2025 Speakers
Jump to: Town Hall | Conference Speakers | Certificate Course Instructors | Solutions Stage | Tech Tent
KEYNOTE

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

James Jones
Deputy Commissioner for Human Foods
FDA

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

Ola Afolayan
Director, Global Food Safety and Regulatory
Kellanova

James (Jim) W. Arbogast
Director, Global Food Safety and Regulatory
Kellanova

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

Sharon Beals
Founder
SKKB-LLC

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

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

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

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

Annie Fitzgerald
Research Specialist
UVM

Robin Forgey
AGMM, Food Safety and Quality Assurance
Costco Wholesale

Donna Garren, Ph.D.
Executive Vice President, Science and Policy
American Frozen Food Institute

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

Melody Ge
Founder
Women in Food Safety

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

Jorge Hernandez
VP, Quality Assurance
The Wendy's Company

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

Tim Jackson
Regulatory, Sr. Science Advisor
FDA

Lee-Ann Jaykus, Ph.D.
William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor and NoroCORE Scientific Director
North Carolina State University

Matt Jenkins
Manager
McDonald's

Lone Jespersen, Ph.D.
Principal
Cultivate SA

Priya Kadam
Senior Advisor
FDA Human Foods Program/Office of Microbiological Food Safety

Deb Kane, MS
VP, Food Safety, Quality, EHSS and Regulatory
J&J Snack Foods Corp

Gillian Kelleher
CEO
Kelleher Consultants LLC

Monica Khoury
Senior Quality Expert
Nestle

William Lachowsky
Food Safety & Education Consultant
WML Consultants

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

Glenda Lewis, MSPH
Director, Retail Food Protection Staff
FDA

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

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

Hinda Mitchell
President and Founder
Inspire PR Group

Brendan Niemira, Ph.D.
Research Leader
USDA

Kathleen O'Donnell
Chief Scientist
Wegmans

Donald Prater, D.V.M.
Acting Director of the Office of Food Policy and Response
FDA

Robert Prevendar
Director, Global Food Safety & Quality Assurance
Yum! Brands

Donna Schaffner
Retired from Rutgers University

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

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

Hilary Thesmar
FMI

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.

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

Lily Yasuda
Program Manager
Alliance to Stop Foodborne Illness

Jeremy Zenlea
Director, Head of Health and Safety
EG America

Rosalind Zils
VP, Head of Global Quality Nutrition
Reckitt
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

Joetta DeFrancesco
Retail Program Standards Coordinator
NEHA

Roy Fenoff
Associate Professor
The Citadel

Kathy Gombas
Senior Advisor
FSMA Implementation Solutions

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

Lori Ledenbach
Founder
Ledenbach Food Safety LLC

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

Carrie Rigdon, Ph.D.
Research Director
Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO)

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

John Spink, Ph.D.
Director
Michigan State University

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

Nick Brown
Director of Transportation - Supply Chain Solutions, enVista

Ellie Girard
Regional Manager, LUPRIPLATE Lubricants Company

Savanna Holt
Manager - Supply Chain Solutions - Food Traceability Team, enVista

Kyle Jenson
Vice President of Sales & Innovation, Bioionix

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

Chris Earnest
Inside Sales Manager, CEJN North America

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

Susanne Moore
CEO, S4i Systems, Inc. dba SMRTR

Joe Scioscia
Executive Vice President, VAI

Amanda Wilder
U.S. Sales Director, Provision Analytics