The interdisciplinary and international ALEPH2020 initiative is constituted of 44 scientific experts, who are active in the domains of food science and technology, food (bio)chemistry, microbiology, nutrition, public health, (cultural and biological) anthropology, food studies, health psychology, environmental sciences, animal physiology, veterinary sciences, and (livestock) agriculture. The initiative is pro bono publico, receives no funding, and has not been commissioned by an external party. Its members and expert reviewers receive no financial compensation for their contributions. Any potential conflict of interest is on the account of the individual but the collective overlooks that there is no funding or steering of the content by commercial outsiders. Experts collaborate in own capacity; contributions do not reflect the opinion of their institution(s).
ALEPH2020 contributors are not necessarily familiar with all topics covered by the initiative beyond their core expertise and should not be considered as such. This is a website evolving into consensus, which means that it may take some time for all experts to align on all topics. Some contributions may be preliminary and are thus not necessarily endorsed by all experts.
Administrator (content, maintenance, and policy)
LEROY Frédéric (
X;
Google Scholar) graduated as a Bioengineer (Ghent University, 1998) and obtained a PhD in Applied Biological Sciences at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (
VUB, 2002), where he now holds a professorship in food science and (bio)technology. His research deals with animal source foods, food processing, nutrition, and interdisciplinary 'food studies'. He is a member of academic non-profit societies, i.e., the Belgian Association of Meat Science and Technology (
BAMST, president), Belgian Society for Food Microbiology (
BSFM, president), and Belgian Nutrition Society (
BNS). On a non-remunerated basis, he also serves on the Scientific Board of the World Farmers' Organization (
WFO) and FAO/COAG Sub-Committee on Livestock. His CoI declaration can be read
here.
Co-administrator (content and maintenance)
ABRAINI Fabien (
X) studied science and literature, worked as a bookseller for 10 years, and then obtained a Master's degree in Comparative Literature at the Università di Corsica Pasquale Paoli (France) in 2017. At the same university, he is currently performing PhD research in Comparative Literature and Anthropology, exploring the relationship between myth, fiction, and science, with a special focus on the past and future evolution of human nutrition and the controversies related to it. In parallel to his interest in nutrition and human evolution, he worked as a project manager in the domain of agroecology and permaculture (2006-2018). He runs the website
Anthropogoniques on which he writes on the topic of human evolution (in French).
Scientific experts (content and/or reviewing)
ALDERS Robyn (
X;
Google Scholar) is Honorary Professor with the Development Policy Centre within the Australian National University, Senior Consulting Fellow with the Chatham House Global Health Program, Chair of the Kyeema Foundation, Adjunct Professor at the School of Veterinary Medicine, Tufts University, and Chair of the Upper Lachlan Branch of the NSW Farmers’ Association. For >30 years, she has worked closely with family farmers in sub-Saharan Africa, SE Asia, and Australia. Emphasis has been on the development of infectious disease control in animals in rural areas in support of food security. Her current interests include sustainable domestic and global food security/systems, health security, One/Planetary Health, gender equity, and science communication.
BALLERSTEDT Peter (
X) obtained a Master of Science in Agriculture from the University of Georgia in 1983 and a Doctorate from the University of Kentucky in 1986. Trained in forage agronomy and ruminant nutrition, Peter has extensive experience in forage and ruminant animal agriculture. He was the forage extension specialist at Oregon State University from 1986 until 1992. He worked in the forage seed industry from 2011 until 2023 as Barenbrug USA’s Forage Product Manager and Forage Ambassador. He is a current member of national and international agronomy, animal science, and grassland-related scientific societies. He is the current President of the American Forage and Grassland Council.
BEAL Ty (
X;
Google Scholar) obtained a PhD in Geography with emphasis in Global Nutrition from the University of California, Davis (USA), where he was a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow. He is currently based in Washington DC (USA) as a Research Advisor of Knowledge Leadership at the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (
GAIN). In this role, he supports programmes, research, evaluation, and dissemination of knowledge to stakeholders. His research addresses sustainable food systems, diet quality, food affordability, food supplies, micronutrient deficiencies, child growth and development, noncommunicable diseases, and global health. His work has been published in various journals (incl. Global Food Security, Nature Food, and The Lancet).
BEN-DOR Miki (
X;
Google Scholar) is an expert in paleoanthropology, researching and publishing on the association between diet and human evolution during the Paleolithic era. He has obtained a PhD in Archaeology from the University of Tel Aviv (Israel), as well as a BA in Economics from the Hebrew University and an MBA from INSEAD in Fontainbleau (France). He runs two blogs, one written in Hebrew (
Paleostyle) and one written in English (
Paleostyle), both dealing with evolutionary guided nutrition. Miki Ben-Dor has authored various publications on the role of animal source foods in the human evolutionary diet (
e.g., in the Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, American Journal of Physical Anthropology, Journal of Evolution and Health, PLoS One).
CAPOZZI Francesco (
X;
Google Scholar) is Full Professor of Chemistry and Head of the Interdepartmental Centre for Industrial Agro-food Research (CIRI-AGRO) of the Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna. He is co-founder of the Foodomics approach, which aims at optimizing human health and well-being, as measured by robust patterns of chemical biomarkers. His research activity aims to evaluate the metabolic status of organisms by observing the presence of biomarkers predicting specific conditions. Furthermore, he is developing methods, based on molecular spectroscopic profiles, which classify and characterize the origin and processing conditions of food products, to explain the links among structure, exposome, and health.
DALLE ZOTTE Antonella (
X;
Google Scholar) obtained a PhD in Animal Sciences from the University of Padova (Italy). She is a permanent researcher (since 1994) and Full Professor (since 2015) at the Department of Animal Medicine, Production, and Health of the same university. Her research focuses on the effect of
ante-,
peri- and
post-mortem factors on live performances, quality, and shelf life of meat from poultry, rabbit, and fish, and the quality of eggs. Other research includes the use of sustainable proteins from insects and plant crops as feed. She was awarded the title of Doctor
honoris causa by Kaposvàr University (Hungary) in 2011, chaired the 69th International Congress of Meat Science and Technology in 2023, and is ranked in Stanford's top 2% of most-cited scientists.
DE KONING Dirk-Jan (
X;
Google Scholar) obtained a MSc in 1996 and a PhD in 2001, both at Wageningen University (The Netherlands). After a post-doc and group leader position at the Roslin Institute, he became Professor at the Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) in 2010. He is Vice-Dean at the Faculty for Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences, Senior Editor for G3 (Genes, Genomes, Genetics), Editor for Genetics, and Executive committee member of the Genetics Society (UK). Research focuses on linking DNA variation to functional variation in livestock and beyond, targeting bone weakness in laying hens, fertility and colostrum quality in dairy cattle, and mitigation of African swine fever, etc.
DEL PRADO Agustin (
X;
Google Scholar) graduated as Ecosystems Biologist (1997) and obtained a PhD in Biological Sciences (2007) from the University of the Basque Country (Spain). After post-doc and senior researcher positions at IGER (UK) (now Rothamsted Rs) (2002-2008), he became Research Professor and group leader at the Basque Centre For Climate Change (BC3). He is an expert in the development of mathematical simulation models to assess and mitigate the effect of ruminant farming on climate change, resulting in work as an IPCC Lead Author (2019 Refinement to the 2006 Guidelines for National GHG Inventories). After being its first president (2012-2017), he is a promoter of the Spanish Science Network REMEDIA on climate change mitigation.
DE SMET Stefaan (
X;
Google Scholar)
grew up on a livestock farm and graduated in 1986 as an Agricultural Engineer at Ghent University, where he also performed his PhD research on rumen protozoa. He later switched to meat quality research and is now full professor in Animal Science at Ghent University; teaching Animal Production and Meat Science. His research focuses on factors determining sensory and technological meat quality, and on the nutritional and health value of meat (products). He is vice-president of the Belgian Association of Meat Science and Technology (BAMST). In 2015, he was one of the 22 experts serving on the WHO/IARC working group looking into the carcinogenic risk of red and processed meats.
DOMINGUEZ SALAS Paula (Google Scholar) graduated as a Veterinarian in 1998 and in Food Sciences and Technology in 2001 (Zaragoza University, Spain). She obtained a MSc (2007) and a PhD (2013) in International Public Health Nutrition at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (UK), where she also worked as assistant professor in Nutrition-sensitive agriculture. She is now associate professor the Natural Resources Institute (NRI, University of Greenwich, UK). Her research deals with the role of animal-source foods and livestock in enhancing nutrition security in low-income countries, particularly in Africa, with interest in aspects such as food systems, food safety, or gender. She is in a joint position with the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI, Kenya).
EMANUELSON Ulf (
X;
Google Scholar) obtained a MSc in Animal Science in 1980 and a PhD in 1987, both at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU). Since 2004, he is Professor in Veterinary Epidemiology at SLU, with analytical epidemiology as main expertise. He is involved in teaching epidemiology to veterinary students, veterinary nurse students, and students in a MSc-program of infectious biology. His main research focus is on production diseases in dairy cows, but it includes also other types of diseases, impaired productivity, welfare, and antimicrobial use and resistance, as well as health and welfare in other animal species. Research is not only based on available secondary databases, but also on large-scale field studies.
ESTÉVEZ Mario (
X;
Google Scholar) received his veterinary (2001) and PhD (2005) degrees from the University of Extremadura (Spain) and stayed two years (2007-2009) as a Marie Curie postdoctoral researcher at the University of Helsinki (Finland). Dr. Mario Estévez is an internationally recognized expert in oxidation and antioxidation with particular interest on food biochemistry, safety, nutrition and health. He currently serves as member of the Editorial Board of Meat Science and Associate Editor of the Journal of Food Science and Foods. He has been recipient of several competitive projects and grants including two Marie Curie fellowships (European Commission), is the author of four patents and has written several dozen technical papers and book chapters
FRAEYE Ilse (
X;
Google Scholar) obtained her MSc. (2004) and PhD (2009) in Bio-Engineering with a specialization in Food Technology at KU Leuven. Since 2012, she is active at the Research Group for Technology and Quality of Animal Products at KU Leuven, Ghent Technology Campus (Belgium). In 2016, she was appointed as an assistant professor and became head of the group. Her research focuses on processing of meat products, more specifically on the relationship between (i) functional properties of raw materials and ingredients, (ii) processing and (iii) quality of end products. To this end, the research group has a well-developed pilot facility and laboratory in which various groups of meat products can be prepared and analyzed under strictly controlled conditions.
FRAQUEZA Maria João (
Google Scholar) holds an MSc in Food Science and Engineering and a PhD in Veterinary Sciences. Nowadays, she is Associate Professor with aggregation in the area of Food Safety at the Department of Animal Production and Food Safety of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Lisbon (Portugal). Her research interests are related to the optimization and innovation of technological processes to improve the quality and safety of traditional meat products as well as poultry, with a particular interest in biopreservation. She is a member of the Committee Auchan and also seats in the Advisory Committee of the Health and Food Security Safety Plus Fund (DGAV).
GREGORINI Pablo (
X;
Google Scholar) obtained a MSc in Nutritional Ecology and Physiology of Ruminants at the National University of Mar del Plata (2001) and a PhD in Animal Science at the University of Arkansas (2007). His interest in pastoral systems took him to New Zealand, joining DairyNZ's ‘Feed and Farm Systems Group’. In 2017, he became Professor of Livestock Production at Lincoln University, focusing on the management of grazing ruminants, environmental protection, animal welfare, human health, and systems design. He leads the 'Designing Future Productive Landscapes' Centre of Excellence and 'Pastoral Livestock Production Lab' and is Chair of the 'International Scientific Advisory Groups for the International Symposium of Nutrition of Herbivores'.
HAUPTMANN Aviaja (
X;
Instagram) graduated as a biologist at the University of Copenhagen in 2013 and obtained a PhD in microbial metagenomics in 2017 from the Technical University of Denmark. In 2017, she became leader of the Greenland Diet Revolution project from the University of Greenland in Nuuk, where she was born. Her research revolves around the value of the Inuit diet from a microbial perspective, and approaches microbiome research from an indigenous perspective in a context of food sovereignty and health in the Arctic. Currently she is a grantee of the Carlsberg Foundation leading a research project at UC Davis and the University of Greenland in collaboration with the University of Copenhagen on microbiomes and metabolites of fermented Inuit foods.
HENDERSON George (
X) became a self-taught researcher in the field of nutrition and metabolism to successfully manage a chronic hepatitis C virus infection and its adverse metabolic and immunological effects and has since worked with Professor Grant Schofield's team at Auckland University of Technology (AUT; New Zealand) and for the PreKure health coach training program. He has also helped research the 'What The Fat' series of low-carb diet books (authored by Grant Schofield, Caryn Zinn, and Craig Rodgers). Henderson has authored various scientific articles and letters which have been published in the British Medical Journal, Lancet Endocrinology and Diabetes, the New Zealand Medical Journal, Journal of the American Medical Association, etc.
HITE Adele (
X) was an early ALEPH2020 endorser and contributor. Regrettably, she passed away in April 2022. As a registered dietitian with a PhD in rhetoric, communication, and digital media, and graduate training in nutritional epidemiology and public health, her unique work combined science, medicine, and cultural studies to explore food politics, nutrition science, and public health nutrition policy. Hite's doctoral research focused on a critical examination of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (history, scientific underpinnings, effects on the food-health environment, and implications of these recommendations as a structure of power in the social and political aspects of food). More info on her extremely rich legacy is available on her
personal and
memorial website.
HOCQUETTE Jean-François (
X;
Google Scholar) is a research scientist at
INRAE. He was leader of the research team 'Muscle Growth and Metabolism' (1999-2006) and Director of the Herbivore Research Unit (2006-2010), where he is now senior scientist. Also, he has been working for the French High Council for Evaluation of Research and Higher Education (HCERES) since 2012. Hocquette has organized various conferences, is involved in the activities of the International Meat Research 3G Foundation and of the European Federation of Animal Science (EAAP) since 2000, and is now president of the EAAP Cattle commission. His research interests include muscle biology, genomics and consumer studies as relevant to muscle growth or beef eating quality.
IACUMIN Lucilla (
Google Scholar) is Associate Professor in Microbiology and Immunology at the Department of Agricultural, Food, Environmental, and Animal Science of the University of Udine (Italy), where she graduated as Food Technologist (2001) and obtained a PhD in Food Science (2005). Her research focuses on microbial ecology of fermented foods, bioactive molecules, human health, and sustainable food production. Since 2017, her research also deals with ancient microbial DNA in archaeological food samples. She is member of academic non-profit societies, such as the Italian Society of Agriculture, Food, and Environmental Microbiology (SIMTREA) and the European Biotechnology Thematic Network Association (EBTNA).
IMAZAKI Pedro Henrique (
X;
ORCID) graduated as Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in 2006 at Fluminense Federal University (Brazil). In 2009, he became an Advanced Master in Specialised Veterinary Medicine (Veterinary Public Health: Food Science) at the University of Liège (Belgium). He obtained a PhD in Veterinary Sciences in 2018 at the University of Liège (Belgium) after conducting research on the influence of production and processing-related factors on the microbial and physicochemical quality of meat. Between 2018 and 2019, he represented the livestock sector at the Walloon Ministry of Agriculture (Belgium). Since 2019, he is Associate Professor at the National Veterinary School of Toulouse (France) and started researching antibiotic resistance in livestock.
KARLSSON Anders (
X;
Google Scholar) obtained a MSc in Agriculture Sciences in 1989 at the Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics and a PhD in Food Science in 1993 at the Department of Food Science, both at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU). He is Professor in Meat Science at the same university and, since 2016, Head of Department of the Department of Animal Environment and Health. His doctoral thesis looked into the biochemical and histochemical properties of porcine muscle fibres in relation to meat quality. He published various articles looking into factors connected to meat production (genetics, feeding, production system, etc.) during the whole production chain, and how these factors influence eating quality attributes of meat.
KARPAGAM Sylvia (
X) graduated in 2001 as Medical Doctor in Public Health degree (Preventive and Social Medicine) at the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, Bangalore (India). Trained in nutrition and anthropometry, she has been Clinical Coordinator for the National Family Health Survey. As part of the Medico-friends Circle and the Indian Chapter of the Global People’s Health Movement, she conducted trainings and research on health system regulation and social determinants of health (caste, gender, livelihood, etc), focusing on vulnerable communities. Her research looked into the influence of the private sector over nutrition schemes and into the nutritional quality of mid-day meals for preschool children.
KEBREAB Ermias (
X;
Google Scholar)
received a BSc from the University of Asmara (Eritrea) and a MSc and Ph.D. from the University of Reading (UK). He is now Associate Dean of Global Engagement and Director of World Food Center at University of California, Davis (UC Davis). He also holds the Sesnon Endowed Chair in Sustainable Agriculture. Kebreab conducts research in nutrition modeling and impact of livestock on the environment. He is contributing author to 2019 IPCC update, and chairs the feed additive committee of the FAO. He received several awards including Excellence in Ruminant Nutrition and International Agriculture from the American Society of Animal Science and Young Scientist Award from the Canadian Society of Animal Science.
MANZANO Pablo (
X;
Google Scholar) obtained a MSc (2004) and PhD (2015) degree in Ecology and the Environment at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain), while familiarizing himself with grazing systems in New Zealand and Texas. He worked on pastoralist systems in the cooperation development sector, first in Bosnia-Herzegovina and later coordinating global programs at IUCN and FAO. In 2020, after conducting consultancies on livestock and the environment, he joined the Global Change and Conservation research group of the University of Helsinki (HELSUS post-doc) and the Basque Centre for Climate Change (BC3). His interest gravitates around interdisciplinary research on the sustainability of livestock systems.
McAULIFFE Graham (X; Google Scholar) obtained a PhD in Veterinary Science from the University of Bristol (2018), specialising in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). After 8 years at Rothamsted Research, he became Sustainability Science Leader at Unilever in 2023. Over the years, his research has centred on methodological improvements to LCA, including novel quantification of uncertainties and the consideration of nutritional composition/quality within the burgeoning field of nutritional LCA. Graham's wider academic interests cover aspects of agri-food sustainability, including but not limited to cradle-to-plate 'hotspot' identification of various pollutants and their environmental impacts, development of site-specific emission factors, and trade-off analyses.
McNABB Warren (
University page) is Deputy Director of the Riddet Institute, a New Zealand Centre of Research Excellence, hosted by Massey University. His research interests include nutrition for health, sustainable nutrition, human-microbiome interactions, physiology and metabolism. He leads several programmes (incl. 'New Zealand Milks Mean More' and 'Sustainable Nutrition Initiative'), and is Associate Investigator in the HVN National Science Challenge, Healthy Digestion and Infant Health. His focus is on food structure-nutrient digestion interactions, clinical investigation of nutrition, microbe-human interactions, and gastrointestinal function. He is a Fellow of the NZ Institute of Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences and member of various academic societies.
MITLOEHNER Frank (
X;
Google Scholar) received a MSc in Animal Science and Agricultural Engineering from Leipzig University (Germany) and a PhD in Animal Science from Texas Technical University (USA). He is a professorial member of the Department of Animal Science at the University of California, Davis (USA), and expert in air quality, livestock housing, and husbandry. He has served as chairman of a global UN FAO partnership project to benchmark the environmental footprint of livestock production, as workgroup member on the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), and as member on a National Academies of Science Institute of Medicine (IOM) committee.
PETHICK David (
Google Scholar) is Professor Emeritus at the Food Futures Institute, Murdoch University, Perth, Western Australia. He grew up on a family in South Australia and then trained in agricultural science at Adelaide University followed by a doctorate (1981) at Cambridge University, UK. He has worked in the farm animal industries for 42 years post graduation as a university academic, researcher, teacher and industry practitioner. His research interests are broad encompassing biochemistry and nutrition of farm animals. Currently actively involved in meat science of sheep and cattle across the value chain. Dave has played a key role in the development of the world renowned Meat Standards Australia beef and lamb grading systems.
PETRACCI Massimiliano (
Google Scholar) has been Full Professor at the Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences of the University of Bologna since 2018, where he is also coordinator of the PhD Programme of Agricultural, Environmental and Food Science and Technology. Petracci chairs the Working Group 'Poultry Meat Quality' of the European Federation of the World's Poultry Science Association since 2014. In addition to his research responsibilities, he currently teaches courses on the production of food of animal origin, seafood quality, and innovations in meat and egg processing. His research activities relate to various aspects of poultry production and product quality, such as the characterization of emerging meat abnormalities.
PFLANZER Sérgio (
X;
Google Scholar) is a Veterinarian graduated in 2006 from the Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná, with a Masters (2008) and a PhD (2021) in Food Technology from the School of Food Engineering at the State University of Campinas in Brazil, having completed part of his PhD at Texas Tech University in the USA. Since 2013, he has been a professor and researcher at the State University of Campinas in the area of meat science. His main research focus is on the pre- and post-slaughter factors that affect meat quality. In addition to being a professor and researcher in applied science for farming, industry, and consumers, he is passionate about sustainable animal production.
PROTOGEROU Cleo (
X;
Google Scholar) is an applied health psychologist who received a BSc from the University of Social and Political Sciences (Greece), a MSc from the University of Manchester (UK), and a PhD from the University of Bath (UK). She works as a lecturer and researcher at the School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts (SSHA), and Health Sciences Research Institute (HSRI), University of California, Merced, USA. Her research focuses on exploring psychological and social determinants of health behaviour and health promotion. She has an interest in food choices and dietary practices (e.g., very-low/‘zero’ carb diets, and fasting), and teaches a university course that tracks the history and credibility of popular dietary messages. She also maintains a personal
website.
PUGLIESE Carolina (
University page) obtained degree in Agricultural Sciences in 1990 as well as a PhD on the topic of sheep milk production in 1998 at the University of Florence (Italy). Since 2015, she is an Associate Professor of Agricultural, Food, Environmental and Forestry Sciences and Technologies (DAGRI) at that same university. In addition Pugliese is a member of the Association for Science and Animal Production. Her research fields relate to the quality of animal products, sustainable breeding, pig nutrition, animal biodiversity conservation, and recovery of endangered breeds. Her scientific activity is documented by about 150 publications in scientific journals, such as The Journal of Veterinary Research and Meat Science
.
PULINA Giuseppe (
Google Scholar) has a BSc in Agriculture from the University of Sassari and a PhD in Animal Science from the University of Rome (Italy). He is Full Professor of Animal Production at the Department of Agriculture of the University of Sassari (Italy). He is also General Manager of the 'Sardinia Agency for Forestry', Coordinator of the 'Italian Sheep and Goat Commission' of the European Association of Animal Production, Honorary President of the Animal Science and Production Association, and founder of AGRIS Sardegna. His research deals with sheep and goat nutrition, modelling of animal production systems, analyses of environmental systems, milk quality, environmental impact of grazers, and genetic improvement of dairy sheep.
RAMDAS Sagari (
publications) obtained a degree in Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry from Haryana Agriculture University (India) in 1986 and a Master's in Animal Science from the University of California, Davis (USA) in 1991. She is a founder of
Anthra, an organisation of women veterinary scientists, member of the Food Sovereignty Alliance (
FSA), Honorary Research Fellow at the Centre for Agroecology, Water, and Resilience (
CAWR) of Coventry University (UK), and head of the Popular Education Programme at the Kudali Inter-generational Learning Centre in Telangana. She works with pastoral, adivasi, and other small and marginal farming communities organizing for their livelihood, and writes on social justice, food sovereignty, livestock, and ecological governance.
RUIZ-CARRASCAL Jorge (
X;
Google Scholar) is Professor in Food Science at the University of Extremadura and Affiliated Professor at the University of Copenhagen. He received his veterinary (1991) and PhD (1996) degrees from the University of Extremadura (Spain). He was a postdoc at Foulum Research Center (Denmark) in 1998 and at the University of Cornell (USA) in 1999, and a Professor in Food Science at the University of Copenhagen (2013-2017). His expertise related to meat and culinary processing, aroma and taste development, as well as the physical, chemical, and biochemical processes taking place during meat and culinary processing. He is Associate Editor of the International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science, member of the Editorial Board of Molecules.
SMITH Nick (
Google Scholar) is a Research Officer at the Riddet Institute, which is a New Zealand Centre of Research Excellence hosted by Massey University. He has a background in mathematical modelling, after obtaining a BSc from Swansey University (UK) in 2015, and a PhD from Massy University in 2020. For his doctoral research, he has been using predictive models to examine dynamics in the human intestinal microbiome. Nick’s current research is part of the Sustainable Nutrition Initiative at the Riddet Institute, developing the DELTA Model: a world-leading model to investigate sustainable nutrient production and what is possible, practical and optimal from the global food system.
SOGLIA Francesca (
University page) obtained a BSc in Food Consumption and Catering Sciences in 2011, a MSc in Food Science and Technology in 2013, and a PhD in Food Science and Biotechnology in 2017, all at the University of Bologna (Italy). She is currently a post-doctoral researcher at the Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences of that same university. Her research has a particular emphasis on the evaluation of quality traits of meat, as affected by muscular abnormalities and their relationship with technological properties, chemical composition, histology, and protein profiles. Additionally, her research looks into the quality traits and technological properties of poultry and rabbit meat as affected by genetics and rearing factors.
TROCINO Angela (
X;
Google Scholar) graduated in Agricultural Sciences at the University of Bari (1995) and obtained a PhD in Animal Science at the University of Padova (2000). She is Associate Professor at the Department of Comparative Biomedicine and Food Science of the University of Padova (since 2015), where she also coordinates the PhD Course in Animal and Food Science (since 2020). She teaches courses on rabbit and poultry production as well as on seafood sustainability and production. Her research activities relate to rearing systems and welfare of rabbits, broiler chickens and laying hens; effects of feeding, rearing and housing systems on the meat quality of various species (veal, rabbit, fish, broiler chickens); and the freshness and quality of fish and molluscs.
VAN VLIET Stephan (
X;
Google Scholar) earned his PhD in Kinesiology and Community Health as an ESPEN Fellow from the University of Illinois and received post-doc training at the Center for Human Nutrition in the School of Medicine at Washington University. He is a member of the Duke Molecular Physiology Institute within the School of Medicine at Duke University. His research is performed at the nexus of agricultural and human health. As such, it links food production systems to the nutrient density of food sources and their effects on human metabolic health, using high-throughput techniques (incl. metabolomics and proteomics). His work has been published in various journals (
e.g., the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Journal of Nutrition, Journal of Physiology).
ZABETAKIS Ioannis (
X;
Google Scholar) obtained a BSc in Chemistry from the University of Athens (Greece) and a PhD in Food Science from the University of Leeds (UK). After a post-doc stay at the University of Durham (UK), a period of lectureship at the University of Leeds (1998-2001), and a stay as lecturer (2003-2008) and assistant professor (2008-2015) at the lab of Food Chemistry of the University of Athens, he joined the University of Limerick (Ireland) in 2015, as a lecturer on food lipids. Since 2018, he is head of the Department of Biological Sciences. The focus of his team is towards the development of functional foods and nutraceuticals against inflammation (focus on the role of polar lipids of animal origin), food security, and emerging hazards in water and food.
ZAMARATSKAIA Galia (
X;
Google Scholar) graduated as a Biologist at the Samara University (Russia) in 1993. She obtained a PhD in Food Sciences at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) in 2004, where she is now working as an associate professor since 2009. Her research focuses on the association between animal physiology and meat quality, especially related to the issue of boar taint. She is also interested in meat consumption and human health. Zamaratskaia regularly communicates her research results in form of scientific and popular articles as well as during international conferences. She published in such journals as Clinical Nutrition, Journal of Consumer Protection and Food Safety, Food Chemistry, and Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.
KOLBY, Marit (
X;
Google Scholar) obtained a Bachelors degree in food science from the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) in 2007 and a Masters degree in nutritional biology from the University of Oslo (UiO) in 2009. She is mainly working as a college lecturer, teaching nutrition and medical biology at Bjørknes University College in Oslo. She also conducts her own research, which focuses on the role of diet-induced inflammation in human disease and has been published in peer-reviewed journals like Nutrients and The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. She is a passionate disseminator of the importance of whole and minimally processed foods as the basis of heathy human diets.
