2025 Speakers
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KEYNOTE

Jason Evans, Ph.D.
Dean of the College of Food Innovation and Technology (CFIT)
Johnson & Wales University
TOWN HALL

Megin Nichols, D.V.M., M.P.H., D.A.C.V.P.M.
Director, Division of Foodborne, Waterborne, and Environmental Diseases
CDC

Kyle Diamantas, J.D.
Acting Deputy Commissioner for Human Foods
FDA

Dr. Denise Eblen
Administrator
USDA-FSIS

Steve Mandernach, J.D.
Executive Director
AFDO
CONFERENCE SPEAKERS

Ola Afolayan
Director, Global Food Safety and Regulatory
Kellanova

James (Jim) W. Arbogast, Ph.D.
JW Arbogast Advanced Science Consulting

Larry Ball
Manager, Food Safety Quality Regulatory Affairs
Conagra Brands

Natasha Bangel
Senior Manager National FSQA
Taylor Farms

Al Baroudi, Ph.D.
VP, QA and Food Safety
The Cheesecake Factory

Mitzi Baum
Former CEO
Stop Foodborne Illness

Sharon Beals
Founder
SKKB-LLC

Amy Behm
Director of Customer Success for Industry Initiatives
GS1 US

Sharon Birkett
Vice President, Global Food Safety and Quality Assurance
OSI Group, LLC

Adrienne Blume, M.A.
Editorial Director
Food Safety Magazine

Dr. Philip Bronstein
Senior Vice President Global Food Safety and Quality Assurance
OSI Group

Dr. Barbara Chamberlin
Head of the Innovative Media Research and Extension Department
New Mexico State University

Ben Chapman, Ph.D.
Professor and Director, Department Head of Agricultural and Human Sciences
North Carolina State University

Moazzam Chaudhry
Director of Food Safety
McCain Foods North America

Vanessa Coffman, Ph.D.
Director
Alliance to Stop Foodborne Illness

Deborah Coviello
Professional Moderator, Podcaster, Consultant, Coach and Author
The Drop In CEO™

Kimberly Crawford
Vice President of Human Resources and Safety
Birchwood Foods

James Davis
Senior Director, Global Sanitation
OSI Group

Dr. Darin Detwiler, LP.D, M.A.Ed.
Founder/CEO
Detwiler Consulting Group LLC

Sandra Eskin
Chief Executive Officer
Stop Foodborne Illness

Eric Ewert
FSQ Zone Lead, Lab and Technical Services Department
Kraft Heinz Company

Tracy Fink
Director, Scientific Programs & Science and Policy Initiatives
Institute of Food Technologists (IFT)

Annie Fitzgerald
Research Specialist
UVM

Robin Forgey
AGMM, Food Safety and Quality Assurance
Costco Wholesale

Sarah Garcia
Director – Environmental Health and Food Safety
Chipotle Mexican Grill

Oscar Garrison
Director of Quality Assurance and Food Safety
United Egg Producers

Kelly Gartner
VP Supply Chain FSQA
Jersey Mike's Franchise Systems

David Goldman, MD, MPH
Senior Advisor
AFDO

Dale Grinstead, Ph.D.
Microbiologist and Consultant
Mountain Top Microbiology

Shane Guilliams
CFO
Van Drunen Farms

Patrick Guzzle
Vice President of Food Science and Industry
National Restaurant Association

William K. Hallman, Ph.D.
Professor and CHair Department of Human Ecology
Rutgers University

Regina Harmon
Executive Director
Food Recovery Network

Scott Hegenbart
Manager, Regulatory Affairs
Conagra Brands, Inc.

Jorge Hernandez
VP, Quality Assurance
The Wendy's Company

Andrea Hines
Project Manager, Food & Beverage
Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership (GaMEP)

Tim Jackson, Ph.D.
Regulatory, Sr. Science Advisor
FDA

Matt Jenkins
Director, U.S. Food Safety & Quality Systems
McDonald’s Corporation

Lone Jespersen, Ph.D.
Principal
Cultivate SA

Phil Johnson, Ph.D.
Research Scientist
FARRP

Larry Keener
President and CEO
International Product Safety Consultants

Gillian Kelleher
CEO
Kelleher Consultants LLC

Monica Khoury
Senior Quality Expert
Nestle

Adam Kingsbury
Sr. Supply Quality Manager
J&J Snack Foods Corp

Sarah Kipp
Director of Food Safety & Quality Systems
McDonald's

Theresa "TK" Konieczny
Global Human Resources Director
Archer Daniels Midland (ADM)

Mike Learakos
CEO
Abound Food Care

Alvin Lee, Ph.D.
Director of the Center for Processing Innovation
Institute for Food Safety and Health

Charles Leftwich
Vice President, Food Safety and Quality Assurance
Sysco Corporation

Nolan Lewin
Director
Rutgers Food Innovation Center

Yiyi Li, M.P.H.
Ph.D. Student
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Michael Lookup
Traceability Lead
Wegmans

Steven Lyon, Ph.D.
Director, Food Safety - Field Operations
Chick-Fil-A Inc.

Steve Mandernach, J.D.
Executive Director
AFDO

Spir Marinakis
VP of Food Safety, Quality and Technical Services
Maple Leaf Foods

Dr. Yvonne Masters
Director of Food Safety and Quality Policy
John B. Sanfilippo & Son, Inc.

Drew McDonald
Senior Vice President Quality & Food Safety
Taylor Fresh Foods

Hinda Mitchell
President and Founder
Inspire PR Group

Melanie Neumann
President, Food Industry Attorney & Consultant
Neumann Advisory Services, LLC.

Brendan Niemira, Ph.D.
Research Leader
USDA

Scott Oakland
Corporate Staff Engineer, Food Safety and Quality
Hormel Foods Corporate Services LLC

Kathleen O'Donnell
Chief Scientist
Wegmans

Lola Oyedokun
Director of Quality Control
Van Drunen Farms

Amy Philpott
Founder
Philpott PR Solutions LLC

Donald Prater, D.V.M.
Principal Deputy Director for Human Foods
FDA

Robert Prevendar
Chief Food Safety & QA Officer
Yum! Brands

Danielle Quist
Vice President, Regulatory Affairs and Counsel
International Dairy Foods Association

Ryan C. Richard
Vice President, Customer Success
GS1 US

Brian Ronholm
Director of Food Policy
Consumer Reports'

Donna Schaffner
Retired from Rutgers University

Brian Schaneberg, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Illinois Tech Institute for Food Safety and Health

Dina Scott
Division Quality Manager
The Wendy's Company

Joseph Starr
FSQA Manager, Global Compliance
PepsiCo

Matt Stasiewicz, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Applied Food Safety
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Shawn Stevens
Founding Member
Food Safety Counsel

Glenn Stolowski
Director Retail Food Safety
HEB

Eva Swaney
Director of Product Standards and Quality Assurance
Deli Star Inc.

Peter Taormina, Ph.D.
Founder and President
Etna Consulting Group

Hilary Thesmar
Chief Science Officer and Senior Vice President of Food and Product Safety
FMI

Purnendu C. Vasavada, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus of Food Science
University of Wisconsin-River Falls

Christopher Waldrop, M.P.H.
Senior Health Scientist
Office of Surveillance Strategy & Risk Prioritization, Human Foods Program, FDA

Roberta Wagner
Senior Vice President, Regulatory and Scientific Affairs
International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA)

Nickolas Waters
Senior Director, Food Safety and Quality Assurance
Sysco Corporation

Purni Wickramasinghe, Ph.D.
Food Safety & Restaurant Solutions
Chick-fil-A, Inc.

Jennifer Williams, M.S.
Founder
JW Consulting, LLC

Mike Williams
Group Manager, Quality Assurance Products
The Wendy's Company

Michael Wood, Ph.D.
Manager, Food Safety and Quality
Kroger

Lily Yasuda
Program Manager
Alliance to Stop Foodborne Illness

Rosalind Zils
Vice President, Quality
Reckitt/Mead Johnson Nutrition
CERTIFICATE COURSE INSTRUCTORS

Karleigh Bacon
Director, US Food Safety and Quality Systems
McDonald's

Claudia Coles
President
Seafood Products Association (SPA)

Deanna Copeland
Retail Food Safety Director
AFDO

Roy Fenoff
Associate Professor
The Citadel

Tim Jackson, Ph.D.
Regulatory, Sr. Science Advisor
FDA

Bala Kottapalli, Ph.D.
Senior Director, Food Safety
T. Marzetti Company

Lori Ledenbach
Founder
Ledenbach Food Safety LLC

Sara Mortimore, MSc, FRSPH, MIFST
Founder
Sara Mortimore LLC

Autumn Schuck
Assistant Program Director
Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO)

Dr. Juan Silva
Professor, Researcher and Extension Specialist
Mississippi State University

John Spink, Ph.D.
Director
Michigan State University

Harshavardhan Thippareddi, Ph.D.
Associate Dean for Research
University of Georgia

Melissa Vaccaro, MS, CP-FS
Senior Food Safety Program Specialist
NEHA
SOLUTIONS STAGE PRESENTERS

Steve Ardagh
Founder and CEO, Eagle Protect

Dr. Terry Arthur
Chief Microbiological Officer, FREMONTA Corporation

Nick Brown
Director of Transportation - Supply Chain Solutions, enVista

Dr. Vera P. Dickinson
Founder & CEO, Innova-Q

Amber Engebretson
Solution Consultant, PLM Trustlink

Brian Farina
Sr. Director of Technical Services, Deibel Laboratories, Inc.

John Girard
Regional Manager, LUPRIPLATE Lubricants Company

Jeff Hale
Software Sales Manager, PLM Trustlink

Dallas Henderson
QMS Solutions Engineer, FranConnect

Jennifer Lott
Technical Development Director - Food, SGS North America, Inc.

Elisa F. Marques, Ph.D., MBA
Technical Director, Alden

Julie McGill
Vice President of Supply Chain Strategy and Insights, Trustwell

Megan Murphy
Manager, Regulatory Team in Product, Trustwell

Angela Nardone
Chief Operating Officer, Share-ify

Hannes Pouseele
Global Architect for Data and Genomics Solutions, bioMérieux Industry Unit

Brett Roberts
Business Development Manager, SGS North America, Inc.

Daniel Schmidt
US & Canada Sales Director, TuffWrap Installations

Silvana Susi
Food & Beverage Sales Manager, North America, DNV

Matt Taylor
Director Food Consulting, NSF Food Advisory & Training

Kathleen Wybourn
Director of Food & Beverage, US & Canada, DNV
TECH TENT PRESENTERS

Roberto Bellavia
Partner and Senior Consultant, KTL

Chris Earnest
Inside Sales Manager, CEJN North America

Mike Fabian
Manager of CompuClean, Spartan Chemical Company, Inc.

Steve Granzow
Northern Illinois Regional Manager, FSS, Inc.

Kristina Hloptsidis
Head of Customer Success, Signify

Kevin M. Lee
ERP Expert, SafetyChain

Andreas Lood
Application Engineer & Business Developer, Food Radar

Susanne Moore
CEO, S4i Systems, Inc. dba SMRTR

Laura Dunn Nelson
VP Food Safety and Sustainability, Intertek Alchemy

Joe O'Hea
Sales & Account Manager, VAI

Lyle Probst
CEO, NomadX

Martín Ramírez
CEO and Co-Founder, Signify

Christine Schindler
CEO and Co-Founder, PathSpot

Kurt Westmoreland
Chief Commercial Officer, FlexXray, Inc.

Amanda Wilder
U.S. Sales Director, Provision Analytics