Dr Alain Strasser is Engineer in Nuclear Physics and has a PhD in Radiation Physics from the University of Strasbourg (France). He has especially worked on the optimization of industrial X-ray targets. He was part of the team that created, 37 years ago, the French Technology Resources Centre Aerial. As
Kathleen O’Donnell is the Director, Food Science and Regulatory Affairs at Wegmans Food Markets. Her responsibilities include food safety, emerging issues, and developing quality/food safety programs for various operations at manufacturing and retail. Kathleen is responsible for regulatory compliance at Wegmans. Wegmans Food Markets is a family-owned supermarket chain with
President IBA Industrial With a background in mechanical engineering, Thomas Servais is managing IBA Industrial for more than 6 years. In addition, he is a professor of applied mechanics at the university of Louvain-La-Neuve (UCL). Having started his career more than 20 years ago, he spent about 9 years in
Son Vo is the Deputy General Director at An Phu Irradiation JSC (Vietnam) from 2017. An Phu Irradiations was founded in 2003 with the goals to assisting food processing, agricultural products, medical devices and traditional medicines companies for their sterilisation, quality assurance and post-harvest needs using Gamma, E-beam and X-ray
Kendall is currently a 4th year Ph.D. student in the Department of Food Science & Technology under Dr. Suresh Pillai. The Pillai Lab’s research area focuses on electron beam (eBeam) technology when used in the food, healthcare, and environmental remediation industries. Kendall’s dissertation research focuses on the use of eBeam technology
Anna Lucia C. H. Villavicencio has a degree in Biological Sciences from the Santa Ursula University (1979) at Rio de Janeiro State; Master Degree in Basic Nuclear Technology in the area of Radiobiology, University of São Paulo at the Institute of Energy and Nuclear Research (USP/IPEN), São Paulo State (1989);
Karl Swanson is the President of PCT Ebeam and Integration. In this role he has the privilege of leading an outstanding team that delivers innovative electron beam and x-ray systems, provides system integration services and takes pride in our customer service and support. Since joining PCT in 1995, his previous
Misha Robyn, DVM, MPH, DACVPM, is an Epidemiologist with CDC’s Outbreak Response and Prevention Branch and lead for the Prevention, Evaluation, and Analysis Team. Her team works to identify and promote effective interventions to prevent multistate foodborne outbreaks of common bacterial pathogens (i.e., Salmonella, STEC E. coli, and Listeria monocytogenes).
Michael Ablan has worked in the Outbreak Response and Prevention Branch within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention since 2019 where he now serves as an evaluator. He has led multiple evaluations including developing performance indicators for the outbreak response process, a needs assessment for state department capacity to
A graduate of North Carolina State University, Dr. Laura Jeffers started her career in insecticide development at Rhône-Poulenc, an agricultural chemical company, in Research Triangle Park, NC. In 2007, Laura made the jump from insect physiologist to regulatory entomologist when she joined the USDA-APHIS Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) Exotic
Ariadnne Vargas Rivadeneira, is a Product Manager at the Product Management and Innovation team at IBA. She is also leading the Phytosanitary Irradiation Platform (PsIP) at the International Irradiation Association (iia). She has been involved in the irradiation industry since 2019, when she was head of the Industrial Applications Unit
Steven Robin-Chabanne is a Nuclear and software engineer at TRAD. He works on the development of the Monte-Carlo simulation software RayXpert since 2018 and is working on the implementation of new methods to help the usage of modeling tool in the Radiation Processing industry.
Aaron Lavallee was appointed the Deputy Assistant Administrator for the Office of Public Affairs and Consumer Education (OPACE) in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) in June 2012. In this capacity, he is responsible for planning and executing communication programs that inform and educate a
Dr. Maehler PhD earned a BS in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology from Univ. of Calif., Santa Barbara and a PhD in Biochemistry from Univ. of Calif., Davis. His professional career started as Sr. Scientist for Basic Vegetable Products, then Quaker Oats Company, then Dir Research and ultimately President/COO of Heller
Dr. John Golding is a Principle Research Scientist in Horticultural Market Access with NSW Department of Primary Industries in Australia. John has been working in horticultural postharvest and market access development for over 25 years and his work focusses on maintaining and improving market access outcomes for industry. He has
Harlan Clemmons is the President and Owner, along with his wife, of HBC Holdings, LLC dba Sadex. He purchased the Sioux City electron beam facility in January of 2020 from Sadex Corporation. Harlan is responsible for all aspects of the Sioux City facility. From 2005 to 2019, Harlan was President and
Cherin Balt is the Managing Director of the multipurpose gamma irradiation facility in Cape Town, HEPRO, a member of the IIA as well as various other South African food technology and business organisations. She has been involved in the irradiation industry since 1992 when she joined HEPRO Cape on completion
Afi Momin stands as the esteemed representative of Pakam Trading, a pioneering produce importing firm that has ushered in a new era of Pakistani mango imports into the United States. As a third-generation leader in this family-owned enterprise, Afi is deeply committed to delivering an exceptional culinary experience to American
Dr. KatieRose McCullough serves as the director of science and public health at the North American Meat Institute where she provides expertise on a variety of topics including: meat science, food safety, meat consumption, public health, and more. As the scientist for NAMI, McCullough works to ensure policies are created
Mr. Pelletier is currently the CEO of Reveam, Inc., a pioneering food safety technology company that revolutionizes the way the world’s fresh food supply comes to market by eliminating pests and pathogens and extending the useful shelf-life of fresh produce without impacting taste or appearance. Using their advanced E-Beam technology,
Ben is passionate about advancing agricultural trade, through the development of pathways to market that exceed biosecurity and environmental requirements without compromise to commercial qualities. Since 2016 he has been the fresh produce business manager for Steritech, growing the business to service over 60 crops supplied to numerous domestic and
Professor – Molecular Microbiologist Author – TEDx Speaker Electron Beam Technology Expert- Microbiology – Microorganisms in built and natural environments Suresh Pillai is the Professor of Molecular Microbiology and Texas A&M AgriLife Research Faculty Fellow at Texas A&M University. He is also the Director of Texas A&M University’s National Center
Dr. Angie Siemens is the Vice President of Food Safety Strategic Initiatives for Cargill, Inc. in Wichita, Kansas. She is focused on Salmonella Mitigation and Policy and serves as Crisis Manager. Previously she served for 17 years as Vice President for Food Safety, Quality & Regulatory for Cargill Protein North
Frank Benso is the Founder/CEO of Gateway America. Frank ‘s career in the perishable food industry included several key executive positions, one of which was with Daymon & Associates, the largest domestic food brokerage company where he headquartered in Manhattan, New York City. In this capacity, Frank directed a team
André is a PhD candidate in economics in the School of Economic Sciences Washington State University in Pullman, Washington. His research concentration is in Macroeconomics, Quantitative Economics, and Applied Microeconomics. His research has focused on the impact of government policies on individual choice. In particular, he has conducted research on
Vice President, Quality Assurance and Food Safety Tammi Frederick has over 30 years of experience in the food industry with expertise in food safety, quality, product development and regulatory. Tammi is the Vice President, Quality Assurance and Food Safety for H-E-B. During her 17 years with H-E-B, she has served
Jeremy Brison, PhD Director of Product & Innovation Jeremy Brison has been working for IBA in R&D and innovation since 2011. Before joining IBA, Jeremy was a researcher in the field of Physics and Bioengineering for more than 10 years in prestigious universities and research programs. Jeremy attended the accelerated
Anuradha Prakash, Ph.D., is Professor of Food Science at Chapman University in Orange, CA. She teaches Food Processing and Preservation and Food Product Development. She serves as the faculty advisor for the Chapman Coffee Club which explores the science and art of making a great cup of coffee. She is
Cody Wilson is Managing Director, Americas at IBA Industrial. He has extensive experience integrating electron beam accelerators into systems for various applications and is an expert on radiation interactions and effects. He currently focuses on managing the North American based organization focused on providing accelerator-based systems for medical device sterilization,
As a passionate food entrepreneur and former growth marketer, Gillian runs her own food solution brand in New York. With a 30-year family background in the irradiation industry, she understands the potential of irradiation technology. Her focus is on driving wellness food innovation, sustainable agriculture, and promoting cross-regional and cross-industry
Jayakar ‘CHarles’ Thangaraj is Fermilab’s Sr. Technology Development and Commercialization manager. CHarles has served as Principal Investigator on several accelerator projects and is now leading efforts to build a powerful compact electron accelerator based on superconducting technology for industrial applications. He is a champion of innovation and technology commercialization initiatives.
Dr. Gabriel Hughes is a risk manager entomologist with USDA-APHIS Plant Protection (PPQ) and Quarantine, where he develops import requirements for fruits and vegetables to ensure they are free from pests. These requirements range from insect trapping and orchard sanitation to phytosanitary treatments such as irradiation and serve to reduce
Frederic Dessy, medical physicist, after 14 years in radiation therapy and radiology, he moved to IBA, working for proton therapy, participating in the development of the pencil beam scanning technique, integration of Treatment Planning System and Oncology Information System. Leading, as industrial cochair, the DICOM RTion group ensuring good communication
In 2009, Dr Blackburn joined the Joint FAO/IAEA Centre of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture, as their food irradiation specialist. Based at the IAEA Headquarters in Vienna, Austria, he also continues to work in the area of radioactivity in food, nuclear and radiological emergency preparedness and response in relation
