Speakers
NutrEvent 2011: The meeting place of prestigious speakers…
Meet here some prestigious speakers that already confirmed their participation to the event…
By alphabetical order:
Christiane Alexander, Senior Consultant, Analyze & Realize ag (Germany) Biography
Cheryl L Barton, Founder and Consultant, Pharmavision (UK) Biography
Doris Bell, Senior Scientific Officer, National Contact Point NCP Life Sciences (Germany) Biography
Pierre Boulaire, Director, Manageria (France) Biography
Kirsten Brandt, Senior Lecturer, Food Quality & Health research Group of the Human Nutrition Research Centre, Newcastle University (UK) Biography
Fred Brouns, Program Director of the international “Health Food Innovation Management” Mcs program, Maastricht University (The Netherlands) Biography
Didier Carcano, Vice President Marketing Strategy and Business Development, Danisco (France) Biography
Nicolas Chapal, CEO, Dialpha (France) Biography
Jean-Michel Chardigny, Deputy Head of the Human Nutrition Research Center, INRA-Auvergne (France) Biography
Kamel Chida, Associate Director Open Innovation Europe, General Mills (Switzerland) Biography
Graham Clayton, Business Development Manager, Intelligent Formulation (UK) Biography
Sandrine Cuisenier, Head of Marketing and Communication, Ingredia Nutritional (France) Biography
Isabelle de Cremoux, General Partner, Director of Lifesciences Department, Seventure (France) Biography
Kees de Gooijer, Managing Director, Food & Nutrition Delta (The Netherlands) Biography
Michel du Peloux, Senior Vice President, Siliker Group Corp/ Mérieux NutriSciences (France) Biography
Sandra Einerhand, Director Health & Nutritional Science, Tate&Lyle (UK) Biography
Luis Fernandez, Applications technology Leader, Cargill (Belgium) Biography
Salvatore Gargano, General Manager Health Business Unit, Frutarom (Switzerland) Biography
Mary Gilsenan, Head of Regulatory Services, Leatherhead Food Research (UK) Biography
Tiago Guerreiro, Marketing and Sales Manager, Innova Market Insights (The Netherlands) Biography
François Heroufosse, Director, Wagralim (Belgium) Biography
Béatrice Housez, Nutrition Specialist, Biofortis (Mérieux NutriSciences Company) (France) Biography
Dirk Jacobs, Manager Consumer Information, CIAA (Belgium) Biography
Mayoura Kéophiphath, Scientific Operations Director, Adipophyt (France) Biography
Marjorie Koenen, Research Scientist in vitro GI models, TNO Quality of Life (The Netherlands) Biography
Martine Laville, General Director, CRNH Rhône Alpes (France) Biography
Jean-Michel Lecerf, Physician and Nutritionist specialist & Head of nutrition service, Institut Pasteur de Lille (France) Biography
Patrick Lesueur, Nutrition Research R&D Director, Unilever (The Netherlands) Biography
Elaine Marshall, Executive Director - Recruitment, William Reed Business Media / FoodNavigator Jobs (UK) Biography
Ambroise Martin, Professor of Nutrition and Biochemistry at the Claude Bernard University of Lyon & Member of the EFSA NDA Panel,(France) Biography
Adrian Meyer, Director Sales & Marketing and Co-founder, CreaNutrition AG (Switzerland) Biography
Philippe Millet, Chief Editor, Actif’s Magazine & Nutriform magazine (France) Biography
Luca Mogna, R&D Manager, Probiotical (Italy) Biography
Diego A. Moreno-Fernandez, Scientist, CEBAS-CSIC - the Spanish National Research Council (Spain) Biography
Adrian Moss, Managing Director, Focus Business Communications (UK) Biography
Agata Pieniadz, Scientific Officer DG Research, Directorate E: Biotechnologies, Agriculture, Food, European Commission (Belgium) Biography
Joel Pincemail, Professor and Scientific collaborator, Departments of Cardiovascular Surgery and Life Sciences, Liège CHU (Belgium) Biography
Philippe Pouillart, Associate Professor and Head of the Preclinical and Clinical Research Programmes, In charge of the valorisation & Tranfert AGROSANTE®, Institut Lasalle Beauvais (France) Biography
Monique Raats, Co-Director of the Food Consumer behavior & Health Research Center, University of Surrey (UK) Biography
Bob Rastall, Head of the Department of Food Biosciences, University of Reading (UK) Biography
Christophe Ripoll, Executive Vice President R&D, Naturalpha (France) Biography
Delphine Saulnier, Project Manager in Gastrointestinal Microbiology, NIZO Food Research (The Netherlands) Biography
Marie-Hélène Saniez, Global Director Nutrition, Roquette (France) Biography
Isabelle Schaller, Senior Group Leader, Scientific and Regulatory Affairs, Cadbury Europe Gum and Candy (France) Biography
Joseph Schwager, Principal Scientist in the Department of Human Nutrition & Health, DSM Nutritional Products - (Switzerland) Biography
Franscica Serra, Professor of Nutrition & Food Sciences and member of the leader team of the BIOCLAIMS project, University of the Balearic Islands (Spain) Biography
Jan Sikkema, Program Director, TIFN (Top Institute Food & Nutrition) (The Netherlands) Biography
Shane Starling, Editor, NutraIngredients (France) Biography
Dr Lesley Stevenson, New Product Research Director, GlaxoSmithKline Nutrition Healthcare (UK) Biography
Dal Toso, R&D Manager, IRBTech (Italy) Biography
Nico van Belzen, Executive Director, ILSI Europe (Belgium) Biography
Wim Verbeke, Professor of Agricultural Marketing and Consumer Behaviour, University of Ghent (Belgium) Biography
Benjamin Voiry, NAT Life Business Manager, Naturex (France) Biography
Peter Wennström, Founder and President, Healthy Marketing Team (UK) Biography
Josephine Wills, General Director, EUFIC (Belgium) Biography
Francis Willequet, Associate-Dean in charge of the Academic Programs for Nutrition and Health at the Institut Polytechnique LaSalle Beauvais (France) Biography
Renger Witkamp, Professor in Nutrition and Pharmacology, Wageningen University (The Netherlands) Biography
Christiane Alexander, Senior Consultant, Analyze & Realize ag (Germany)
Dr. Christiane Alexander is a Senior Consultant in the Food Regulatory Department of analyze & realize. She is specialising in strategic advice and scientific substantiation of health claims. She closely works with the clinical research department of a&r on the design of clinical food trials.
Dr. Alexander studied biology and holds a PhD from the University of Düsseldorf, Germany. Prior to joining a&r, she persued a very succesful career in academia and focussed on neurodegenerative mechanism in human eye diseases. She worked at the Eye Hospital in Tuebingen, the University College London, UK and headed her own research group at the prestigious Max-Delbrueck-Center for Molecular Medicine at Berlin-Buch for several years.
Cheryl L. Barton, Founder and Consultant, Pharmavision (UK)
Dr Cheryl L Barton is an independent consultant with over 18 years’ research and business analysis experience. Following her senior research positions in academia and seven years with Merck, in which she was responsible for a variety of CNS research projects. Dr Barton joined Dutch investment bank ABN Amro NV as a senior equity analyst to provide coverage on pan-European companies, and assessed the potential impact of new drug development on European Stocks. In 2002, Dr Barton founded Pharmavision to provide independent, tailor-made, life science and consumer health research to pharmaceutical companies, food and drinks industry, drug delivery specialists, competitive intelligence specialists, investment institutions, and healthcare communication agencies. Her research has been presented at conferences, reported in journals and published by leading business intelligence agencies.
Doris Bell, Senior Scientific Officer, National Contact Point NCP Life Sciences (Germany)
Doris has got a Ph.D in biology and a second degree in marketing. She has been working in the agro-food sector for 20 years. She has hold various positions in application technology, marketing, business development and R&D. Most recently she has been Research Fellow and Group Leader in the food ingredient industry for 5 years, before accepting her current position as Senior Scientific Officer serving the European Commission as part of the national consultancy and expert group for FP7 (7. European research framewok programme). With her longstanding experience in academic, public and private institutions and in customer relationship management she adds valueable expertise re Open Innovation.
Doris is holding several patents and has published in peer review and trade magazines, while acting as invited speaker at international conferences in the nutrition & health area.
Pierre Boulaire, Director, Manageria (France)
Background
- Agricultural Engineer (ESAP Toulouse), MBA (HEC, Paris)
- 5 years : Export Manager, Industry Sector, Fromagerie BEL (Dairy Products)
- 2 years : Sales Manager, Industry Sector, Cacao Barry (now Barry Callebaut)
- 4 years Head of Department P3 Hygiène Agro Alimentaire, HENKEL (now ECOLAB)
- Human Resources and Recruitment Consultant since 1990
- Guest lecturer for the Group HEC (CPA), Paris and Madrid
- Accredited SOSIE and PerformanSe test administrator
Missions
- High-Level Recruitment
- International Assignments
- Consulting for Corporate Development
- Business Management and Development of ManageriA
Kirsten Brandt, Senior Lecturer, Food Quality & Health research Group of the Human Nutrition Research Centre, Newcastle University (UK)
Dr Kirsten Brandt works in the Food Quality and Health Research Group of the Human Nutrition Research Centre at Newcastle University. Her research focuses on food quality and impact on human health, with particular emphasis on identification of health-promoting plant constituents and understanding of the effect of production factors on plant product composition. She teaches on the BSc honours degree programme ‘Food and Human Nutrition’ and the MSc degree programme ‘Medicinal Plants and Functional Foods’.
Dr Brandt is involved in a range of human intervention studies, ranging from public health oriented investigations of generic plant foods to commercially funded trials of proprietary food supplements.
Kirsten Brandt participates in the European Technology Platform ‘Food for Life’, where she is involved in horizontal activities such as coordination with other ETPs and knowledge exchange between SMEs, researchers and consumers.
Fred Brouns, Program Director of the international “Health Food Innovation Management” Mcs program, Maastricht University (The Netherlands)
Prof Dr. Fred Brouns obtained a PhD in Nutritional Physiology at the Maastricht University in the Netherlands on the Topic “Food and Fluid Related Aspects in Highly Trained athletes” For this work which included many aspects of hydration and energy drinks, he was awarded with the Netherlands Sports Medicine Award
He has >25 years experience in the field of life sciences and health nutrition and fulfilled R&D functions at Wander Dietetics, Sandoz Nutrition, Novartis Nutrition, Eridania Beghin Say, Cerestar and Cargill.
He fulfilled positions at the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI) Europe ss chair of the Carbohydrates Committee and Pilot of various expert panels. At IDACE, Paris, he chaired the following expert panels: a) infant nutrition, b) sports nutrition , c) functional foods and Food Supplements. He obtained fellowships of the American College of Sports Medicine and the European College of Sports Sciences and is an invited member of the British Nutrition Society. He is a registered Biomedical Researcher and Board member of the Dutch Academy of Food Science. He has published extensively and is a global speaker in the field of Life Sciences and Nutrition. Today he is Program director of the international “Health Food Innovation Management” MSc program at Maastricht University. His current research interests are especially on health and application aspects of sugars, sweeteners, dietary fibers and pre-biotics in functional food and drink.
Didier Carcano, Vice President Marketing Strategy and Business Developement, Danisco (France)
EDUCATION
1988 PhD, Life & Health Science University of Lille, France
1983 Engineer in Food Technology & Nutrition. Dijon, France
1981 Master's Degree in Biochemistry, University of Lille, France
PROFESSIONAL CAREER
Since 2004 Danisco
VP Marketing Strategy & Business Development , Health & Nutrition
VP Marketing & Innovation, Cultures Division
2001- 2004 Rhodia Food Director R&D
1995 -2001 Danone Innovation Director , Dairy Research Center .
1993-1995 Quest Dairy Market Development Manager
1992 -1993 Nutrasweet European Development Director
1985-1992 Yoplait Product Development Manager, R&D center
OTHER ACTIVITIES
Since 2001, Member of International Dairy Federation (IDF)
Board member of IDF-FIL France .
Expert at Standing Committee Nutrition and Marketing.
1983- 1985 Professor Life Sciences, Secondary School in Algeria
Nicolas Chapal, CEO, Dialpha (France)
After his PhD in molecular immunology, Nicolas Chapal has worked for 7 years on the development of drugs for diabetes and obesity in a pharmaceutical start-up in France and Canada. Building on that experience, he came back to France with the aim to apply his pharmaceutical knowledge to the scientific validation of active food ingredients. Dialpha was created in 2009 on a dual business model: the research, development and commercialization of patented ingredients dedicated to the prevention or the reduction of different parameters of metabolic syndrome (glycemia, weight, lipids) and the offer of services on preclinical validation of active food solutions. Today, Dialpha promotes 3 proprietary ingredients with significant proof of concept in animal. A first clinical trial will be run on the most advanced ingredient in the second semester of 2011. Several health food companies are using Dialpha services for the scientific validation of their products.
Jean-Michel Chardigny, Deputy Head of Human Nutrition Center, INRA-Auvergne (France)
Jean-Michel CHARDIGNY is Director of Research (1st class) at INRA (French National Institute for Agronomic Research). He his the Head of the French largest research unit (Human Nutrition Unit) working in preventive nutrition towards age- and chronic diseases-related dysfunctions, i.e. sarcopenia, osteoporosis, metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular diseases. This research unit located in Clermont-Ferrand is a Joint Research Unit (JRU) supervised by INRA (Human Nutrition division) and the University of Auvergne. It is also part of the “Qualiment” Carnot Institute recently upgraded by the French National Agency for research (ANR).
The major skills of JM Chardigny are lipid nutrition and fatty acids metabolism. He is author of 100+ publications in this topic and has been particularly involved in research on conjugated and trans fatty acids.
JM Chardigny is also member of the Nutrition committee of the French food safety agency (ANSES) and has been rapporteur at EFSA for the Dietary Reference Values (DRV).
Kamel Chida, Associate Director Open Innovation Europe, General Mills (Switzerland)
Kamel has been at General Mills since 1996 where he held several R&D roles and responsibilities in different countries.
Before coming to Europe in 2001, Kamel New Product and Process Development Manager on Häagen-Dazs based in General Mills’ Minneapolis, US head quarters. In Europe, Kamel worked on Häagen-Dazs in France focusing on New Product and Process development, then was tasked with building a European Packaging and Process development organizations while based in General Mills’ EMEA head quarters in Switzerland. Four years ago, Kamel was given the additional responsibility for the Green Giant vegetable and Bugles salty snacks brands and transferred to France. In 2009 Kamel handed off his Packaging responsibilities and became responsible for Nature Valley, Green Giant, and Bugles brands.
Finally, as of August 2010, Kamel was charged with leading from Switzerland the General Mills Open Innovation program in Europe.
Prior to General Mills, Kamel spent few years at Keebler in Chicago as a Process Engineer and at Nestle in Tunis as an assistant Production Manager.
Graham Clayton, Business Development Manager, Intelligent Formulation (UK)
Graham Clayton has many years experience of technical and business management/development functions spanning private and public sectors.
Working in scientific equipment sales & marketing for several years he then moved back to Yorkshire, UK as the Commercial Development Manager for Central Science Laboratory, a UK Government Agency (now Fera).
In 2004 Graham became the Commercial Director of the new Food Chain Centre of Industrial Collaboration at the University of Leeds, ensuring a sustainable operation was developed.
In 2010 Graham moved to Intelligent Formulation Ltd, as Business Development Manager. IF also develops industry focused and academic delivered projects, as with the CIC, so the move was a natural one.
Other time is filled as a Chair of a Charity, Director of a cafe business, School Governor Vice Chair & Chair of Finance, Church Sound System operator, husband and father of 3 children.
Specialties
Projects delivered by academics but constructed on industry needs predominately in the area of innovation for the pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical & food & drink industry. Projects cover a wide variety of technical and scientific areas, e.g. formulation using natural & organic ingredients, process optimization, shelf life assessment, technology transfer across sectors and modeling.
Sandrine Cuisenier, Head of Marketing and Communication, Ingredia Nutritional (France)
Sandrine Cuisenier holds a dual-expertise in science and marketing granted through Chemistry Engineering High School and Marketing and Management High School.
Her background has taken place in both R&D and Marketing fields, always for Food Ingredients, mainly for the Health and Nutrition industries: first at Naturex company as Quality and R&D Manager and then as a Project Leader at Diana Naturals.
She is now the Head of Marketing and Communication of the Ingredia Nutritional Business Unit, belonging to the Ingredia Group and dedicated to the Health and Nutrition markets.
She has participated to the creation in 2007 of Ingredia Nutritional. She has notably designed the philosophy of the IN marketing.
Isabelle de Cremoux, General Partner, Director of Lifesciences Department, Seventure (France)
Isabelle brings 20 years of international experience in life sciences business development and finance.
Isabelle started her career in '91 at Arthur Andersen Detroit, US then at Pfizer France and Europe where she held several positions during 6 years in the field of management accounting, clinical research then Business Development. Since '98, she was Associate Director of Business Development at Fournier and signed several deals in Europe and in the US.
Isabelle graduated as an engineer from Ecole Centrale of Paris and holds DECF and ISEB degrees and joigned Seventure in July 2001.
Isabelle de Cremoux has been or is a board member of Agro Biotech Accelerateur (ABA), Biophytis, Fluxome Sciences , Nutrionix, POLARIS , Acarix, BioAlliance Pharma, Biomatlante, Metabolic Explorer, Vivostat , and OPi Pharma and manages investments in Santaris Pharma and Noxxon Pharma.
Isabelle has identified NUTRITION as a key sector for private equity investment since 2006 and has built a portfolio across Europe in that field, bringing Seventure as one of the top European investor in Lifesciences and as a European leader in Nutrition.
Kees de Gooijer, Managing Director, Food & Nutrition Delta (The Netherlands)
After the MSc degree in Food Science Kees de Gooijer started to work with Cebeco-Handelsraad in the IT sector. From 1988 he worked at the department of prof.dr.ir. J. Tramper, the Food & BioProcess Engineering group, at Wageningen University, from 1995 till 1999 as a Associate Professor. Besides research in the field of Animal Cell Technology he was responsible for the curriculum of Bioprocess Engineering. During January 1999 until April 2000 he was director of the Educational Institute of Technology and Nutrition of Wageningen University. From April 2000 till October 2003 he was director of State Institute of Food Safety (RIKILT). After this, he was the General Director of the Agrotechnology and Food Sciences Group, of Wageningen University and Research Center. This included 20 full chairs of Wageningen University as well as the applied research institute Agrotechnology & Food Innovations Ltd.
Since October 2006 he is managing director of Food & Nutrition Delta. This innovation program is carried out in dialogue with the Ministry of Economic Affairs and its subsidiaries. Within a framework of five years a total investment, along with accompanying measures, in food innovation of at least 200 M€ is foreseen.
Besides this dr.ir. de Gooijer is chairman of the board of B-Basic, an innovation program for sustainable chemistry, member of the executive committee of the Dutch Separation Technology Institute, board member of the international advisory committee for an investment program of Yes Bank in India, international science advisory council member of AFMnet in Canada, advisory board member of BF3 Ltd, Syntens Noord-Oost and Schuttelaar & partners Ltd, and member of several editorial boards in life sciences.
Michel du Peloux, Senior Vice President, Siliker Group Corp/ Mérieux NutriSciences (France)
Michel du Peloux is an innovative nutrition & consumer healthcare specialist, who has held senior executive roles within major pharma companies over the last 20 years. After qualifying as a medical doctor in 1984, Michel also obtained a MBA from École de management de Lyon (EM Lyon) and a Masters of Finance from École Supérieure de Commerce de Paris (ESCP). Michel is currently Senior Vice President of Silliker Group Corp/ Merieux Nutrisciences, part of Institut Mérieux. His previous positions have included, Corporate Vice President R&D and Operations, Merck Consumer Health Care (CHC) Germany, Chairman & CEO Merck CHC France, Marketing & Sales Manager, Nutrition & Santé, Novartis and Business Development Manager OTC Europe, Aventis.
He has co founded and chaired the Nutrition Scientific cluster “VITAGORA, taste, Nutriton and Health.”
Sandra Einerhand, Director Health & Nutritional Science, Tate&Lyle (UK)
Sandra Einerhand holds a PhD in Biomedicine. She started her career as assistant professor at the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam focusing on gut health & disease. Thereafter she got an associate professorship at the ErasmusMC in Rotterdam, the Netherlands leading a team of up to 20 scientists. Her research focused on drug and nutritional intervention to prevent or treat gut and infectious diseases. In 2004, she joined the health ingredients company Lipid Nutrition. As Director Nutrition and Toxicology, she initiated new innovative research on plant-derived ingredients in the areas of weight management, heart health and gut health. Since 2007, she is a Director Health and Nutritional Sciences at Tate and Lyle Innovation centre in Lille, France. She supervises the Innovation and Commercial Development team in Lille focusing on new product development and nutrition with a special emphasis on dietary fibres and health.
Luis Fernandez, Applications technology Leader, Cargill (Belgium)
Luis joined Cargill in January 2005.
He is currently applications technology leader with main regional focus in Europe, Middle-East, Turkey & Africa and overseeing the application technology organizations in North America, Latin America and Asia Pacific.
The application categories involved are bakery, snacks & cereals, confectionery, beverage, dairy, meat, fruit, convenience foods, pharma & personal care. The application teams integrate the broad range of Cargill ingredients and systems: starches, hydrocolloids, soy and wheat proteins, lecithin, emulsifiers, juices & compounds, flavours, sweeteners, health promoting ingredients, cultures & enzymes, fats & oils, cocoa & chocolate, functional systems and malt.
After graduating in Biochemistry (6 years) at the University of Buenos Aires in Argentina, Luis Fernandez completed a post-degree in Food Science (2 years) at the same University. He immigrated to France in 2002 and is currently living in Belgium with his wife Berta and two daughters: Sofia (22) and Florencia (20).
Mr Fernandez spent more than 23 years in the food ingredient sector (Sanofi Bio Industries, DuPont Protein Technologies, Rhodia Food, Danisco). He worked on various assignments from technical service, applications, development to research.
He has served in different leadership volunteer roles:
President-Elect of the International Union of Food Science and Technology (2008-2010).
Chair of the International Division of the Institute of Food Technologists (2007-2008).
Vice President and President-Elect of the Latin American Association of Food Science and Technology (1997-2000).
President of the Argentinean Association of Food Technologists (1995-1997).
Mr Luis Fernandez is a fellow of Institute of Food Technologists and a fellow of the International Academy of Food Science and Technology.
Salvatore Gargano, General Manager Health business Unit, Frutarom (Switzerland)
Salvatore Gargano since 20 years is involved in the development, marketing and education of Botanical Derivatives for Health applications in the International BtoB markets.
His Agricultural and Biology University background has been always his back bones while contributing in the education and development of a sustainable growing awareness within those companies he has been working with (Agrimont, Indena, Cognis and now Frutarom) all involved into management of succes solutions related to the transfer of Plant kingdom and human health.
Studying and screening the ca 300.000 different plant species it’s possible to understand important processes existing in nature and try to reproduce those using ‘Biomimetic’ approaches. Mr . Gargano has always targeted in his career to design Innovation starting from natural opportunities and manage to implement Innovation into concrete business.
Among his main visible best projects to be recorded leading development project of first Inneov (L’Oreal-Nestle’) product in the Buety from within, the launch of Scientic driven websites (slogan ‘Science is our Nature’) in addition to many new’ actives’ (botanicals starndardized extracts) designed, developped and launched with success for applications as Drugs, Food Supplements, Functional Foods and Cosmetics.
Mary Gilsenan, Head of Regulatory Services, Leatherhead Food Research (UK)
Mary is Head of the Regulatory Services department at Leatherhead Food Research - a multi-lingual team of 20 regulatory advisors covering food law in some 100 countries.
Prior to joining Leatherhead Food Research in June 2009 Mary spent five years working at Unilever R&D where she managed human intervention studies to substantiate health claims, and five years at the Institute of European Food Studies, Trinity College Dublin, where she worked within the realm of food chemical exposure assessments.
She has several peer-reviewed scientific publications and writes regulatory columns in food and drink magazines.
She holds a BSc in Human Nutrition from the University of Ulster and a PhD from Trinity College Dublin, and is a council member of the European Food Law Association - UK Branch.
Tiago Guerreiro, Marketing and Sales Manager, Innova Market Insights (The Netherlands)
Tiago Guerreiro draws on his international experience when it comes to observing and interpreting international food trends and consumer. A Portuguese native, he brings his love of fine natural ingredients with him wherever he goes.
Continuing his education in The Netherlands, where he has lived for over a decade, Tiago obtained a degree in International Business and Management. He likes the business side of food and is a well-known commentator on new product introductions, positioning and marketing. He combines his interest in food and different cultures and practical business and marketing to pick new predict new product winners.
Tiago works as Marketing & Sales Manager for CNS which publishes The World of Food Ingredients, the leading international food formulation and design journal and the website FoodIngredientsFirst.com. He also collaborates with Innova Market Insights and has spoken at several food & beverage events worldwide, being fluent in several foreign languages.
François Heroufosse, Director, Wagralim (Belgium)
François Heroufosse has a degree in Bio-Engineering from the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium. After a career in the food and ingredients sector within the Puratos and Beneo Groups, he took the direction of the Competitiveness Cluster WagrALIM in Wallonia, Belgium. Among the 4 strategic domains of the Cluster, Nutrition and Health comes at the first place. Several research and innovation projects are ongoing, with a first large project that was concluded at the end of 2010 (Walnut-20). This project allowed to develop new tools and ingredients in the field of metabolic syndrome and gut function. Some important industrial players are member of the Cluster, like Beneo-group, Cosucra, Kraft, Belovo (Colombus concept), Spa waters. WagrALIM collaborates with important Academies, like Catholic Universtity of Louvain, Free University of Brussels and University of Liège.
Béatrice Housez, Nutrition Specialist, Biofortis (Mérieux NutriSciences Company) (France)
Beatrice Housez studied nutrition and relationships between food, nutrition and health at the Institut Polytechnique LaSalle Beauvais (France). She obtained her Masters degree in Food Industry and Health in 2006. During her trainings and job experiences, she accompanied industrials in nutritional projects dealing with food quality (sensory and nutritional analysis, food process). From 2007, she is Nutrition Scientist at Biofortis clinical and she is in charge of scientific watch, namely related to clinical trials and health claims, and medical writing.
Biofortis, CRO specialized in Nutrition & Heath providing with the operational excellence for food safety, clinical trials, sensory, R&D and toxicology, is part of Mérieux Nutrisciences.
Dirk Jacobs, Manager Consumer Information, CIAA (Belgium)
Dirk Jacobs holds the position of Manager Consumer Information, Diet and Health at CIAA, the Confederation of Food and Drink Industries of the European Union. In his position, he is amongst others working in the areas of food information to consumers, nutrition and health claims, nutrient profiles, and Codex Alimentarius.
Mr. Jacobs previously worked as a Public Affairs and Strategic Communications Consultant for PA Europe in Brussels and The Hague for two and a half years. During this time, he worked for a wide range of clients in the agri-food industry, among others. Having studied in Maastricht, Milan and Brussels, he has a background in International and European Business Administration.
Mayoura Kéophiphath, Scientific Operations Director, Adipophyt (France)
Mayoura Keophiphath holds an engineering diploma in health food and nutraceuticals obtained at Rennes I University (IUP ingénierie en Nutraceutiques/aliments santé, Rennes, 2002-2005) and a PhD in Physiology/Physiopathology at Pierre & Marie Curie University in Paris (2006-2009). Her research was focused on the pathophysiology of human adipose tissue during overweight and obesity from molecular mechanisms to the study of natural extracts on adipose biology. This work has yielded 4 scientific papers and one patent. She also holds a diploma in investigation of clinical trials for drugs and health products (DIU FIEC, UPMC, Paris).
She is currently in charge of scientific operations at AdipoPhYt, a young biotech specialized on fat tissue biology, spin-off from the internationally recognized "Nutrition and Obesity" laboratory (U872, INSERM/UPMC, Cordeliers Research Center, Paris). AdipoPhYt is integrated in the CardioMetabolism Research center of the Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital in Paris, driving research programs from target and compound identification to studies in humans for scientific valorization of products with health/weight management benefits.
Marjorie Koenen, Research Scientist in vitro GI models, TNO Quality of Life (The Netherlands)
Marjorie joined TNO 5 years ago, where she leads studies for international clients on food and pharma research questions, as fermentation studies in the colon, survival studies in the upper GI-tract, stability and bioaccessibility of functional foods and food supplements, behaviour of pharmaceutical formulations in the GI-tract and the release of the active ingredient of these formulations.
Marjorie obtained her Master’s Degree in Bioprocess engineering (cell technology) at the Wageningen University and her PhD in medical immunology (studying immunomodulating lactobacilli in chicken) at the Insititute of animal health and the Erasmus University in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. She has a wide experience in different in vitro test systems, from cells to the TIM systems. Her current interest is in the combination of the TIM-systems with cells to study the behavior of (functional) foods and drug products in the body.
Martine Laville, General Director, CRNH Rhône Alpes (France)
Professor Martine Laville was born in France in 1955. She graduated medicine from the University of St Etienne in 1986 and obtained her specialty in Endocrinology, Diabetes and Nutrition in 1987. She went on to become Doctor of Medical Science in 1990. She was Associate Professor of the department of Endocrinology of the University of Lyon from 1987 to 1992. Then she got a position of researcher at the INSERM U 449 in Lyon from 1992 to 1997. She was appointed Professor of the Nutrition in Lyon in 1997 (Hospices Civils de Lyon and Lyon 1 University) and is at the head of the Human Nutrition Research Centre of Lyon since 1996 (CRNH), which has been extended to Rhône-Alpes in 2006. She is at the head of the CENS project (Centre for European Nutrition Safety and Health), which will structure all local the research in nutrition in links with the national network of CRNH and developing a European research network.
Her major research interest is about the pathophysiology of insulin resistance in obese and diabetic subjects with different approaches from substrate metabolism to molecular biology. Recently, she puts emphasis the adaptation to overfeeding and its metabolic consequences. She also works on the biodisponibility of nutrients especially carbohydrates and lipids. She participated to the French recommendations for prevention, diagnosis and treatment of Obesity and to different expertise from INSERM on obesity topics.
Professor Martine Laville has been President of the AFERO (French Society for Obesity Research) from 1995 to 2005 and is a member of several scientific societies both on obesity and diabetes. She is a member of the national scientific committee from Inra, vice-resident of the scientific committee from Hospices Civils de Lyon, President of the scientific committee of the medical faculty Lyon Sud- Charles Mérieux. She is the chair for the European Congress of Obesity in 2012 in Lyon. She has just been elected President of the French Foundation for Food and Health which main objective is to improve health by changing food habits.
Jean-Michel Lecerf, Physician and Nutritionist specialist & Head of nutrition service, Institut Pasteur de Lille (France)
Specialised in endocrinology and metabolic disease. Head office of the nutrition department of the Institut Pasteur de Lille.
Consulting agent of the department of internal medicine of Lille teaching hospital.
Member the board of directors of the French Association for Nutrition.
Member of several learned societies and of the French Association for Nutrition.
Expert within the AFSSA (National Agency for Food Safety).
Author of approximately 15 works and 400 scientific articles in the area of nutrition, obesity, diabetes, metabolism, arthrosclerosis…
Patrick Lesueur, Nutrition Research R&D Director, Unilever (The Netherlands)
Patrick Lesueur is leading the Global Nutrition & Health programme in Unilever, looking mainly at the Cardio-Metabolic Health and Weight Management areas globally. Patrick's background is in Food Engineering and Systems Control and Patrick graduated from the U.T.C. (Université de Technologie de Compiègne, France) and University of Illinois (Urbana Champaign, USA). Patrick started his career in Unilever in manufacturing and processing development on a factory floor in France which he did for about 5 years. After that, he moved to R&D working on different food formats and brands, in different countries and in different local, regional or global product or packaging development roles interfacing directly with marketing for almost a decade. In 2008, Patrick joined Unilever Research in the Netherlands to lead the Nutrition & Health department. Patrick's personal mission is to bring together strong science and technology with consumer insight in order to have an impact on consumer's and population's behaviours.
Elaine Marshall, Executive Director - Recruitment, William Reed Business Media / FoodNavigator Jobs (UK)
Elaine is head of recruitment advertising across print magazines and online jobsites at William Reed Business Media (WRBM). Managing a portfolio including The Grocer, Food Manufacture and Restaurant Magazine, and most recently has launched FoodNavigatorJobs to promote European food related roles. A US careers site will follow in the summer. Every month Elaine and the team handle thousands of job opportunities on behalf of employers across the food and drink supply chain. She has also developed a number of products and initiatives to help promote career opportunities across the sector and regularly collaborates with universities, students and associations to raise this important issue up the agenda.
WRBM is a family owned business established in 1862 – five generations later the Reed family still run the company overseeing a steadily expanding international portfolio. We are clearly defined by our values – Progressive, Passionate, Responsible and Trusted.
Ambroise Martin, Professor of Nutrition and Biochemistry at the Claude Bernard University of Lyon & Member of the EFSA NDA Panel,(France)
Ambroise Martin, PhD, MD, Professor of Nutrition and biochemistry at the Lyon-Est Medical School, Claude Bernard University, Lyon (France), Biologist (biochemistry) in the East Hospital Group in Lyon. Up to 1999, member of the research Unit 189 of the French Institute for health and medical research (Inserm), working on the nutritional regulation of glycoprotein synthesis. Then (1999-2004), head of the department for nutrition and risk assessment of the French Food Safety Agency (Afssa). Coordinator of the French Nutritional recommendations (Apports nutritionnels conseillés pour la population française, 1996-2001). Member of the Expert Committee on Nutrition of Afssa and of the NDA Panel of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA, since 2006); member of the working group on claims and chair of the working group on Dietary Reference Values. Member of the steering Committee of the French national Nutrition and Health Policy and of the French National Council for foods. Chair of the scientific committee of the French research program on foods of the French National Research Agency (2006-2008).
Adrian Meyer, Director Sales & Marketing and Co-founder, CreaNutrition AG (Switzerland)
Adrian Meyer is a graduate in Food Technology and has over 15 years experience in the food, health food and functional food ingredients market.
He leads the global Sales & Marketing activities of CreaNutrition’s OatWell® oat bran ingredients. OatWell® oat bran ingredients are based on unique and proprietary technologies relative to the processing of natural oat ß-glucans, promoting healthier food products and combating life style diseases in a natural way.
Clinical trials exclusively using OatWell® oat bran in numerous food matrices have demonstrated positive health effects on cholesterol reduction.
Many heart health claims on foods containing OatWell® oat bran have been approved and are staged for approval within the new EU regulation on nutrition and health claims on foods. The recent published positive EFSA opinions for article 13 & 14 on oat beta-glucan, following an application from CreaNutrition acknowledges the previous health claim approvals for OatWell® oat bran in UK, France, Netherlands and Sweden.
Adrian has been at the forefront of many marketing concepts – SmartHeart, EnergyInBalance, Good4Shape and VitalityPlus - helping food manufacturers communicate the health benefits of oats to consumers.
Philippe Millet, Chief Editor, Actif’s Magazine & Nutriform magazine (France)
After studying biochemistry and physiology (Université Descartes, Paris) and after working in a research laboratory (now an Inserm lab), I began to work as journalist through collaboration with several magazines and newspaper – covering chemistry, pharmaceutical, food industries. I was more and more interested by food ingredients, their development, marketing, formulation.
In a previous technical press and information group, I had the opportunity to create my first magazine dedicated to food ingredients, flavours, etc.
Around ten years ago, I decided to launch a magazine on dietary supplements – Nutriform’Magazine – whose readers are pharmacists, health professionals as well as industrials.
Because of the functional foods and dietary supplements development, I created also, 5 years ago, Actif’s Magazine, a bilingual magazine on functional and health ingredients. The readers are food, pharma, cosmetics marketers and developers.
Now Business Group Media an independent private press company is also editing two others b-to-b magazines : Doses Magazine (pharma packaging and sub-contracting) and Expression Cosmétique (global information on cosmetics and fragrances).
Luca Mogna, R&D Manager, Probiotical (Italy)
Luca Mogna obtained his degree in Pharmaceutical Biotechnology in 2005 at University of Studies of Milan (faculty of Pharmacy) with 110/110 cum laude.
He is currently working at Probiotical as microbiologist and Junior Manager of Research & Development department.
He has an expertise in the coordination of research work, in particular the characterization of probiotic strains, optimization of probiotic or symbiotic product formulations, stability/biocompatibility studies and evaluation of innovative technological solutions to deliver beneficial microorganisms also in gynecologic and rectal field. He provides technical assistance in the manufacture of finished food supplements, medical devices and probiotic strains as active pharmaceutical ingredients (API).
He evaluates the results of microbiological analysis in order to release industrial batches of microorganisms with a probiotic or biotherapeutic activity. The drafting of patent applications is also part of his activity at Probiotical.
Author of 3 publications and 8 industrial patents on technological and innovative applications in the field of probiotics.
Diego A. Moreno-Fernandez, Scientist, CEBAS-CSIC - the Spanish National Research Council (Spain)
Dr. Diego A. Moreno-Fernández (Ph.D. in Biological Sciences, University of Granada, Spain, 2000), current position is staff or tenured scientist at CEBAS-CSIC (Spanish National Research Council) since 2008 in the Food Science and Technology Department in the Research Group on Quality, Safety and Bioactivity of Plant-derived Foods. As postdoctoral associate and granted fellow, I worked in the USA from 2001 to 2004 at Rutgers – The State University of New Jersey, on natural products and drug discovery projects to develop alternatives to anti-obesity drugs, botanical therapeutics, enriched in plant-origin bioactives. Upon return to Spain in 2004, reached a postdoctoral associate position at CEBAS-CSIC (National programmes for postdoc associates ‘I3P-CSIC’ and Ramon y Cajal’) that allowed the current consolidation of complementary research lines joining the food science and health areas together with the physiology of crops and agronomical conditions in order to develop new foods, for direct/fresh consumption (cruciferous vegetables and byproducts, other plant-derived ingredients), enriched in bioactive compounds (flavonoids and phenolic compounds in general, glucosinolates, minerals, vitamin C, etc.) in Integrated studies from plant to food and health. Author and coauthor of more than 70 papers in scientific journals (S.C.I.), Ph.D. adviser, and scientific coordinator and researcher in many competitive projects from National and Regional S&T agencies in Spain as well as participating in international programmes (FP7, CYTED, etc.); the current projects of R&D and innovation are focused on the development of new functional ingredients with applications on agri-food industry, nutrition and health.
Adrian Moss, Managing Director, Focus Business Communications (UK)
Adrian Moss is Managing Director of FBC and has had a long career in marketing communications within the manufacturing and technology industries. He has been involved in audio and video production since 1984 and helped establish FBC in 2004 to help clients take advantage of the emergence of Web 2.0 and Social Media.
Focus Business Communications (FBC) are a digital communications agency specialising in audio and video production and social media programs. With fully equipped audio and video studios and edit suites in Southampton, UK they help their clients design and manage social media communication campaigns as well as produce audio and video marketing, education and information programs.
FBCs clients range from Government agencies and public sector bodies to commercial organisations. They also act as a production facility for other agencies producing radio and TV advertising. They provide training and support to their clients including research and analysis services on social media.
FBC are currently researching the use and impact of social media and online news sites across the EU27 as part of the www.foodrisc.org project funded by the European Commission as part of the 7th Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development.
Agata Pieniadz, Scientific Officer DG Research, Directorate E: Biotechnologies, Agriculture, Food, European Commission (Belgium)
Agata is Scientific Officer in the Directorate General for Research and Innovation of the European Commission. Her responsibility is to evaluate and monitor European Seventh Framework Projects, and to assist the Commission in defining future directions of the EU founded research in the Area of Food, Health and Well-being. She is currently in charge of several FP7 Projects dealing with food consumer issues, quality and integrity in food, price transparency in agri-food chains, innovativeness of food SMEs, and Training Requirements and Careers for Knowledge-based Food Science and Technology in Europe, among others.
Prior to joining the European Commission in March 2010 Agata spent ten years working in a research institute dealing with agricultural development in central and eastern Europe (IAMO, Halle, Germany). During that time she conducted research in agricultural economics, especially in areas dealing with governance of agri-food supply chains. She has several peer-reviewed scientific publications.
She holds a MSc in Food Technology and Human Nutrition from the Agricultural University in Krakow, Poland and a PhD in Agricultural Sciences from the Martin-Luther University in Halle, Germany.
Joel Pincemail, Professor and Scientific collaborator, Departments of Cardiovascular Surgery and Life Sciences, of Liège CHU (Belgium)
J. Pincemail has a PhD in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Liège, Belgium. Since more than 25 years, he has been involved on research about the role of oxidative stress and antioxidants in human medicine. All his researches have lead to the publication of more than 100 papers in national and international peer and non peer reviews. Actually, he works as scientific collaborator in the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery of Liège CHU (Pr JO Defraigne). In collaboration with the Department of the Life Sciences (Pr J. Dommes), he has developed studies about the protective role of fruits and vegetables known for their high content in antioxidants. In this way, a spin – off offering to industrials a large panel of analysis for detecting the antioxidant capacity of fruits and vegetables has been created with funds received from the Walloon Government. J. Pincemail is also the manager of antiOXinfo that is an advising society in order to inform all health professionals but also the public about the role of natural antioxidants for a better health. He is also the co – author of a book “Les secrets de la cuisine antioxydante” published in May 2008 in F. Blouard Editions.
Philippe Pouillart, Associate Professor and Head of the Preclinical and Clinical Research Programmes, In charge of the valorisation & Tranfert AGROSANTE®, Institut Lasalle Beauvais (France)
After a research carried out by INSERM and the CNRS, while specializing in preclinical and clinical studies of pharmacological treatments of inflammatory diseases and cancer, he initiated the teaching programme of Engineer AGROSANTE® in LaSalle Beauvais in 2001.
Specialist in Butyric Acid biological interest, his research led naturally to work on the relationship between the microbiota and the immune status of the intestine, as well as the industrial value of probiotics and prebiotics in human and animal health. He is currently leading the team of Clinical Nutrition, and managing the Animal House Facilities dedicated to preclinical Food & Health studies. He is in charge of relations with companies in need of collaborative research.
Monique Raats, Co-Director of the Food Consumer behavior & Health Research Center, University of Surrey (UK)
“My expertise is in the area of public health and behavioural nutrition research, gained on a variety of projects. My research is wide ranging both in terms of topics covered (e.g. food choice, policy development, food safety) and methodologies used (e.g. qualitative, quantitative, stakeholder consultation). Since my arrival in 2000, I have played an instrumental role in the success of the Food, Consumer Behaviour and Health Research Centre, securing over 3.4 million pounds of research funding, of which approximately two million pounds as principal investigator.
I previously worked at the Institute of Food Research, Health Education Authority (which was replaced by the Health Development Agency, which is now part of National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE)) and the National Centre for Health Outcomes Development at the University of Oxford. I have gained recognition in my area of research at national and international level, with experience of leading research teams in both national and cross-national projects, as well as experience of working with policymakers and other relevant stakeholders. My research experience is complimented with skills gained whilst working at the Health Education Authority, providing me with invaluable insight both into the needs of health professionals and the practicalities of national scale health promotion and health education.
I am one of the founding members, member of the Board of Directors (2001-2006) and recent secretary (2004-2006) of the International Society of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity. The society was set up to combine interests in diet and physical activity, advancing and now plays an important role in fostering excellence in research in this field.”
Bob Rastall, Head of the Department of Food Biosciences, University of Reading (UK)
Bob Rastall is currently Head of the Department of Food Biosciences at the University of Reading in the UK and also holds the post of Professor of Biotechnology. He has a BSc in Applied Biology and a PhD in Microbial Biochemistry (1987) from the University of Greenwich, London. He held research fellowships in the field of carbohydrate bioengineering at the University of Westminster until joining the University of Reading in 1993.
He has interests in food biotechnology, particularly in the manufacture and evaluation of functional food ingredients. He leads a personal research team developing novel enzymatic manufacturing technologies for functional carbohydrates targeted at gut health. His research is focused on understanding structure-function relationships in prebiotic carbohydrates and the application of that knowledge to the rational development of functionally enhanced prebiotics. He is also developing concepts around the rational targeting of synbiotics to specific health outcomes.
Christophe Ripoll, Executive Vice President R&D, Naturalpha (France)
Doctor of science from the University Pierre et Marie CURIE (Paris VI), Christophe Ripoll is a specialist in functional foods and nutraceuticals. His main research work at Rutgers University and Phytomedics, USA, was focused on screening and characterization of plant extracts for their anti-inflammatory activity and has helped the development of the plant extract, PMI 005, for anti-inflammatory and anti-arthritis applications. In an international program funded by the NIH, he also developed a screening platform to identify drug candidates modulating the expression of genes involved in various inflammatory syndromes from plant selected from the biodiversity of central Asia.
Moreover, he worked for several years for the Vilmorin group on plant research issues.
Dr. Ripoll is currently the Executive Vice-President R&D of NATURALPHA. He coordinates research projects and consultancy in health and nutrition and manages the activities of Consulting and Labs departments.
Delphine Saulnier, Project Manager in Gastrointestinal Microbiology, NIZO Food Research (The Netherlands)
Delphine SAULNIER joined NIZO at the beginning of 2011 as a Project Manager in Gastrointestinal Microbiology, where she now manages international project in the areas of gastrointestinal microbiology, probiotic, prebiotic and health. She has a strong expertise in the modulation of the gut microbiome, nutrition and omics technologies. She has also a strong interest in the development of innovative concepts and model systems, more particularly in the field of pediatric and clinical nutrition.
Before joining NIZO, she has worked at Texas Children’s Hospital (Houston, TX, USA), as a Postdoctoral Associate, then as a Laboratory Director of the Microarray Core of the Texas Children’s Microbiome Center with Dr James Versalovic. In Houston, she has been involved in the US Human Microbiome Project, and studied the composition of the microbiome in pediatric irritable bowel syndrome. She has also worked on the role of anti-inflammatory factors produced by different probiotic strains as potential therapeutics for inflammatory bowel diseases.
She holds an MSc in Food and Nutrition (ENSBANA, Dijon, France), and a PhD in Food and Microbial Science from the University of Reading (Prof. Glenn Gibson’s lab, UK). For her PhD, she studied the role of probiotic and prebiotics in different in vitro systems mimicking the gastrointestinal tract, and performed synbiotic interventions in healthy adults.
Marie-Hélène Saniez,Global Director Nutrition, Roquette (France)
Marie-Hélène Saniez-Degrave obtained a Master's Degree in Biochemistry at the University of Science and Technics of Lille, France in 1979. She concluded her education with a Postgraduate degree in food microbiology at Pasteur Institute Lille.
She acquired tools such as molecular biology and microbiology at Paul Sabatier University (Professor TIRABY, Toulouse). She completed her studies in microbiology at MIT (Professor SYNSKEY, Boston) researching the production of new metabolites.
She was granted a licence to experiment on animals (Maisons Alfort) in 2000.
She has been employed by ROQUETTE in 1979 as a Microbiologist and Scientist, to develop microbial strains from laboratory to industrial scale for biotechnological processes. She has been specifically involved in enzyme production, organic acid production, polyol production, methane production and corn steeping. Her role was expanded in the field of biological control including micro-organisms, endotoxins and GMO considering and incorporating various quality standards.
Her responsibilities were increased to include Nutrition and Toxicology (1999). She has undertaken animal studies and clinical studies on novel ingredients which have in turn contributed to the development of a new family of fibers, the development of polyols in oral care and other areas including gut health, oxydative stress, and inflammation.
She was in charge of innovation in Nutrition from 2007 to 2009. She managed a program in Nutrition and Health called NUTRAHUB specifically focused on products issued from pea and microalgae.
She currently holds the post of Nutrition Director at the corporate level.
Isabelle Schaller, Senior Group Leader, Scientific and Regulatory Affairs, Cadbury Europe Gum and Candy (France)
Isabelle Schaller has worked in Scientific and Regulatory Affairs for over 15 years. Initially in the area of regulatory advice to food businesses, she spent the last 12 years as a regulatory affairs manager in the confectionery business, specialising in European legislation for confectionery, chewing gum and chocolate. Her current focus includes claims, in particular health and nutrition claims in the context of the finalisation of the EU list of permitted generic health claims. She is also the Chair of the Technical Committee of the International Chewing gum Association.
Isabelle studied in France and in the UK. She holds an MSc in Food Science from the University of Leeds and a Master of Law in Food law from the De Montfort University, Leicester.
Joseph Schwager, Principal Scientist in the Department of Human Nutrition & Health, DSM Nutritional Products - (Switzerland)
Joseph Schwager is a Principal Scientist with DSM/Nutritional Products in Kaiseraugst/Basel, Switzerland. Joseph Schwager has studied biology with emphasis on cellular and development biology at the university of Berne and Geneva where he completed his PhD. After a post-doctoral period at the Massachussetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge/USA, he worked for five years at the Basel Institute for Immunology focusing on the evolutionary origin and development of the immune system mainly in amphibian. He then joined the Vitamin Division of Roche at the Research Institute for Animal Nutrition and Health at Village-Neuf, France in 1991 and worked at different projects related to vaccine development in chicken and the influence of vitamins on the immune system in pigs. Joseph Schwager later moved to Nutley, New Jersey where he was involved in the development of new products in animal health. In 2000, he joined the Department of Human Nutrition and Health of Roche/Vitamins in Basel, Switzerland, where he embarked on projects related to identification and efficacy testing of natural substances with distinct beneficial effects in human health conditions. More recently and in particular after the integration of the Vitamin division into DSM/Nutritional Products his main scientific activities relate to the effects of vitamins and micronutrients on the immune system in humans.
Francisca Serra, Professor of Nutrition & Food Sciences and member of the leader team of the BIOCLAIMS project (Spain)
Francisca Serra is professor of Nutrition and Food Sciences at the University of the Balearic Islands (UIB), were she got her first position in 1990. She has been Director of R & D Service of the University (1993-96) and National Expert at the European Commission (1997-2000) at the Directorate General for Science, Research and Development (Brussels).
Her research is on molecular basis of obesity, particularly the interaction between genes and nutrients (nutrigenomics) and the impact of diet on early developmental stages (epigenetics) on susceptibility to obesity in adulthood. It is also of her interest, the study and characterization of functional foods that could help to counteract obesity.
Her research is being developed in the context of research projects, usually led by Prof. Andreu Palou. She is member of the leader team that develops the Large Collaborative European project BIOCLAIMS. She is a founding member of the European Network of Excellence in Nutrigenomics Science (NuGO) and member of Ciber (Center for Biomedical Research Network) Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition (CIBEROBN, CB06/03), Instituto de Salud Carlos III. She is co-author and editor of books related to functional foods (phytosterols, functional foods, nutrient-gene relation-obesity).
Jan Sikkema, Program Director, TIFN (Top Intitute Food & Nutrition) (Belgium)
Jan Sikkema studied Microbiology and Biochemistry at the University of Groningen and obtained his PhD in Industrial Microbiology at the Wageningen University in 1993. After his graduation he became Senior Researcher at the European Research Laboratories of Snow Brand Milk Products. In 1996 he joined Friesland Dairy Foods where he held several R&D management positions including R&D Manager Cheese, Manager Life Sciences Research and Technology Manager Life Sciences. From 2005, in his position of Corporate Technology Manager at Royal Friesland Foods, he was responsible for Technology Programming, Research networks and Intellectual Property.
Today Jan Sikkema is Director of the Bioingredients and Functionality program at the TI Food and Nutrition (www.tifn.nl). TI Food and Nutrition is a public private partnership combining the world class research expertise of academia, institutes and major food companies.
Shane Starling, Editor, NutraIngredients (France)
Shane Starling is editor of NutraIngredients.com. He has been writing about the global food and supplements industries since 2001 on matters such as health claims, food marketing, food science, ingredient innovation and market trends. He has a degree in History and Literature from Curtin University in Perth, Australia and works from William Reed Business Media’s Paris office.
Dr Lesley Stevenson, New Product Research Director, GlaxoSmithKline Nutrition Healthcare (UK)
Lesley Stevenson is a Director of New Product Research at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Nutritional Healthcare, based in the UK. Lesley joined GSK in 2010 after spending 10 years in a range of roles in both academia and industry (in Australia and New Zealand) in the functional foods, dietary supplements and nutritional science arena. She has undertaken research that has underpinned product launches including products in the area of sports performance, gut health and immune function. Lesley completed her PhD in Immunobiology at Edinburgh Napier University, in Scotland in 1995 and in 2010 she obtained a Masters in Management from Southern Cross University in Australia. During her career Lesley has been a member of Scientific Advisory panels with several companies including Nestle Oceania. In her role at GSK, Lesley works on the Ribena brand and her current responsibilities focus around innovation with respect to new product and claim opportunities for the brand.
Roberto Dal Toso, R&D Manager, IRBTech (Italy)
Roberto Dal Toso has received his PhD in Biology and post-doc training in Pharmacology, both at University of Padua, Italy. Subsequently, he joined for two decades the research laboratories of pharmaceutical companies. He extended the professional experties in molecular biology in Georgetown University in Washington DC and ZMBH in Heidelberg, Germany. He is co-author of more than 40 peer reviewed scientific papers of high impact factor and is cofounder and actually R&D Manager of IRB.
Nico van Belzen, Executive Director, ILSI Europe (Belgium)
Dr. Nico van Belzen is the Executive Director of ILSI Europe (http://www.ilsi.eu), the European branch of the International Life Sciences Institute, based in Brussels, Belgium. ILSI Europe is a non-profit institute that brings together scientists from academia, government and industry to enhance the scientific basis of public health decision-making in food safety, nutrition and related areas.
Before joining ILSI in 2003, Nico worked for five years at DMV International, the business-to-business division of Campina, where he established a laboratory to develop bioactive food ingredients. Subsequently he became head of the department Research and Analysis, which deals with product development, biochemical and physical analyses of food ingredients and pharmaceutical excipients. He also was involved in marketing support, business development and due diligence.
From 1986-1998 Nico worked for universities and academic hospitals in The Netherlands as biomedical researcher specialised in molecular cell biology, lymphoma and colon cancer, e.g. cloning the NDRG1/Drg1 and ICT1 genes.
Wim Verbeke, Professor of Agricultural Marketing and Consumer Behaviour, University of Ghent (Belgium)
Wim Verbeke is a professor in agro-food marketing and consumer behaviour, affiliated with the Department of Agricultural Economics at Ghent University in Belgium. He has a Master of Science degree in Bio-science Engineering and a Master of Business Administration degree in Marketing Management. He obtained his Ph.D. in Applied Biological Sciences in 1999 from Ghent University. He is currently involved in academic teaching and scientific research in the field of food consumer science. In this position, he uses his combined background in natural and social sciences to bridge between alpha en beta science.
Current research deals with food consumer science, more specifically consumer perception and acceptance of production technologies and food products. His specific research interests are on the impact of information about food production and food processing systems, about food quality and safety, food labelling, and the role of individual difference variables on consumer perception, attitude and behaviour.
Wim Verbeke is a research partner in several European and national research projects dealing with food consumer issues, among others the European Sixth Framework Integrated Projects TRUEFOOD, Q-PORKCHAINS and PROSAFEBEEF, as well as in the European Seventh Framework Projects EATWELL, FOODRISC and SOLID. He has (co-)authored more than 150 peer-reviewed papers in leading international journals in the disciplines of agricultural economics and policy, agricultural sciences, marketing, communication, food science and technology, and nutrition and dietetics.
Benjamin Voiry, NAT Life Business Manager, Naturex (France)
Benjamin VOIRY, NAT life™ Business Manager, is in charge at NATUREX of a range of high value products. Prior to that and after an engineering diploma (Msc level) in innovation and food science obtained at ISA (Lille, France) in 2006, he worked in the dietary supplement manufacturing as R&D project manager in a company named V2MED during 3 years. Today, Benjamin coordinates R&D, sales, and marketing of NAT life™ products. NAT life™ is a range of innovative extracts with benefits proven by human clinical studies.
Peter Wennström, Healthy Marketing Team, Founder and President (UK)
Peter Wennström, is the founder and president of The Healthy Marketing Team, based in London. Peter was previously founder of HealthFocus Europe.
He earned his reputation as an international brand management consultant working for clients in pharma, dietary supplements and functional foods.
Peter is regarded as one of the world’s leading experts in functional foods marketing and is the author of The FourFactors for Success in Functional Foods Marketing and co-author of The Food & Health Marketing Handbook.
Peter’s speciality is to take consumer data and market insights from around the world on food/health issues and provide strategic tools such as the FourFactors™ Brand Analysis System also know as “The Healthy Marketing Game!” which allows marketing teams to make strategic decisions and accelerate brand innovation and NPD.
Peter is a popular speaker and chairman and he has delivered workshops and seminars to companies across the globe.
Josephine Wills, General Director, EUFIC (Belgium)
Having qualified from the Royal Veterinary College in London in 1981, Jo spent several years in veterinary practice and earned her PhD from the University of Bristol Veterinary School, in 1986.
After several years postdoctoral research at the University of Manchester Medical School, she joined the company Mars, where she worked in science, communication, and regulatory roles for 18 years, latterly as European Head of Scientific and Regulatory Affairs for all product categories.
In January 2006, Jo was appointed to Director General of the European Food Information Council, based in Brussels.
Jo has published over 90 scientific papers, edited four books and lectured extensively worldwide.
Francis Willequet, Associate-Dean in charge of the Academic Programs for Nutrition and Health at the Institut Polytechnique LaSalle Beauvais (France)
Specialized in animal nutrition, mainly, in pork nutrition, Francis began his career as adviser in agriculture and this, for a five-year period. In 1987, he joined the Institut LaSalle Beauvais to realize over years different lectures: General Physiology, Nutrition Physiology, Digestion Physiology and Absorption, Physiology of Development and Aging, Animal Nutrition and Animal Production. Respectively, during a period closed to five or to ten years, he was visiting research scientist at “Texas A&M University” (U.S.A.) and lecturer at the Faculty of Agronomy of the Catholic University of Louvain-la-Neuve (Belgium).
Francis carried out experiments with a “development” approach in nutrition and as a model, the pork. At the beginning of the 80’s, his preoccupations were the valorization of the French proteagineous sources (peas, horse-beans, lupines) to substitute the soya bean meal imported. In 1989, by-products produced by the food industries and the catering services became of interest for him. Beyond their chemical and theirs nutritional characteristics, he took into consideration the effects of theirs utilization on technological, nutritional, sensorial and sanitary qualities. In 1992, using the new-born piglet as a pre-clinical model of the premature baby, he contributed to the establishment of a territorial link between medical and agronomic sciences and to the creation of the nutrition and health curriculum. These activities allowed him 41 contributions (publications, communications, chapters of books, posters).
Renger Witkamp, Professor in Nutrition and Pharmacology, Wageningen University (The Netherlands)
Professor Renger Witkamp (1959) studied Biochemistry and Pharmacy, and received his PhD in pharmacology from the Utrecht University (The Netherlands) in 1992. He worked as associate professor at the Utrecht veterinary faculty until 1996 and then moved to TNO, the Netherlands’ Organization for Applied Research. At TNO he held several scientific and managerial positions in the fields of bio-analysis, pharmacology and nutrition. In 2006 he was appointed to professor in Nutrition and Pharmacology at the division of Human Nutrition of Wageningen University, which was a newly established academic chair at that time. Until 2010 this was combined with a half-time position at TNO. He is now fully employed by Wageningen University. His research interests include lipid-derived molecules and natural bio-actives modulating appetite and metabolic complications of obesity. In addition he is active in developing generic methods to demonstrate effects of nutrition on health.
All the key actors of the Nutrition and Health sector, from various profiles and 15 different nationalities, will be present on NutrEvent.
Do not miss the opportunity to meet all those companies on June 15-16.
Discover the complete list by clicking here.