheng lab hosts 3 PhD students, 2 MS students, and 2 research associates. Sponsors of Dr. Zheng’s research program include but not limited to USDA-NIFA, USDA-ARS, National Dairy Council, California Dairy Research Foundation, Dairy West, North Carolina dairy producers association, Southeast Dairy Foods Research Center, Novozymes.
Gunnar Øregaard
Sr Manager Microbial Screening Food Microbiology – R&D at NovonesisGunnar Øregaard is a microbiologist by training. He did his MSc and PhD studies at University of Copenhagen (Denmark) and joined Chr Hansen in 2007. He worked initially in R&D as a screening scientist and took up management of the screening unit in 2012. Gunnar is currently heading the Microbial Screening function within R&D at Novonesis. The work they do includes maintaining and expanding their strain bank, phenotypic characterization of their strains and running screening campaigns in order to select lead bacteria for new product development activities.