Dr. Tony Jin is a senior research scientist at the Eastern Regional Research Center, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture. He received BS degree from Zhejiang Ocean University in China in 1981. He earned MS in Food Engineering and Ph.D. in Food Science from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1992 and 1995, respectively. Dr. Jin was a post-doctoral researcher at the Ohio State University and then pilot plant manager for four years. He also worked as a senior food technologist at Eagle Foods Inc. before joined USDA in 2005. Dr. Jin has over 30 years of professional experience in food engineering, food science and technology in academia, industry and government. His research focuses on nonthermal processing and advanced packaging technologies to enhance safety, improve quality, and extend shelf-life of foods. Dr. Jin has organized/chaired symposiums/sessions in multiple international conferences, authored/co-authored over 60 peer-reviewed scientific journal articles, 15 proceeding publications, 10 invited book chapters, over 80 meeting presentations at national/ international conferences, and have 7 granted and pending US patents. He received two the most cited journal article awards, the distinguished Gold Medalist Award in Scientific Achievement and Bronze Medalist in Technical Accomplishment from the U.S. Federal Executive Board.

Development of antimicrobial and controlled released packaging systems and other non-thermal intervention technologies for enhancing safety, improving quality, and extending shelf-life of various foods. Special symposium: Innovative approaches to improve food quality and safety with nonthermal processing and active packaging.

Dr. Bassam Annous is a Research Microbiologist at the USDA-ARS-ERRC, in Wyndmoor, PA; earned B.S. and M.S. from the American University of Beirut, and Ph.D. from the University of Illinois; 36+ years of research experience in the areas of microbial food safety, food science and engineering, food packaging, and microbial physiology and biotechnology; has extensive experience working on chlorine dioxide gas and thermal treatments for decontaminating fresh and fresh-cut produce; developed and validated novel thermal and non-thermal surface pasteurization technologies capable of reaching and inactivating human pathogens attached to inaccessible sites within biofilms on produce surfaces; has transferred thermal technology to industry; has authored/co-authored 70+ peer-reviewed publications, review articles, and book chapters; presented 90+ invited talks at national and international meetings and universities in USA, Japan, Canada, Australia, Dubai, and Mexico; served as an expert panellist on four FAO-WHO panels on Food Safety and Security; currently working with the U.N. Development Program on developing food safety guidance for the Lebanese food industry.

Microbial food safety, food science and engineering, food packaging, and microbial physiology and biotechnology

Karl R. Matthews, Ph.D., is a Professor of Food Microbiology in the Department of Food Science at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. He serves as Chair of the Department of Food Science. Matthews’ research addresses farm-to-fork food safety issues. His research covers elucidating at the molecular level the interaction of human enteric pathogens with plants to developing novel sanitizers to improve the microbial safety of fresh fruits and vegetables from post-harvest processing to retail practices. He serves as Principle and Co-principle investigator on USDA and private grants. He is actively engaged in teaching at the undergraduate and graduate level and served as the Food Science undergraduate program director. Matthews has given presentations and lectures throughout the world and taught a Food Microbiology course at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China. He has received awards recognizing both his teaching and research. He serves on both NIH and USDA panels and on the editorial boards for several journals. He is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Food safety. Matthews is editor of Microbiology of Fresh Produce, co-author of Food Microbiology – An Introduction, and senior-editor of The Produce Contamination Problem – causes and solutions. He has published more than 200 abstracts, peer reviewed papers, and book chapters.

Farm-to-fork food safety issues Improve the microbial safety of fresh fruits and vegetables from post-harvest processing to retail practices

John Tsaknis has completed his Ph.D. and Postdoctoral studies from Lincolnshire University, School of Food Sciences and is a chartered chemist from the Royal Society of Chemistry, UK. He is full professor and Dean in the School of Food Technology and Nutrition in Athens Greece. He is a member of the Standing Committee "Residues and Chemical Contaminants" in the International Dairy Federation (IDF) and Reviewer of 7 international scientific journals. He has published more than 40 papers in reputed journals and participated in more than 30 international conferences and has been serving as an editorial board member of repute.

Food Safety, Nanotechnology, Food Technology, Food Chemistry, Nutrition

Francisco Noe Arroyo-López is a researcher from the Food Biotechnology Department of Instituto de la Grasa (IG-CSIC, Seville, Spain). He is graduated in biological science by the University of Jaén (Spain), and received his Ph.D. degree from the University of Seville (Spain). His expertise focuses on table olives and fermented vegetables, in particular to the study of the microbiology of these processes, as supported by his published work in diverse reputed journals and books (>90 papers and chapters), participation in international congress (>50), and direction as leader investigator of diverse public and private grants. His multidisciplinary work encompassed various disciplines such as food microbiology, biotechnology, molecular biology, predictive microbiology and food safety. He is also teacher in several international masters and courses of table olives sponsored by CSIC and International Olive Oil Council, and coordinator of diverse courses of food microbiology.

Study of microbiology of table olive fermentations for development of more stable, safer and healthier product (synbiotic olives). Selection of microorganisms with multifunctional (probiotic and technological) features.

Education: Master (1982) Biochemistry (Agricultural Biochemistry Department, Ain Shams University, Egy). Ph.D. Organic Chemistry (Michigan State University, USA, 1990). Occupations: Professor of Chemistry in Agricultural Biochemistry Department, Ain Shams University, Egy (2000-present), and head of the department (2007-2010). Member of the Permanent Scientific Committee of Promoting Professors and Associate Professors Egy (2008-2010). Visiting Professor at Umm Al-Qura (1994-2000) and Dammam Universites (2010-2015) SA. Regular referee of some reputed journals (IF 2-3.5).

Agricultural & Food Chemistry, enzyme kinetics & inhibition, computational chemistry, QSAR and spectroscopy. Published > 40 papers, most of them in international journals with IF 1.0-4.0.

Dr. Hesham Farouk Oraby is currently working as an Assistant Professor of Molecular Biology at Zagazig University (Egypt) and a Visiting Assistant Professor of Molecular Biology at Laval University, Canada. Dr. Oraby obtained his Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from Michigan State University (USA, 2006). As a post-doctoral researcher, Dr. Oraby continued his research in top ranked universities in different countries such Michigan State University (USA), University of Florida (USA), Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (Canada), and Laval University (Canada). Dr. Oraby was recognized as Arab Distinguished Fellow from the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, and NSERC Distinguished Fellow from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Canada. He published 16 papers, reviews in international peer-reviewed journals with high impact factor as well as some book chapters. He participated and invited as a guest speaker in more than 45 international conferences. Since 1998, Dr. Oraby is considered reviewer and editor for several highly cited international journals.

Molecular biology, plant physiology, biochemistry and biotechnology.

Prof. Dr. Mohamed F. R. Hassanien is currently working as a Professor of Biochemistry at Zagazig University (Egypt). Prof. Hassanien obtained his Ph.D. (Dr.rer.nat.) in Food Chemistry from Berlin University of Technology (Germany, 2004). As post-doctoral researcher, Prof. Hassanien continued his research in ranked universities in different countries such University of Helsinki (Finland), Max-Rubner Institute (Germany), Berlin University of Technology (Germany), and University of Maryland (USA). In 2010, he was invited to be visiting Professor (100% research) at King Saud University in Saudi Arabia. In 2012, he was invited to be visiting Professor (100% teaching) in School of Biomedicine, Far Eastern Federal University in Vladivostok, Russian Federation. He published more than 130 papers, reviews in international peer-reviewed journals with high impact factor as well as some books and book chapters (recent h-index is 26). He was participated and invited speaker in several international conferences. Since 2003, Prof. Hassanien is a reviewer and editor in many highly-cited international journals. He received Abdul Hamid Shoman Prize for Young Arab Researcher in Agricultural Sciences (2006), Egyptian State Prize for Encouragement in Agricultural Sciences (2009), European Young Lipid Scientist Award (2009), AU-TWAS Young Scientist National Awards (Egypt) in Basic Sciences, Technology and Innovation (2013), and Atta-ur- Rahman Prize in Chemistry (2014).

chemistry of bioactive compounds and impact of processing on functionality and properties of food components.

Francesco Vizzarri, PhD: Doctoral degree in Welfare, Biotechnology and Quality of Animal Production at University of Molise, Italy. Member of several Italian Ministry Research Project and International Collaboration in Slovakia. I have acquired specific skills in laboratory activities on the use of instruments for the analysis of animal feed and the analysis of products of animal origin, meat, milk and eggs (chemical composition, fatty acid profile, oxidative status, phenolic composition, sensory qualities), as well as on blood tests for the study of metabolic profile in farm animals (blood biochemical parameters, plasma oxidative status, KRL test, phenolic composition in plasma, plasma fatty acid composition). I have acquired skills on the following equipment: Fibertech, Sooxleth, Kjildal, GasChromatography, HPLC, Spectrophotometer, semi-automatic analyzer model ARCO for clinical analysis, flame photometer, EMAT cell counter, micro-plate reader. Author of several publications on various scientific Journals and participation to international and national conferences and congress. Teaching experience: in 2013 and in 2014 teaching lecture in Animal Production course and member of Examination Committee at the University of Molise, Italy. Referee member for “Scienza e Ricerca”, “Current Research in Agricultural Sciences”, “Poultry Science” and “Archives of Animal Breeding” scientific journal.

“Effect of breeding and genotype on growing performance in broilers”

MSc (Hons.) in Food Science & Technology, working as a Senior Food Specialist with 12 years of progressive experience and proven record of significant successful contribution in Food Service Management Dept.'s operational improvements by handling food safety and quality issues and assigned projects i.e., The 1st & 2nd Kuwait food safety conferences, process improvement , supplier management (evaluation & approval) and food safety management system's implementation verification at Ministry of Health hospitals' Food Service Departments through Food Service Management Department, Ministry of Health, Kuwait. In addition to her basic qualification and work experience at food Service Management Department, she has successfully achieved Food Safety Management System – ISO 22000, Occupational Health and Safety Assessment System- OHSAS 18001, Environmental Management System – ISO 14001 and Quality Management System – ISO 9001 Auditor/ Lead Auditor certifications and has hands on experience of implementation and verification of the same.

Food Safety Management System – ISO 22000 Occupational Health and Safety Assessment System- OHSAS 18001 Environmental Management System – ISO 14001 and Quality Management System – ISO 9001

Dr Sukhcharn Singh is presently working as Professor in the department of Food Engineering and Technology at Sant Longowal Institute of Engineering and Technology. He has published more than 35 research papers in International journal and 42 papers in national and international conferences. He has guided 16 B. Tech and 10 M Tech research projects. He is also supervising 5 Ph.D. students as supervisor in the area of processing and utilization of pseudo-cereals. He has attended various conferences and short term courses at national and international levels. He has handled two research projects funded by ICAR and CSIR, New Delhi. He has also published three books in the area of food processing. Punjab Academy of Sciences awarded him Young Scientist Award at 10th Punjab Science Congress. Presently he is involved in Teaching Academic and Research activities and currently working on gluten free products from different pseudo-cereals.

Processing, Utilization and Development of Gluten Free Products from different pseudo-cereals.

Dr.Pushpa S Murthy is presently working as a Senior Scientist at Department of Spices and Flavor Science. She received her Ph.D. degree in Biotechnology at Mysore University, India. and also recipient of UNU-Kirin fellow from United Nations University. Her primary field is Microbiology and biotechnology with research emphasis on food biotechnology. She is Her research work involves production of value-added products, Food and Pharmaceutical components, bioactivity evaluation of the isolated plant extracts or synthesized compounds on food borne pathogenic microbes and application of the bioactive molecules for food safety. She holds patents, process know –how and is the author of peer-reviewed papers, book chapters, and reviews. She is a fellow of society for applied biotechnology, member of Association of microbiologist of India, society of Biological sciences and also association of Food scientist and technologist of India.

Food Biotechnology

After post graduation from IARI, New Delhi, he joined as Scientist in the Division of Fruits & Hort. Technology, IARI, New Delhi in 1997. At present, he is working as Principal Scientist at the Division of Food Science & Postharvest Technology, IARI, New Delhi. He is associated with release of mango hybrids like Pusa Arunima, Pusa Surya, Pusa Lalima, Pusa Shresth, Pusa Pitamber etc. and standardization of several fruit production and postharvest management technologies. He has published 120 research articles in journals of repute, 170 popular articles, 12 technical manuals and authored 12 books. He is recipient of Rajiv Gandhi Award of Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt of India, Educationa Award, MJRD, Govt of India, Dr. R.N. Singh award (twice) of IARI, New Delhi, Dr Rajinder Prasad award (twice) of ICAR, New Delhi, and Himachal Shri Award. He has also served as International Mango Registrar for about 5 years (1999-2004). He is a member, editorial board of 8 International Journals including Scientia Horticulturae, International Journal of Fruit Science (U.K.), American Journal of Plant Sciences (US), Journal of Food Processing and Technology (US), and Stewart Postharvest Reviews (UK), and Chief Editor of International Journal of Processing and Postharvest Technology, India.

Pre and post harvest management of fruits and vegetables, minimal processing of fruits and vegetables, eco-friendly approaches for post harvest management of fruits and vegetables.

Dr. Khan holds Ph.D. degree in Food Technology and have post-doctorate from Seoul National University, South Korea in area of meat non-thermal processing. His research is focused in the areas of Meat Science and Functional Foods development. He completed a research project on “Tackling metabolic syndrome by developing functional foods” and currently in progress projects are “Development, evaluation and promoting of cost effective and low polluting fish feed for Labeo rohita to enhance productivity” and “Development of Conditioned (Omega-3 rich) meat and eggs through modifications in feed ingredients”. The laboratory work is focused on exploring potential of agricultural waste to utilize as a source of natural antioxidant in broiler feed. The research work is focused on to ensure best quality meat products to consumers. Dr. Khan published 80 peer reviewed research articles, 01 book on meat processing and contributed 05 book chapters. Dr. Khan is life time member of Pakistan Society of Food Scientists and Technologists and actively engaged in activities organized by the society.

Development of healthier meat products, rapid assessment of meat quality and authenticity

Huada Daniel Ruan, Dual PhD, Professor and Founding Head of the Department of Environmental Science, Beijing Normal University-Hong Kong Baptist University United International College (UIC). Prof. Ruan earned his first PhD in Mineralogy from The University of Western Australia, and second PhD in Chemistry from Queensland University of Technology. He has a background in chemistry, earth sciences, environmental science, and biological science with more than 25 years of experience in teaching and research in Australia, the U.S., Mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau, and published more than 120 articles. Prof. Ruan is the pioneer researcher established non-point water pollution index in Australia, found and confirmed that 0.02 ppm of phosphorus is the critical value of water eutrophication. His research achievement also include mineral chemistry at Queensland University of Technology, Australia that contributed to a significant increase (2-5%) in the extraction of alumina from bauxite; the bio-chemical remediation of contaminated soils at Purdue University U.S.A. had contributed to the stabilization of heavy metals Cr and Pb biologically and chemically; participation in air pollution monitoring, indoor air quality, food safety and labeling, electronic waste treatment and certification in Hong Kong; and food safety and human health relating to environmental pollutants at UIC. He has been invited to be the Adjunct Professor, Griffith University, Australia, Visiting Professor, South China Agricultural University, Visiting Research Professor, Research Institute of Ecology and Soil Science, Guangdong Academy of Science, Honorary Consultant, Hong Kong Institute of Environmentalist, Vice Chairman of the Environmental Subcommittee, Hong Kong Association of Testing, Inspection and Certification, Jury Member of Court, Queensland, Australia， Zhuhai City Committee Member of Emergency Management. He is a Certified Auditor of ISO9001 and ISO14001, editor/reviewer of international journals, organizing committee member and keynote speaker of international conferences and an active member of a number of international professional associations.

Food safety and human health relating to environmental pollutants, water/soil pollution and remediation, stabilization of heavy metals, pollution monitoring, indoor air quality, food safety and labeling, solid waste treatment and recycling.

Muien Muhamad Qaryouti is the Director of Horticultural Research Directorate at the NCARE. Director General Assistant for Research at NCARE (2012- present).National coordinator of postharvest component" Middle East Regional Agricultural Programme" phase II, funded by Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA).(2009-2011). Member of the international Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS) (2005-present). Consultant in Global GAP & HACCP certificates 2005- present).Organizer of The First ISHS International Symposium on "Fresh Food Quality Standards: Better Food by Quality and Assurance". May 7 - 11, 2006. Amman. Jordan. Acta Horticulturae No. 741. Coordinator of the FAO Regional Working Group on Greenhouse Crop Production in the Mediterranean Region (2006- 2012).Researcher at the National Center for Agricultural Research and Extension (1994 – present). Director of Horticultural Research directorate (2005- 2012).

Effect of soil/water salinity on some vegetable growth, yield and fruit quality,soilless growing media, water stresses on plant growth, fruit yield and quality and some postharvest managements, storage temperatures on some vegetable and fruit trees fruit quality and shelf life.

Anas Al-Nabulsi is Associate Professor , Food microbiology ,Jordan University of Science and Technology. He obtained his Ph.D in Food Microbiology. University of Manitoba, Canada ,2006. He started his career in university as Assistant Professor , Food microbiology , Jordan University of Science and Technology Sep, 2006-Sep, 2011.He has more than 40 publications in national and international journals

natural antimicrobials,safety of fresh food and processed food products,foodborne pathogens.

Fawzi Al-Sheyab is Associate Professor, 2005-2007 Head, Department of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering and 2000-2007 Assistant Professor. He obtained his Ph.D. in Molecular Biology at University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USA 1999. He started his career in 1981 as supervisor in medical lab.He started his teaching career in 1999. He organised few conferences and awarded 1993 Microbiology Teaching award- American Society for Microbiology-USA 1991-1993 Fulbright Scholarship 2005 The American Academy of Continuing Medical Education / first UAE international Conference on Biological and Medical Physics.

Characterization of species-specific DNA modification system in Listeria monocytogenes Genes Controlling Dimorphic Growth of Candida albicans. Gene Analysis of Male Infertility in the Chicken Effect of Estrogen Receptor on Meat Production in Poultry. Molecular Genetics Analysis of Populations for Species at Risk in Jordan analysis of WChromosome Evolution in Ostrich & Emus