2022 Speakers

Phd in microfluidics (H factor 11, 20 peer reviewed articles, 10 patents), former director of the Bio-detection group for the ministry of defense, Adrien Plecis is the co-founder of the microfluidic valley, a consortium of 10 deep-tech start up company with disruptive solutions for the healthcare and environment industries. With myNUMEA, his ambition is to develop the first precision supplementation solution clinically validated to fight efficiently chronic disease epidemics.

Adrien is Investment Associate at Big Idea Ventures, based in Paris. Prior to this he worked as a financial auditor for Mazars and as a venture capital analyst for two early-stage venture capital funds. Additionally, he has experience in Supply Chain Management at Airbus.

Adrien holds a Bachelor’s in Business Administration from ESSEC Business School (Paris) and a CEMS Master’s in International Management from ESADE (Barcelona).

Amandine holds a Postgraduate Chemical Engineer diploma from the ENS Chimie Montpellier.

After a first experience in the fragrance industry as a chemist Amandine joined Naturex in 2009 as a Key Account Manager for Benelux. She was named Global Category Manager for flavouring extracts and specialities in 2012.

In 2016, she joined the EAME team as a Customer Marketing Manager, she was appointed BD director Functional & Nutritional Ingredients Europe within Givaudan Regional Innovation team in 2020.

Ana Pejic is the co-founder and Chief Product Officer at Tempty Foods, a food tech start-up creating foods of the future based on alternative protein source mycelium. The company is a spin-off from a course on sustainable food innovation at Technical University of Denmark (DTU). One of the company’s initial achievements is winning a competition Ecotrophelia Europe 2021 with its first product TEMPTY. Ana’s role in the company is centered on product development, production optimization and sustainability accounting.

Ana holds a MSc degree in Food innovation and health from University of Copenhagen, Denmark, and a BSc degree in Nutrition from University of Zagreb, Croatia. She is passionate about making foods that are good for the people and the planet.

Anirikh Chakrabarti has a PhD in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering with 10+ years of experience, across academic and industrial environments driving innovation and leading nutrition and health initiatives from conceptualization to acceleration of innovations in health science business’. He is actively involved in leading and managing R&D activities and teams for health and nutrition across animals and humans with a focus on microbiome across broad health categories, from strategy to science to policy.

Anne-Claire THIBOULT, Directrice de site et Manager des pôles règlementaire et scientifique au sein de RNI.

Elle possède une expertise réglementaire Européenne et Internationale dans le domaine de la Nutrition Humaine, de la cosmétique et des produits frontières.

Elle accompagne les clients de RNI Conseil dans leurs projets : étude de faisabilité, mission de consulting, formation, réalisation de due diligence, accompagnement règlementaire spécifique sur diverses thématiques dont principalement : les Novel Foods, les compléments alimentaires et les produits frontières.

Anne-Claire THIBOULT a obtenu un diplôme d’Ingénieur en Agronomie (spécialité Nutrition Humaine) à l’Agro-campus Ouest de Rennes (France).

Bas Kremer is currently active as Business Development Manager Healthy Living at the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research, TNO. He is responsible for building partnerships in the focus areas Immune & Metabolic Health, Lifestyle4Health and Health Transitions. Bas’ drive is to improve health and quality of life of the individual human being contributing to a healthy society as a whole, by bringing together multidisciplinary expertise from TNO and both public & private stakeholders in the Nutrition & Life Sciences and Digital Health domains.  His motto: “Together we can make things move”.

Bas has obtained his PhD on Biomedical Health, with specialization in Molecular Biology and Microbiology, at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam in 1998. Since then he has been active in academia (University of Florida, USA; Utrecht University, the Netherlands), applied scientific research (TNO), and biotech industry (OctoPlus NV, the Netherlands).  He has been active both in scientific content as well as in strategic and program managerial roles. Since 2016, he has been active in the role of Business Development Manager at TNO, primarily active in the fields of Immune & Gut Health.

Bo Dohmen is Manager Nutrition & Health at FoodDrinkEurope, a Brussels-based trade association representing Europe’s food and drink manufacturing industry. At FoodDrinkEurope, Bo is responsible for all regulatory and policy issues in the areas of nutrition and health. Prior to this, she worked as Public Affairs Manager at the European Flavour Association for nearly three years, where she emerged herself into the food industry and food ingredients sector. Bo holds a MSc in European Studies from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. She also obtained a BA in European Studies with a specialisation in Public Policy and Communication.

Professeur à Bordeaux Sciences Agro et à l’Université de Bordeaux Catherine Bennetau-Pelissero est docteur de l’Université de Bordeaux en Biologie Animale mention Biologie Marine (1988) et docteur en Physiologie des Interactions et des Adaptations (1990). Elle travaille en recherche depuis plus de 30 ans sur les phyto-estrogènes en abordant l’exposition des consommateurs et les effets de ces substances sur la santé notamment via les compléments alimentaires. Elle a monté des enseignements sur les compléments alimentaires destinés à la formation initiale et continue.

Cindy Schoumacher is a Policy Officer at the European Commission, DG RTD, Unit B2 Bioeconomy & Food Systems. She is working on Food 2030 and more specifically on agriculture-related aspects, dietary shift and alternative proteins, as well as the climate aspects of food systems. She holds an engineering degree in agronomy from Agrocampus Ouest (Rennes) and a Master’s degree in environmental economics and policies from AgroParisTech (Paris). She is knowledgeable about European agricultural and environmental economics and policies, climate change, marine issues and biodiversity.

International free-lance journalist specialised in agrifood and ingredients with 20+ years of expertise in B2B2C food trends, branding, and journalism.

Founder and Director at Origenal Story*, an international food & ingredients consultancy that uncovers new revenue streams for innovative brands aiming at creating a world where a circular economy is the norm.

Our sweet spot is at the intersection of food + science + humankind + marketing + sustainability.

 *Origenal Story’s new website & services will be launched end of October 2022.

Damien Michelon is start-up partnership manager at TWB, TWB provides a concrete response to companies and entrepreneurs in biotechnology to develop products and processes with biobased raw materials, from laboratory level to pre-industrial pilot level in partnership with Toulouse Biotechnology Institute (TBI) and CRITT-Bio-industries. Committed in the development of innovation, TWB supports startups by hosting them (laboratories, offices) and provides services to accelerate their development.

Damien has a PhD degree in Food Sciences from the University of Burgundy, France, and a MSc in Bioproducts and Bioprocess from AgroParisTech, France.  Its research interest focused on the microbiological cheese making process (INRAE).  Then, he worked 5 years at ANSES (National French Agency for sanitary safety) as scientific project manager in Food Safety in the framework of the European Union Reference Laboratory for Listeria monocytogenes. With an experience as co-founder of AgTech start-up, he now has been working for two years at TWB to support Entrepreneurs and start-up to develop sustainable industrial biotech processes including FoodTech.

Eléonore is Associate at Five Seasons Ventures, and specifically following Yfood, Mammaly, Her1 and vly. 

Prior to joining Five Seasons Ventures, Eléonore was a VC at Heartcore Capital, a consumer-focused early stage fund in Europe. Eléonore started her career in Investment Banking at DC Advisory but rapidly discovered VC was her true passion working as a junior analyst for Idinvest.

Eléonore holds a Master’s degree in Management from ESCP Europe and a degree in cooking. As a matter of fact, when not meeting entrepreneurs, Eléonore loves cooking… Though it’s not always a success!

Elke Duwenig is passionate for innovation & sustainability and for safeguarding biotech products and opening markets.

Elke is senior expert in biotechnology and active in Regulatory and Government Affairs in Nutrition&Health, BASF SE. Next to supporting strategies, R&D projects and sales products, she is engaged in shaping the legislative and regulatory landscape, both in the EU and globally.

Previously, Elke has been responsible for the political work at BASF Plant Science and worked for 10 years as Head of Research Plant Biotechnology on new biotech products. Engaged in political/ authority work and public outreach. Active in R&D projects like healthy fatty acids in rapeseed, high yielding rice, fungal-resistant potato, and herbicide resistant soybean as well as molecular enabling tools.

Elke studied biology and chemistry at University Münster, Germany and Stanford University, USA. Graduated in molecular plant physiology at the IGF (Institut für Genbiologische Forschung GmbH) in Berlin and completed two postdocs at the MPI (Max-Planck-Institute) in Golm and University of Freiburg, Germany, before joining BASF.

Emma Hernandez-Sanabria is Product Manager of Animal Health & Performance at BaseClear. Emma was trained as a veterinarian in her home country of Mexico followed by  an MSc in Animal Production and Nutrition at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. She pursued a doctoral degree about the rumen microbiome and how it relates to feed efficiency and weight gain parameters at the University of Alberta. Since then, she worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Microbial Ecology and Technology (CMET) of Ghent University and in the VIB-KU Leuven Center for Microbiology in Belgium, in many projects addressing in vivo and in vitro host-microbe-environment interactions, and in collaboration with industry partners. This broad experience allows her to assist customers in a diverse range of projects involved with livestock production.

Eran Baniel – Executive Chairman and Co-Founder of DouxMatok.
As CEO Eran brought to DouxMatok many years of management experience in a number of disciplines: he was the Co-Founder & CEO of HCL CleanTech, which raised over $50 million, from a number of US venture funds as well as U.S. government grants, and was eventually sold to Stora Enso; CEO of LifeWave (which did an IPO in Israel); Co-Founder & CEO of Desk-Trainer; and Co-Founder & CEO of U.L.A., where he led major lighting projects, including lighting the walls of the old city of Jerusalem and Nazareth 2000 as well as key financial districts in Israel. Eran’s management positions were always characterized by intensive international collaborations in the USA, Europe and the Middle East. His activities led to considerable investments in a large number of public and private projects as well as in his entrepreneurial activities. Co-founding and managing DouxMatok, bringing proprietary technologies for efficient delivery of flavors and improved nutrition, such as DouxMatok’s Incredo sugar-based sugar-reduction, enabling tastier and healthier consumption of sweet foods is for him the most exciting and ground-breaking mission he’s ever led. Most of the limited free time he has since moving to the Executive Chairman position Eran devotes to younger FoodTech startups promoting technologies for making dairy products with no cow, plant based proteins to replace meat, fish, cheese and eggs

Dr. Eckhardt holds a PhD in Biochemistry from Utrecht University in the Netherlands. He started his career as a Postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University first and then at University of Kentucky where he became assistant Professor on diet, microbiome and mucosal immunity. He then moved to the industry, working for Nestle first and later at Adisseo, working on digestive health in monogastrics. Since 2021 he joined Adare Biome as R&D director.

Frédéric Bouvier is Scientific Advisor, Open Innovation, at Roquette, a global leader in Health and Nutrition.
Since he got his PhD in Biochemistry and Food Science, specialized in lipids chemistry, from the University of Bordeaux, France, Frédéric has served multiple scientific and management roles with Roquette, spanning the science and technology of plant-based ingredients for food and nutrition and also for industrial applications.
During the first part of his career, Frédéric managed a research group focused on characterization of food and industrial material structure. After several years supporting the development of a wide range of industrial applications of starches, he moved back to food science and was deeply involved in innovation projects dealing with lipids and proteins from microalgae, for food, nutrition and health, in Asia and the USA where he relocated during a few years. Back to France, Frédéric led different projects aiming at identifying and developing valuable proteins and fibers, which are currently part of side-products from the industrial processing of pea, corn, wheat and potatoes.
As a scientific advisor at Roquette, in the service of open innovation, Frédéric represents the company in consortia and collaborative research projects, participates in the search for new technologies and external financing and in the incubation of start-ups.

Geetika is a trained medical doctor with wide variety of experience in healthcare. Since the pandemic in 2020, she has been leading the immunity for global dietary supplements at DSM Nutrition products. As part of her role she works with cross-functional teams and external partners to bring innovative immunity solutions to the global markets. DSM is committed to supporting immunity of half a billion people by 2030, this will be achieved by DSM portfolio, new innovative solutions and active campaigns.

Dr. Gil Blander received a Ph.D. in biology from the Weizmann Institute of Science and completed his Post Doctoral fellowship at MIT, before going on to found InsideTracker. InsideTracker was founded in 2009 by top scientists from acclaimed universities in the fields of aging, genetics, and biology, InsideTracker is a truly personalized nutrition and performance system. Our mission is to help people add years to their lives and life to their years by optimizing their bodies from the inside out. By analyzing your body’s data, we can give you a crystal clear picture of what’s going on inside you along with a science-backed action plan for improving your health and becoming your best self.

With a background in marketing and business development in the social and environmental sustainability field and a career managing companies selling consumer goods, Gilles CANDOTTI is the coordinator for France for Mosa Meat.

Pharmacien, passionné de compléments alimentaires (CA) depuis 1998, avec une grande expérience dans la conception de formules efficaces et novatrices , avec une parfaite maitrise des législations européennes et nationales en perpétuelles évolution, mais aussi dans la production et la création d’une communication conforme et efficace envers le consommateur. Je suis un FOOD SUPPLEMENT DESIGNER

Giovanni Sogari is an Assistant Professor in Consumer Behavior in the Department of Food and Drug of the University of Parma. From 2017-2020 Dr. Sogari was granted with a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship and he carried out his research activities at the Department of Applied Economics and Management of Cornell University (US). His main research interests include healthy eating habits, sensory analysis, the sustainability of the wine and aquaculture sectors, and alternative proteins (e.g., edible insects) as feed and food.

Dr Sogari is involved in many international projects and he also a member in various scientific societies including the Italian Scientists and Scholars in North America Foundation, the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association (AAEA), and the European Association of Agricultural Economists (EAAE).

Head of Food & Health dept. at AZTI. Expertise in the management of research and innovation projects related to food and health. Strong background in membrane lipidomics for personalised nutrition and digital services. Expertise in bioactive compounds, lipid metabolism and nutritional clinical trials. Design of healthy food products with nutritional and health claims according to EU legislation. Start-up mentorship experience through different national and international incubator and accelerator programs.

Joachim K. Fredholm is the CEO and founder of the Copenhagen based startup Kitchenswaps, the first shared economy platform for commercial kitchen space. The platform enables commercial kitchens to rent out their vacant space to various food entrepreneurs and businesses looking for a more flexible, convenient and cost-efficient way of running their business. His past experience working for Nestlé in New York and Silicon Valley has aided him in creating new disruptive business models within the food sector; with the core aim of promoting and enabling public access to culinary innovation. Joachim holds an MSc in Entrepreneurship & Innovation from Lund University.

Lucie joined Microphyt in 2022 as a Nutraceutical Application Manager. With more than 10 years of experience in the development of healthcare products, she was involved in multiple projects.

After a Ph.D in pharmaceuticals sciences she worked for medical device companies and nutraceuticals subcontractors before to integrate Microphyt.

In Microphyt she is in charge to formulate the in-house developped microalgae-based ingredients for dietary supplement application but also in food matrix and in pet food.

She develops vegetal finish products combining efficiency, stability and pleasant sensorial properties in the appropriate delivery form.

• Executive Director, Nutrition+HealthCARE (Connecting Advocacy, Regulatory, Empathy): created global advisory services to share the passion for healthy aging, consumer and patient care. Making personalized/ specialized/ clinical nutrition, microbiome product development, profiling & advocacy strategies sustainable
• Past lead roles in healthcare advocacy, regulatory, safety, quality, health economics/reimbursement (Nestlé Health Science, L’Oréal, Abbott, Roche);
  NIH Visiting Fellow (molecular cancer virology), US-FDA pharmacologist
• Long-standing recognition leading global/regional working groups; on
  governing, scientific advisory & editorial boards (ISDI; MNI; IS_MIRRI 21; SGE/SSN; RAPS EAC) & faculty (RAPS Convergence)
• Publishing and presenting frequently across the globe:
  healthy longevity, disease-related malnutrition, microbiome, food-drug
  continuum, global convergence, multi-stakeholders & policymaking
• Board Certifications in Pharmacy, Toxicology (PhD, DABT), Regulatory Affairs (RAC). Distinguished Regulatory Affairs Professionals Society (RAPS) Fellow

With more than ten years’ experience in the food and beverage sector, Maria has worked across multiple categories, ranging from baked goods, canned foods and carbonated beverages to nuts and spices. She has expertise in compostable packaging and quality assurance.

A food engineer by training, Maria has a broad range of expertise encompassing alternative proteins, free-from, value engineering, HFSS reduction and more. Today, she specialises in advisory services and product development

Maria is passionate about improving sustainability in the sector. She aids clients’ progress towards net zero goals with safe, practical and cost-effective ideas. Upcycling by-products to create new business opportunities is a particular area of interest.

Dr. Marie-Lucie Kankolongo Cibaka is a food sensory and innovation consultant. She is the founder of Arosyn, a company aiming to provide insights on the perception of food products through human senses. Additionally, Marie-Lucie is interested in the chemistry behind aromas and is part of the analytical team of Interscience, a company providing solutions for analysing volatile compounds. She is a bioengineer with professional experience in several R&D challenges of the food industry.

Marie-Pierre Albouy has 15 years experiences managing projects in the food, nutrition, agriculture and environment sectors, in France and developing countries. Within the Nutriset French company she set up a network of local manufacturers in Africa, producing specific food for malnourished children (humanitarian responses) through transfers of technology and know-how. She then worked for a French non-profit organization where she was responsible for designing, implementing and coordinating sustainable agricultural projects in favor of vulnerable farmers in Africa. She finally joined Earthworm foundation, a non-profit organisation driven by the desire to positively impact the relationship between people and nature. She supports companies in implementing commitments to responsible sourcing practices throughout their soy supply chain, and develop projects towards sustainable and local proteins for animal feed. All along her professional life, she has worked and established relationships with a variety of stakeholders: NGOs, private sector, donors, United Nations, foundations, and public institute.

Mariëtte Abrahams is the CEO and founder of Qina, a platform that connects stakeholders and helps companies explore, get insights and launch next generation solutions in the Personalised nutrition industry. Mariette has been working in the clinical and medical nutrition industry for over 20 years and has a mixed background in nutrition, business and research. She is also a guest lecturer on entrepreneurship in nutrition and loves to leverage technology to help more people get healthy. She is currently based in Portugal.

Visit https://qina.tech

Mathias Brink Lorenz is Investment Manager AgriFood at Rockstart. Mathias comes from a M&A and corporate strategy position in the biotech company Novozymes. Prior experience includes 8 years in the banking sector working for SEB in London, Copenhagen and Oslo, advising large corporate clients on their financial strategy. He holds a Master in Finance and Strategic Management from Copenhagen Business School.

Engineer in agriculture, specialized in animal production, Mathilde graduated from a PhD in Animal physiologie, nutrition and microbiota from Agrocampus Ouest and INRAE. She has worked in research for public and private companies in the fields of feeding, health and genetics. She is now Head of research at Nahibu, a French microbiome testing company.

Matthieu Flourakis is Scientitic Unit Coordinator at ILSI Europe. After graduating from Université de Lille with a PhD in Biomedical Sciences, Matt was a research associate in neuroscience at Northwestern University in Chicago were he discovered a new mechanism controlling sleep wake cycles in mammals. In 2019, he joined ILSI Europe were he managed projects related to food safety and Nutrition and was also involved in many EU funded project as WP lead. Since 2021, as a Unit Coordinator he is managing the team of project manager, and ensures that ILSI Europe delivers science with the highest credibility.

Michael has 30 years experience from senior roles in Life Science and FMCG, including more than 20 years as CEO in listed and private companies. During that period, he has also served as chairman and held board positions in a number of life science companies.

Before joining The Akkermansia Company, Michael held notable positions as CEO of probiotics company Probi and biotech company BioInvent, both listed on Nasdaq Stockholm. He is a native of Sweden but has worked internationally throughout his career, including ten years in Australia.

Michiel van Deursen is a tech entrepreneur from the first generation of internet pioneers who believed they could change the world and defy established rules. He founded 2dehands, the first online classifieds ads website in Belgium and The Netherlands in 1997, fast growing the platform until its successful exit in 2013. Nowadays, 2dehands.be remains the leader in its market, more than 20 years after its inception. He also co-founded and sold a tech agency and tech accelerator in The Netherlands.

His passion for healthy living began while training for an Ironman triathlon, when he learned not only what a plant-based diet can do for personal fitness but also of the wider positive impact on the planet. 

Michiel has a proven track record in both investment and plant-based/cell tech environments, as an early investor in The Vegetarian Butcher he has helped the alternative protein space develop. Michiel now thrives at helping early stage teams getting started and accelerate their entrepreneurial journey.

Being an investor in the plant-based category, he saw many new people entering the space and wanted to help, envisioning a platform to connect and solve his own challenges managing the growing amount of startups raising and interested investors. He joined forces with Vevolution.com to help create the platform, and is involved in strategy and product development. He is also active as a co-founder in plant-based pet food company The Pack and is Chairman of the Board at Kale United, a Swedish company creating a global ecosystem for plant-based businesses. He serves as a jury member and expert at the EIC of the European Commission. Michiel is mostly recognized as an investor with Capital V that he founded, and has been involved in several FoodTech exits since.

Monique Lacroix has completed a B.Sc.A. and a M.Sc. in Food Sciences Technology in 1980 and 1982 respectively and a Ph.D. in Nutrition in 1986. She is full professor at INRS-Institute Armand-Frappier, Canada and director of the Research Laboratories in Sciences Applied to Food and of the Canadian Irradiation Centre. Prof. Lacroix is Fellow of the International Academy of Food Science and Technology (IAFoST) and of the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) for her outstanding representatives of international food science and technology; she received 4 awards for her most cited publications in Food sciences and for the best 10 research partnership with industries for two partnerships.

Professor Lacroix has served as an expert member of several United Nations research networks on food safety and on nano biopolymer using gamma irradiation. She is also member of three Canadian networks: Canadian food processing networks, Research network on dairy products in Québec and of the Institute of nutraceuticals and functional foods.

Professor Lacroix is author of more than 350 publications, 10 patents and 34 book chapters. Until today, she has supervised 14 post-doct, 98 graduated students of 2^nd and 3 ^th cycles and over than 350 trainees that come from all over the world. She has been invited to present over than 208 conferences in major congresses, including United Nations conferences as a member of expert committees.

Nard is an experienced innovator, networker, entrepreneur and strategic thought leader in personalised nutrition.

After his study of Human Nutrition at Wageningen University, he worked for the food industry in international positions for more than a decade as a successful liaison between business and science.

He then joined Dutch innovation organisation TNO to lead their Nutrition and Health business line and set up the world’s largest public-private research consortium on personalised nutrition & health, together with Wageningen University and Research. This led him on a path of ‘personalised nutrition’, involving co-founding Happ (a personalised nutrition platform) as their Chief Science Officer, founding NCNC Nutritional Consultancy, many public appearances and working for Foodvalley NL as their Lead Personalised Nutrition.

Dr. Nico van Belzen is the founder and Director General of ScienceConsult.

From 2012-2018 he was Director General of the International Dairy Federation (IDF).

From 2003-2012 he was the Executive Director of ILSI Europe, the European branch of the International Life Sciences Institute.

From 1998-2003 Nico worked for DMV International, the business-to-business division of the dairy company Campina, where he set up and managed a laboratory to develop bioactive food ingredients, and subsequently became head of the department Research and Analysis.

From 1986-1998 Nico worked in universities and academic hospitals in The Netherlands as biomedical researcher specialised in molecular cell biology and cancer research, e.g. cloning the genes Drg1/NDRG1 and ICT1. He received a PhD in cell biology from Utrecht University, The Netherlands, in 1990.

Nicolas Carbonnelle is a partner with international law firm Bird & Bird LLP, where he heads up the firm’s International Food & Beverage Sector Group. He is passionate about the food and beverage industry and is a technically skilled advisor, oriented to pragmatic results. The assistance he provides to his clients covers the full life-cycle of food and beverage products, from the early stages of research and development to the handling of food crisis management issues through product formulation, labelling and marketing questions. Nicolas works in close cooperation and through open communication with clients to deliver opinions and guidance that can be easily translated on the field, and his responsiveness is praised by clients.

Olivia is a food scientist by training. She spent the first 10 years of her career working in Europe for Unilever, Bakkavor and Sensient, holding positions linked to product development and operations. In 2015, she decided to switch gears and moved to the US where she was hired by Impossible foods to lead the construction and launch of their first factory.  She is now COO of Vital Meat, a leading cultivated meat start-up.

Olivier Ballèvre, DVM, PhD is Nestle Global R&D program manager in Personalized Nutrition for all Nestle product categories. He based in Nestle Research in Switzerland. He has more than 30 years’ experience in Animal and Human Nutrition Research and Development in academia and industry with a track records of scientific publications, patents and innovative products.

Olivier has led different Nestle R&D organizations driving innovation in Dairy, Infant Nutrition and Petcare products categories both in Europe and in China. Today Nestle Is one of the industry leader In Personalised Nutrition across the world In Food & Beverage, Medical food, supplements but also in Petcare products.

Since 2013, Pascal RONFARD has positioned SOLACTIS as a leader of food and feed ingredients, active on the microbiota. This positioning has been rewarded by highly sought regulatory recognitions: 2 European (EFSA) and 1 South Korean (MFDS) official health claims. Based on these results, Solactis has developped in Europe and in export markets. It is successfully present in Asia and especially South Korea, Japan and China.

Business developper, Pascal Ronfard runs a science based company with targeted R&D program driven by best scicentists and doctors, and marketing and sales committed to connect this science with the maket and customer demands.

Mr. Ronfard is President of the Professional Group “HEC- AgroAlimentaire”, member of the board of Club PAI and of Vitagora Scientific Committee. Mr. Ronfard is a graduate of the HEC Business School and holds a Master degree in Corporate Law, from Paris II University.

Nutritionist specialised in marketing and product development for the food industry, wide experience in consumer analytics, strategic marketing and R&D
programs. BS Degree in Human Nutrition Univ. Autónoma de Madrid. MSc Food Consumer Marketing and Product Dev. Univ Sheffield Hallam, Programa Product Marketing ESIC Business School.

Radhika Bongoni is Commercial Director at BaseClear. Radhika has a strong food and biotech background with international work experience in the applied biotech industry, and with her feet in the scientific and business worlds. She holds a PhD in Food Technology from Wageningen University and pursued an MBA from Tilburg University specializing in Innovation Management. In her role at BaseClear, a 30y old microbial genomics CRO in Leiden Bioscience park of Netherlands, she leads commercial team and works with scientists at all ends.

Rosanna Pecere is Executive Director of the International Probiotics Association – Europe (IPA Europe) since 2017.  An experienced Senior Public Affairs Manager, with more than 25 years’ experience in the Brussels arena, first with the Italian Holding Finmeccanica and later as head of the Brussels office of ASSOLATTE from 1999 to 2017. Rosanna has a strong record in EU Public Affairs, advocacy, trade and regulatory matters.

Roxane Bakker is Head Dietitian at Vitl, a UK-based personalised nutrition company on a mission to make optimal health accessible to all. At Vitl, Roxane is responsible for the AI-powered engine ensuring customers get bespoke solutions targeting their health goals on the basis of diet & lifestyle factors with the option to further personalise with blood and DNA data.

Roxane holds a bachelor in Nutrition & Dietetics from the Applied Sciences University in Nijmegen, Netherlands. She is also a member of the British Dietetic Association.

Veterinarian and continues to be active in livestock research. He received his PhD from Wageningen College & Research (WUR) with the thesis “FeedOmics”, a toolkit to evaluate (novel) protein feed ingredients from different origins considering their nutritional and functional value in terms of their ability to support or modify nutrient supply, animal physiology, tissue development and function.

He currently works for Wageningen Livestock Research, a research institute within WUR, that often provide service as a contract research organization in the Netherlands. As a senior scientist, he leads a variety of (inter)national, public-private partnerships, business-to-business programs and projects. Soumya’s current research interests range from cell to animal, including organoids (mini-organs) and microbiome research. As an expert in livestock research, Soumya is involved in several task force or think tank committees of various organizations and (inter)national agencies to formulate a broader vision for future livestock research.

Dr Vigors is an Assistant Professor of Animal Science and Microbiology in the School of Agriculture and Food Science, University College Dublin, Ireland. His research involves examining the impact of alterations in the gut microbiome and changes in gene expression in animal models of feed efficiency, nutrient supplementation, methane emissions, nitrogen metabolism and improving meat quality.

Ingénieur Chimiste INSA et Docteur en Sciences Pharmaceutiques,  j’ai démarré ma carrière dans le groupe Danone pendant 3 ans. Je me suis ensuite tournée vers l’industrie cosmétique tout d’abord chez Silab dans la valorisation de principes actifs naturels, puis au sein de l’entité de Recherche et Développement du Groupe Sothys au sein duquel j’ai exercé des missions de direction de laboratoire, puis direction R&D et direction scientifique.

J’ai ensuite rejoins il y a 6 ans les Laboratoires Pierre Fabre en tant que directrice scientifique pour la marque Naturactive, marque de phytothérapie, aromathérapie et médecine naturelle des Laboratoires Pierre Fabre. Puis j’ai complété ma formation par un DU en phytothérapie et aromathérapie.

Dr Valentin NENOV DVM, MBA joined Phileo Lesaffre Animal Care in 2014 as global ruminant manager. He is responsible for the global ruminant strategy of the company, development of innovative solutions and building the technical communication. He manages product development and launches in close collaboration with R&D, marketing, and commercial teams.

Dr. Valentin NENOV has master’s degree in veterinary medicine in 2003 and MBA in 2007.  He started his career as a practicing veterinarian after which he joined the pharmaceutical business and worked as a ruminant technical manager for leading animal health care companies in different countries. Dr Nenov has broad experience in intensive and extensive dairy and beef systems in Europe, Middle East, North America and Asia.

His experience in the dairy and beef sectors gives him a deep understanding of the needs for innovative solutions to improve animal efficiency, welfare, reduce environmental impact of livestock and improve farmers profitability for more sustainable farming.

In his role, he has a global perspective of the current and future trends and needs of the ruminant market.

Yves Desjardins is full professor at the Plant Science department and he is affiliated with the Institute of Nutrition and Functional Foods at Laval University, Québec Canada. He was recently appointed Dianafood-NSERC Industrial Chair on prebiotic effects of fruits and vegetables (PhenoBio⁺). Trained in plant physiology, he is conducting research on phytochemistry and functionality of bioactive compounds from plants. He is PI or collaborator on many major preclinical and clinical studies on type-2 diabetes, cognitive decline, low-grade inflammation, urinary tract infection, skin diseases, and oral infections. He is particularly interested in the effects of tannins on the gut microbiota and its interaction with the host mucosal immune and gut barrier function. Over the years, he has accompanied many horticultural and food processing companies in the development and the validation of the health benefits of horticultural commodities (e.g. Urophenol, Glucophenol, Neurophenol). At the international scene, he is recognized for his innovative research program on health effects of fruits and vegetables. He was the Chair first International Symposium on Health Effects of Fruits and Vegetables in Québec City (FAVHEALTH 2005) and the OECD Symposium – “Emerging Topics in Health Effects Fruit and Vegetables” in Lisbon, Portugal (2010). He organized in 2016 the International Strawberry Symposium (750 participants), which made a large place to health effects of this fruit. Recently (October 2017), he also organized the leading International Congress on Polyphenols and Health (www.ICPH2017-Québec.org) (>350 world renowned participants). His leadership in the field is recognized worldwide; he has been invited on numerous occasions to give keynote lectures at international meetings over the last few years (>20). He is the International relation director at INAF.  In this function, he is involved in many international research projects in France, Mexico, Italy, Brazil and Belgium.