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