IFSH - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Safety Officer, Instructor, IIT
Expertise
OSHA, DOT and EPA Compliance
Education
B.S. in Business Administration
M.B.A. (Marketing and International Business)
Education
Ph.D. Food Science
M.S. Food Technology
Job Titles:
- Accounting Associate, IIT
Job Titles:
- Vice President of Quality and Food Safety for the E. & J. Gallo Winery With Enterprise
Anne Kraus is Vice President of Quality and Food Safety for the E. & J. Gallo Winery with enterprise accountability for Quality and Food Safety Policy, Product Safety, Global Agrochemical and Recall Procedure Governance. Her teams have responsibility for ISO accredited laboratories, ISO food safety facility certification programs, food safety corporate audits, product stability research, manufacturing preventive controls, supplier quality, Analytical Chemistry, Product Safety, and Microbiology. Before joining E. & J. Gallo Winery in 2012, Anne worked at General Mills, Inc., and PepsiCo in various Quality Regulatory Operations and Innovation Technology Quality leadership roles for more than 25 years. She currently serves on the Food Allergy Research and Resource Program Board, The California Wine Institute Executive Advisory Committee, and is member of IAFP and GFSI. She holds a B.S. Food Science from Iowa State University and an MBA from the Carlson School of Management, University Minnesota.
Job Titles:
- Executive Director
- Executive Director, IFSH / Illinois Institute of Technology
Brian Schaneberg, Ph.D., is the Executive Director for IFSH, and Industry Professor of Food Science at Illinois Tech. Brian has more than 20 years working in the natural products and food industry with experience in food safety, quality, regulation, and science. Prior to joining IFSH, Brian was a director within the Global Food Safety, Quality, and Regulatory team at Starbucks Corporation with accountability in leading a team of scientists that interpret food and beverage regulations and consult with researchers and consortiums across multiple categories in areas such as coffee, nutrition, ingredients, claims substantiation, allergens, and risk assessments. Prior to Starbucks, Brian was the Quality & Food Saftey and Scientific & Regulatory Affairs Director for Mars Botanical, a division of Mars, Inc. focusing on cocoa flavanol science and product development. Before Mars Botanical, he was the Director of Technical Services at ChromaDex, Inc. in Irvine, California and was an Associate Research Scientist at the National Center for Natural Products Research at the University of Mississippi under the guidance of Dr. Ikhlas Khan, in a position funded by the US FDA for the development of methods to ensure the quality and safety of botanicals and dietary supplements. Over the years, Brian has worked closely with trade groups, industry, academia and government leaders. Most recently, a Special Guest Editor Section in Journal of AOAC International. He has been a member of various review committees including NIH grants, analytical validation ERPs at AOAC International, and the Registry of Carcinogens. Brian was made a Fellow of AOAC International and was the Chair of the Science Leadership Council at the National Coffee Association. Brian also had the pleasure of holding an adjunct faculty position at the University of Colorado, Denver, advising a student that received his MS in Analytical Chemistry isolating phytochemicals and developing analytical testing procedures for Horse Chestnut.
Brian has a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Virginia Commonwealth University and a B.A. in Chemistry with a minor in Biology from Central College in Iowa. He has authored or co-authored more than 100 publications and presentations.
Job Titles:
- Senior Support Scientist ( Microbiology ), IIT
Job Titles:
- Support Scientist - Microbiology, IIT
Job Titles:
- Staff Fellow ( Biologist ), FDA
Education
B.S. in Genomics and Molecular Biology
M.S. in Food Safety and Technology
Ph.D. in Food Science and Nutrition
Job Titles:
- Strategic Project Manager, IIT
Job Titles:
- Director of Global Food Safety at Abbott
Dana Limpert is the Director of Global Food Safety at Abbott where she provides leadership and technical support to the extensive network of suppliers and manufacturing sites supporting production of Abbott infant formula and medical nutritional products. Dana has more than 30 years of experience in food quality and safety with 21 of those years with Abbott in quality roles supporting manufacturing, R&D, microbiology and food safety. Dana holds a bachelor's degree in microbiology from The Ohio State University.
Job Titles:
- Motorola Chair Professor of Chemical Engineering, IIT Vice President for International Affairs
- Professor
- Vice President & Motorola Chair Professor in Chemical Engineering / Illinois Institute of Technology
Dr. Darsh Wasan has spent the past 40-plus years at IIT doing and being everything from department chairman, dean of engineering, vice president for research and technology, vice president for academic affairs and provost at the university. Dr. Wasan founded NCFST, working with the US Food and Drug Administration to establish the institute as an FDA Center of Excellence. He has co-authored more than 400 publications, and has been supervisor and mentor to sixty doctoral students, fifty-five M.S. students, and fifteen postdoctoral fellows. Among his numerous awards and honors, Dr. Wasan was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, one of the highest honors an engineer can be given in the US.
Expertise
NCFST founder and advisor
Education
B.S. in Chemical Engineering
Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering
Professor Wasan, who is currently serving as editor-in-chief of the Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, has research interests in the areas of interfacial and colloidal phenomena, foams, emulsions and dispersions, and food and environmental technologies.
Job Titles:
- FSPCA Administrative Officer, IIT
Job Titles:
- Associate Director
- Associate Director, IFSH / Illinois Institute of Technology
- Associate Director, IFSH, IIT
Dr. Jason Wan is the Associate Director for IFSH, and Professor of Food Science at Illinois Institute of Technology. Prior to joining IFSH in July 2009, Jason was a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne (1992- 1995), and a Senior Research Scientist and a Platform Manager at the Division of Food and Nutritional Sciences, Commonwealth Scientific Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), Australia (1995- 2009). Jason served on the former Steering Committee of FSPCA, as well as on a number of subcommittees of the Alliance, including Editorial, Implementation, and International subcommittees. Jason is a Trainer-of-Trainer for FSPCA Preventive Controls for Human Food, and for Foreign Supplier Verification Programs Lead Instructors courses.
Job Titles:
- Chairman
- Regional Regulatory Affairs Director at Unilever
Dr. Patrizia Barone is the Regional Regulatory Affairs Director at Unilever, leading the strategic regulatory activities for the North American region. Before joining Unilever, Patrizia held positions at Reckitt Benckiser, initially as Vice President of R&D for North America. She moved to Australia to head the Asia Pacific & South Asia R&D Laboratory, and upon her return held positions culminating as Global R&D Category Group Director - Regulatory Affairs & R&D Systems, responsible for product safety and regulatory strategies for all products globally. Earlier, Patrizia worked with Colgate-Palmolive and Miles, Inc. Household Products Division, a division of Bayer AG.
Job Titles:
- Director, Facilities, IIT
Education
B.S. in Forestry and Chemical Engineering
M.S. in Food Safety and Technology
Job Titles:
- Maintenance / Facilities Worker ( Utility Person II ), IIT
Job Titles:
- Executive
- Founder
- Member of the Board of Trustees
- President
- President and Founder of America 's Food Technologies, Inc
Ellen Jordan is President and Founder of America's Food Technologies, Inc. (AMFOTEK®) a privately held blending and packaging operation specializing in product development and manufacturing of custom and private label beverages for the foodservice and specialty coffee arenas. During her 30 year coffee career, Ms. Jordan has served on numerous coffee industry boards. She is past chairperson of the Coffee Quality Institute (CQI) and director of the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA). She is a recipient of the SCAA's Outstanding Contribution to the Industry Award for her work on coffee sensory evaluation and coffee quality assessment. She also serves as a member of the National Coffee Association's Scientific Advisory Group. In the private sector Ms. Jordan serves on the board of directors of the R.C. Bigelow Tea Company.
Ms. Jordan is a member of the Board of Trustees and Executive Committee of the Illinois Institute of Technology. She serves on the board of advisors of IIT's Knapp Entrepreneurship Center Knapp and is a member of the Board of Overseers of the Stuart School of Business. She also serves on the Board of Overseers of the Institute for Food Safety and Health
Job Titles:
- ORISE Research Fellow, FDA
Job Titles:
- Associate Director of Research, FDA
Expertise
thermal process engineering and microbiology, emerging microbial pathogens
Education
2008 Ph.D. - University of Tennessee Food Science and Technology
1994 M.S. - Clemson University Agricultural Engineering
1988 B.S. - Clemson University Agricultural Engineering
Job Titles:
- Research Chemical Engineer, FDA
Job Titles:
- Administrative Assistant, IIT
Job Titles:
- Maintenance / Facilities Worker ( Utility Person I ), IIT
Job Titles:
- Administrative Assistant, FDA
Job Titles:
- Scientist ( Microbiology ), IIT
Job Titles:
- Co - CEO and Co - Founder / Tilia Holdings, LLC
- Co - CEO and Co - Founder of Tilia Holdings
Johannes Burlin is Co-CEO and Co-Founder of Tilia Holdings, LLC, a Private Equity firm that focuses exclusively on investing in companies that provide services in the food supply chain. Mr. Burlin has 25 years of professional experience as an operating executive, including most recently serving as President and Operating Partner of Safe Foods Holdings International, LLC. From 2008 to 2013, Mr. Burlin was President of Silliker Laboratories, Inc., North America and prior to that served as CEO and Chairman of Advanced Bioscience Laboratories, Inc. Mr. Burlin is trained as an M&A attorney and served as General Counsel of bioMerieux, Inc., prior to moving into domestic and international business development and operational roles. Johannes holds a Bachelor of Arts from Hamilton College and a Juris Doctor from Georgetown University Law Center.
Job Titles:
- Support Scientist - Chemistry, IIT
Job Titles:
- Pilot Plant Technician, IIT
Job Titles:
- Support Scientist ( Microbiology ), IIT
Job Titles:
- Vice President, Research & Development / Hormel Foods Corporate Services, LLC
Dr. Myers has worked for Hormel Foods for 12 years in the company's Research and Development department and has more that 26 years of industry Research and Development experience. In his current position, Dr. Myers is responsible for managing all product, process and package development, applied research, microbiology and chemistry labs, sensory labs and process authorities for Hormel Foods. He is a member of the Minnesota Food Safety & Defense Task Force, the American Meat Science Association, the Institute of Food Technologists, the Grocery Manufacturer's Association Science & Regulatory Affairs Council, and the American Meat Institute's Scientific Affairs Committee.
Job Titles:
- Chief, Process Engineering Branch, Division of Food Processing Science & Technology, FDA
Job Titles:
- Vice President, Quality & Food Safety
Lee's passion for quality and food safety can be traced back to his Idaho roots where he graduated for Idaho State University in Biology. Even before graduation, Lee began working within the function within the dairy industry. Lee has worked in a variety of prominent food ingredient and CPG manufacturers where he has gained extensive experience in quality, food safety, with a specific heart for the customer and delivering customer satisfaction. Currently Lee leads the global Quality and Food Safety function at ADM - one of the world's largest food companies, and for the 14th consecutive year, Fortune Magazine has listed ADM as one of the most admired food companies.
Job Titles:
- Support Scientist ( Microbiology ), FDA
Job Titles:
- Associate Director of Food Safety / Kraft Heinz Company
Job Titles:
- Associate Director of Food Safety at the Kraft Heinz Company
Lori Ledenbach is the Associate Director of Food Safety at the Kraft Heinz Company. She has worked for Kraft Heinz for 43 years, all at the KraftHeinz Innovation Center in Glenview, IL. Much of her career has been spent working with product developers assessing microbial safety and stability for new products in the salad dressing, frozen entrée, pizza, natural cheese, and process cheese categories. She helped create the training curriculum for Better Process Control School for LACF Process Cheese, is a Lead Instructor and Trainer of Trainers for FSPCA Preventive Controls for Human Foods, and a Lead Instructor for FSPCA Foreign Supplier Verification Program and Intentional Adulteration Vulnerability Assessment courses. She has a B.S. degree in Biological Sciences from Northern Illinois University and a M.S. degree in Food Science from the University of Illinois.
Job Titles:
- Administrative Assistant, FDA
Job Titles:
- Support Scientist ( Chemistry ), IIT
Job Titles:
- Director of the Office of Food Safety
- Director, Office Foodof Safety
Mark Moorman is the Director of the Office of Food Safety at the Food Drug and Administration within the Human Foods Program. Mark leads a team of food safe ty professionals pushing forward the many levers of prevention that will improve the safety of our food supply. Prior to joining the FDA, Mark was the Senior Director of Global Scientific & Regulatory Affairs for the Kellogg Company in Battle Creek, MI with responsibilities for emerging food safety and nutrition technical and regulatory issues. Prior to joining the Kellogg Company in 1998, Mark spent 10 years with Silliker Laboratories as the Technical Director of Microbiology. Mark has his undergraduate and Ph.D. degrees from Michigan State University in Microbiology and Food Science.
Job Titles:
- Research Microbiologist / ORISE Research Fellow
Job Titles:
- Administrative Assistant, IIT
Job Titles:
- Vice President of Food Safety
Ms. Lisa R. Robinson is Vice President of Food Safety and Public Health for Ecolab Inc. and has 30 years of food industry experience. Lisa leads a global network of Ecolab food safety and public health resources and is responsible for the functional leadership of the company's food safety and public health strategies. She also provides leadership, technical expertise and consultation to internal and external customers on food safety and public health issues. Lisa joined Ecolab in 2019, following nine years at SunOpta, Inc., where she was Vice President of Food Safety and Quality Assurance. She previously held positions in operations, food safety, quality and regulatory compliance at Target Corporation, Pepsi Bottling Group, General Mills, Inc., and Schreiber Foods, Inc. Lisa has a Master's degree in Food Safety and a Bachelor's degree in Food Science from Michigan State University.
Job Titles:
- Division Director, Division of Food Processing Science and Technology, FDA
Job Titles:
- Scientist Microbiology, IIT
Job Titles:
- Scientist ( Microbiology ), IIT
Job Titles:
- Director, Information Technology, IIT
Job Titles:
- Research Scientist / ORISE Research Fellow, FDA
Job Titles:
- Professional Service Graduate Scholarship, FL Section IFT
Job Titles:
- Research Food Technologist, FDA
Job Titles:
- Staff Fellow ( Biologist ), FDA
Stefanie N. Evans, Ph.D., rejoined Conagra Brands in 2021 after 7 years away that included positions with WhiteWave Foods/Danone, Kite Hill and small start-ups. In her previous role at Conagra she was in charge of a team of microbiologists in the laboratory and enterprise wide that supported manufacturing, R&D, regulatory, co-manufacturer's and suppliers. She now heads the Food Protection and Regulatory Affairs and Analytical and Applied Sciences department. In this role, Dr. Evans leads teams of scientists in the Safety Sciences including microbiology, toxicology, foreign material, and analytical chemistry. Stefanie has 20 years of experience in the food industry across large companies and small start-ups in broad categories of food and beverages including ready to eat, plant based, fermented, and organic. She has a Ph.D. in food science with a focus on food safety microbiology from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and has developed expertise in food manufacturing, quality systems, risk management, and delivering quality products to the market.
Job Titles:
- Consumer Safety Officer, FDA
Job Titles:
- Business Development & Communication Manager
- Business Development & Communication Manager, IIT
- Manager, Business Development & Communication, IIT
Job Titles:
- Research Chemical Engineer, FDA
Vik Dutta is currently working as a Senior Director, Scientific Affairs bioMérieux Inc. Prior to his current role, he was employed as a Senior Microbiologist at the Enteric Disease Laboratory Branch at CDC, Atlanta, GA. Vik earned his doctorate in Veterinary Medicine from MAFSU India, and a PhD in Microbiology from NC State University, Raleigh, NC. Vik has been working with various aspects of food safety and food-borne pathogens for over 16 years with work experience ranging from basic to applied science, including development/commercialization of isothermal/PCR-based tests, and WGS-based detection and subtyping tests. He has authored or co-authored over 20 peer-reviewed articles/book chapters. He currently serves on the editorial board for various Food Safety journals including J. Food Protection and the Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, and is an active member of various food safety organizations. Vik is a reviewer/contributor for a number of microbiology journals and other food safety publications, and has been granted patents on improving the isothermal nucleic acid amplification technology. Throughout his career, Vik has been awarded multiple times for his contributions to the field from institutions and groups such as the CDC, and honor societies.
Job Titles:
- Senior Director, Scientific Affairs / BioMérieux, Inc.
Job Titles:
- Senior Support Scientist, IIT
Job Titles:
- Professor of Food Science, IIT
Job Titles:
- Chief Science Officer, Food Safety / the National Food Lab
Wilfredo Ocasio holds a Bachelor's and Master's Degrees in Food Science from Kansas State University and a Doctorate's degree in Food Microbiology from the University of Illinois. He started his professional career in 1989 as Project Microbiologist with the National Food Processors Association in Washington, D.C. In 1992, he was named Microbiology Division Manager for the NFPA in Dublin, CA and later became Vice President, Food Safety Group, for the National Food Laboratory, LLC. His professional career include 23 years of experience in the validation of low-acid aseptic processing and packaging equipment, thermal bacteriology research, HACCP, CGMP's, and general food microbiology. In his current position, Ocasio is in charge of a team of 30 scientists and engineers dedicated to research in the areas of food processing and microbiology. Ocasio was recently appointed to serve in the National Advisory Committee on the Microbiological Criteria for Foods which provides scientific advice and recommendations to the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). He is a member of the Institute of Food Technologist, International Association for Food Protection and the Institute for Thermal Processing Specialists.
Job Titles:
- Research Microbiologist, FDA
Job Titles:
- Chemist / ORISE Research Fellow, FDA
Job Titles:
- Support Scientist - Microbiology, IIT
Job Titles:
- Research Food Technologist / Packaging Scientist, FDA