He has published around 250 original research papers (H-factor around 80) and for several years served as an Editor-in-Chief of Food and Chemical Toxicology. He chairs the Committee on Toxicity and serves on the Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants, the WHO Study Group on Tobacco Product Regulation (TobReg), Joint FAO and WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) (veterinary residues) and Joint FAO and WHO Expert Meeting on Pesticides Residues (JMPR). He has previously served on the Advisory Committee on Pesticides, the Committee on Carcinogenicity, the EFSA Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain and the EFSA Panel on Plant Protection Products.

He is a past chair of the Board of Trustees of the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI) and is a member of the Board of Directors of ILSI Europe. Amongst his awards are: fellowship of the British Pharmacological Society; honorary membership and Merit Award of Eurotox; John Barnes Prize Lectureship and honorary fellowship of the British Toxicology Society; the Royal Society of Chemistry Toxicology Award and the Arnold J Lehman Award from the Society of Toxicology. He received an OBE in 2003 for his work on the risk assessment of pesticides. Professor Boobis has been Chair of the COT since 2015.

Alessandra Mazzocchi, PhD, is a Researcher in Pediatric Nutrition at the University of Milan (Department of Clinical and Community Sciences). She holds a PhD in Experimental and Clinical Nutrition and a Master’s degree in Human Nutrition and Food Science from the same university. 

Her research focuses on nutritional assessment, energy metabolism, fatty acid profiles, and dietary interventions in children with acute and chronic conditions. She has extensive experience in both academic and hospital settings, contributing to numerous studies on pediatric nutritional status, including all forms of malnutrition, and on energy and nutrient requirements during childhood. 
More recently, Dr. Mazzocchi has expanded her work to sustainable nutrition, with particular attention to sustainable dietary patterns and the Mediterranean Diet and their implications for long-term health. 

She is the author of over 50 peer-reviewed publications and has contributed to several systematic reviews on early-life nutrition, sustainable diets, and the prevention of non-communicable diseases. Dr. Mazzocchi also serves as an Associate Editor and Review Editor for leading journals in pediatric and clinical nutrition. 

Anett Winkler joined Kraft Jacobs Suchard in December 1998 to head up the research microbiology laboratory in Munich. Later on Anett concentrated on chocolate, biscuits and other low moisture foods including supplier developments and approvals. She also consolidated the scientific basis for microbiological process controls in low moisture foods by performing validation studies for nut & cocoa processing. Following a regional role for Microbiology in the Eastern European, Middle East & African Region she was globally designing food safety programs, rolling out training modules related to food safety and further supporting supplier development.

Anett was also the global expert for thermal processing within Mondelez International. In October 2017 Anett moved to a new position as “EMEA Food Safety Advisor” at Cargill, where she is supporting all Cargill businesses in that region (Europe / Middle East / Africa) for microbiological / food safety related topics. Anett is active in EHEDG (Chair of water management group), in ILSI Europe (Chair of Microbiology Food Safety TF), and a member of ICMSF. Within Germany she is also co-editor of the Handbook on Food Hygiene.

Dr. Arthur Ouwehand is a Technical Fellow at International Flavors and Fragrances (Finland). Arthur received his M.Sc. degree in 1992 from Wageningen University (The Netherlands) and his Ph.D. degree in 1996 in microbiology from the University of Gothenburg (Sweden). Since 1999, he has served as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Turku (Finland). He has been working for IFF (formerly DuPont and Danisco) since 2004.

Arthur is Chairman of the ILSI Europe Probiotic Task Force and Co-Chair of the IPA Postbiotics Committee, and he is an active member of ISAPP and IDF. He is the author of more than 300 journal articles and book chapters on probiotics and prebiotics, and the editor of five books on lactic acid bacteria and the intestinal microbiota.

Dr Bert Popping is a food safety scientist with more than 25 years of experience in food allergen analysis, method validation, and regulatory science. He is the Chief Executive Officer of FOCOS, a strategic food safety consultancy, and co-founder of FOOD-ORBIT, which provides regulatory and compliance advice to industry and authorities. His work focuses on the interface between allergen risk assessment, analytical performance, and regulatory decision-making. 

He has served and is serving on multiple international expert groups addressing food allergens, including the FAO/WHO expert consultations on food allergen risk assessment.
He has authored more than 75 peer-reviewed publications on food allergens, food analysis, and validation, and co-edited the reference book Present Knowledge in Food Safety, which includes extensive coverage of allergen risk and analytics, which was produced and was produced under the auspices of ILSI.

Bruno Pot graduated from Ghent University, Belgium, and subsequently carried out postdoctoral research on lactic acid bacteria. In 1997, he joined Yakult as Science Manager for the Benelux region. Between 2001 and 2016, he served as Research Director at the Institut Pasteur de Lille and as Director of Business Development at the bioinformatics company Applied Maths. Since 2016, Bruno has returned to Yakult, where he holds the position of Science Director Europe.

He is a member of the Taxonomic Subcommittee for Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium, a former President of the Pharmabiotic Research Institute, a former ISAPP Board member, and Treasurer of ILSI-Europe. He has also been a Professor at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel since 2001, teaching courses in food microbiology.

Carlo Agostoni (born 1957) is Chairman of the Pediatric-Immunoreumatology Unit and Interim Chairman of the Pediatric-Pneumo Infectivology Unit at the Fondazione IRCCS Ca’ Granda-Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico of Milano, and Professor of Pediatrics, Department of Clinical Sciences and Community Health, at the University of Milano. Currently member of the Italian Commission of Food Safety (CNSA), of the Italian Ministry of Health (since 2015). Director of the Post-graduate School of Pediatrics, University of Milano (2020-2023); Member of the International Pediatric Research Foundation (2014-2018); President of the Italian Society of Pediatric Gastroenterology Hepatology and Nutrition (2016-2019); Member of the Panel on Nutrition, Dietary products and Allergy (NDA) of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), 2009-2015; Member of the ESPGHAN Committee of Nutrition (1999-2007), Local President of the Annual ESPGHAN Meeting in Milano, May 2024. Author of more than 600 articles on infant nutrition, lipid metabolism, acute and chronic inflammatory pediatric diseases published in International Peer Reviewed Journals, with an H-Index of 73 and 21923 citations (SCOPUS) – updated, Dec 10,202

Dr David Vauzour is an Associate Professor in Molecular Nutrition at the Norwich Medical School, University of East Anglia, UK. Dr Vauzour has longstanding interest on the impact of food bioactives on (neuro)degenerative disorders and to develop novel strategies to delay brain ageing and cognitive decline. His recent interests concern how food bioactives and gut-derived metabolites modulate the gut microbiome-brain axis in ageing and neurodegenerative disorders and their underlying molecular mechanisms. To date Dr Vauzour has published over 100 peer reviewed articles, serves as the Associate Editor for many journals and currently sits on the ILSI Europe Scientific Advisory Committee.

After completing her PhD in Nutritional Neuroscience at the University of Reading, Georgina began her career in industry, working within the consumer healthcare division at GlaxoSmithKline, followed by a role at Lucozade Ribena Suntory. She later returned to academia, where she spent seven years as a post-doctoral researcher. In July 2022, Georgina joined Clasado Biosciences as an R&D Senior Scientist and Clinical Project Manager. Drawing on her combined academic and industry experience in the design, coordination, and management of human nutritional intervention trials, she plays a key role in expanding the scientific research portfolio underpinning Clasado’s Bimuno GOS prebiotic, leading new clinical research collaborations and overseeing ongoing projects.

Dr. Ir. Geertrui Vlaemynck holds a PhD in Applied Biological Sciences from Ghent University. She is a food microbiologist with high interest and experience in the microbial aspects of food in relation to health. After having received a MSc degree in Bioscience Engineering at Ghent University she started her research career at the Dairy Research Institute on the microbiology of cheese and fermented dairy products. She studied the characteristics and the implementation of starter cultures, probiotic bacteria and other microorganisms in the production process of cheeses in cooperation with various cheese and dairy companies. Over the years, her research topics continued to broaden and deal among others with the many microbiological aspects of safety and quality of food in general and becoming also more nutrition-related. Her greatest interest relates to the impact and the importance of food and (microbiological) food composition on the gut microbiome, human health and wellbeing.  

Javiera Sepúlveda Carter is a PhD researcher in the Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM). She is part of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie COFUND SDGine programme and a member of the Polymer, Characterization and Applications (POLCA) research group. Her research focuses on the mechanical recycling and decontamination of food-contact plastics, with particular emphasis on high-impact polystyrene (HIPS) and polylactic acid (PLA). Her work addresses the identification and mitigation of intentionally added and non-intentionally added substances (IAS/NIAS), migration behaviour, and the characterization of recycled material properties within the framework of European food-contact legislation.

She holds a degree in Chemical Engineering from the Universidad de Santiago de Chile and has professional experience at the Packaging Innovation Center LABEN-Chile, where she worked in research and industrial consultancy related to food packaging. She has also contributed to the implementation of Chile’s national eco-labelling initiative for recyclable packaging.

Louise Dye is Professor of Nutrition and Behaviour in the School of Psychology, Co-Director of the Institute for Sustainable Food at the University of Sheffield, Co-Director of the SFI/DAERA/UKRI funded Co-Centre for Sustainable Food Systems and Co-Director of the National Alternative Protein Innovation Centre (NAPIC). 

Louise has held MRC and Royal Society Postdoctoral Fellowships in the UK and Europe and a EU funded Marie Curie Professorial Fellowship in Jena, Germany. She is a Chartered Health Psychologist and member of the British Psychological Society. Professor Dye began her career in Human Psychopharmacology and has over 30 years’ experience in the assessment of cognitive function following nutritional and pharmacological intervention. She has supervised 30 doctoral students, many in collaboration with industry or NHS partners.

Marco Turini joined dsm-firmenich in February 2021. 
During his career in the field of Nutrition & Health, he spanned various functions from Research to Regulatory, to Medical and Scientific Affairs in Switzerland and abroad. 

In his current role, he contributes to the development of innovative science, communications, ingredients, and applications for customers. By leveraging dsm-firmenich unique ingredient portfolio and advanced scientific capabilities, he plays a crucial role in supporting each business segment in EMEA region to achieve their strategic goals. 

He studied Biology at the University of Lausanne (Switzerland), before pursuing his education in North America where he obtained a MSc & a PhD in Nutrition & Metabolism, with focus on lipids from the University of Alberta and the University of Guelph (Canada), respectively. He then cross the border for a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Colorado State 

Dr. Maria Camprubi has been working at Abbott for 13 years. She has a PhD in Molecular and Cellular Biology and is a Research Scientist in the R&D department – Abbott Nutrition for Europe, Middle East and Africa.

She is actively involved in developing adult nutritional products for sarcopenia, chronic disease, and malnutrition and her research interests mainly include nutrition metabolism to support muscle health, healthy aging, oncology and diabetes. She is passionate about science and loves playing with her 3-year twins.

Nathalie M. Delzenne is a full professor at the Faculty of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences at UCL. She has a doctorate in Pharmaceutical Sciences (UCL) and holds a certificate in Human Nutrition (University of Lausanne). She co-directs the Metabolism and Nutrition Research group within the Louvain Drug Research Institute where her research activity in experimental nutrition concerns nutrient-intestinal microbiota interactions in different physiopathological contexts (obesity, diabetes, cachexia, nutritional and behavioral disorders).

She is the author of more than 250 publications and is active in numerous international and national research consortia (KBBE MyNewGut of the 7th framework program of the EC, FOOD4GUT Excellence Project of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation). She has obtained several scientific prizes, she is a founding member and currently chairs the Belgian Nutrition Society, is a member of the Royal Academy of Medicine of Belgium, a member of the Scientific Council of the European Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition, of the European Center for Nutrition and Health, of the Food and Health Group of the Higher Council of Health in Belgium.

Michele Suman, PhD, is a Food Safety and Authenticity Research Specialist with over twenty years of experience in leading research and innovation within the agri-food sector. He is currently Food Safety & Authenticity Research Manager at Barilla G.R. F.lli SpA, a role he has held since 2003, where he works in an international context with public and private research centres on projects spanning food chemistry, food safety, quality and authenticity, food contact materials, sensing technologies, and mass spectrometry applications. Since 2025, he has also served as Academia–Industry Scientific Coordinator for the University of Parma–Barilla–FoodER Consortium.

Alongside his industrial role, Michele is Adjunct Professor of Agri-Food Authenticity at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart (Milan/Piacenza) and Visiting Professor of Food Chemistry and Technology at the University of Chemistry and Technology in Prague. He obtained his PhD in Science and Technology of Innovative Materials from the University of Parma, following degrees in Analytical Chemistry and a Master’s in Science, Technology and Management.

Michele is actively involved in national and international scientific and regulatory bodies. He chairs the Food Authenticity Working Group of the Italian National Standards Organization (UNI), is a member of the FAO/WHO Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), and contributes to several European and international committees including CEN, ILSI Europe, and the European Food Safety Platform. He has coordinated and led work packages in major EU-funded projects such as FoodIntegrity, MyToolBox, and FoodSafeR.

He is Co-Chair of the Recent Advances in Food Analysis (RAFA) conference series and has played leading roles in numerous international scientific events. His work is widely recognised within the scientific community, reflected by strong citation metrics and awards, including the National Prize for Young Researchers from the Italian Chemistry Federation.

Sophie Vinoy obtained her PhD from the French Paris University of life science in human physiology. She is the nutrition senior group leader in global research department of Mondelēz International.
She is strongly involved in the European International Life Science Institute at the cross section of academic and industrial scientific partnership. Her primary interest is the impact of food on postprandial metabolism linked to metabolic disease prevention involving food behaviour, low grade inflammation and microbiota modulation. Her main publications are on carbohydrate metabolism and investigated specifically health interest of starch digestibility, as well as satiety. She is co-author of several patents related to foods and health interest.

Aranka is a PhD candidate in the department of Human Biology at Maastricht University. Her research focuses on precision nutrition for the prevention type 2 diabetes, using metabolic phenotyping and continuous glucose monitoring to tailor dietary interventions.  

David Mela’s career spans over 40 years in academic, industry, and public health nutrition, including membership of the UK Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition from 2005-2025. He has more than 120 professional publications, mainly in eating behaviour, energy balance and metabolic health. Several of these publications resulted from his involvement as a member and Chair of ILSI Europe Task Forces. Since retiring in 2019 as a Senior Scientist in Unilever, he has remained active in various research, advisory, and consultancy roles. David is a Registered Nutritionist and Fellow of the Association for Nutrition. 

Ixchel is a scientist specializing in food toxicology, with a professional background spanning nearly a decade across the food industry and academic research. She began her career in Scientific and Regulatory Affairs at Mondelēz International in Mexico, and later moved to the Netherlands to pursue an MSc in Food Safety and a PhD in Toxicology at Wageningen University & Research. She then joined DSM—now dsm‑firmenich—working as a regulatory toxicologist evaluating the safety of food enzymes and supporting regulatory submissions. She is also a certified European Registered Toxicologist. Ixchel now contributes her expertise to Arla Foods in Denmark, where she works as a Scientist in Toxicology helping to drive safe and sustainable dairy innovation. 

Professor and Chair of the Department of Pediatrics at the Medical University of Warsaw. She currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP). Previously, she was Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, General Secretary of the European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (ESPGHAN), Secretary of the ESPGHAN Committee on Nutrition, and Chair of the ESPGHAN AI Task Force. Her research focuses on gut microbiota modulation using biotics, pediatric nutrition, and the impact of early nutritional interventions on long-term outcomes, particularly food allergy. She is actively involved in EU-funded and national research projects and is a strong advocate of evidence-based medicine. She has authored over 430 PubMed-indexed publications and more than 30 book chapters, with a cumulative impact factor exceeding 1700, nearly 25,600 citations, and an H-index of 86 (Web of Science, September 2025). She is ranked among the world’s top 2% most-cited researchers.

After chemical engineering and bioinformatics degrees at Chalmers University of Technology, Marcus completed his PhD and Postdocs at University College Cork on Lactobacillus genomics and age-related microbiomes.  As Associate Professor at APC Microbiome Ireland, he now researches microbiota in IBD. Marcus is Programme Director of the MSc in Bioinformatics and recently chaired the COST Action ML4Microbiome. He is among the top 0.1% cited (globally ranked 164 in Microbiota 2025). He co-founded SeqBiome Ltd., where he is part-time Head of Bioinformatics. 

Dr Cubero-Leon holds a PhD in Biology from the University of Sussex (UK). She has worked as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Environmental Toxicology and Food Safety projects at various institutions, including the University of Sussex (UK), University of Le Havre (France), and the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre.

She currently works in the “Food and Feed Compliance Unit” at the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre, where she manages the European Network for food Allergen Detection Laboratories (ENFADL). The ENFADL aims to promote standardization in food allergen analysis and a harmonized approach on measuring and reporting food allergens across EU Member States. She has over 15 years of experience in organic mass spectrometry. In her current role she also develops methods to detect and quantify food allergens and organizes proficiency testing rounds for food control laboratories. 

Federica Cattapan is a researcher with over 30 years of experience in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry. She earned his Master’s degree in Biological Sciences at Padua University, with qualifications in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. For 18 years, she was the Director of the Biology department in Chelab Srl, dealing with different quality systems (ISO 17025, GMP and GLP) and setting up innovative services in Molecular Biology, Microbiology, Virology, Ecotoxicology and in-vitro Toxicology.

She joined Meriéux NutriScience in 2012 and currently, she is the Director of Molecular Biology R&D, responsible for Mérieux NutriSciences Global Research Projects, leading the NGS excellence centre. Federica actively participates as expert in international working groups on Food Allergens, Food Fraud & Authenticity, Molecular Biomarkers definition for food analysis and in funded scientific projects (national and European). She partecipates in scientific congresses as a speaker and publishes her works in specialized scientific journals.

Kathrin Cohen Kadosh is a Professor of Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Surrey, where she leads the Social Brain & Development Lab and the multidisciplinary Brain Nutrition Gut Microbiome group. Her research examines how brain–body interactions support emotional, cognitive, and social functioning across the lifespan, with a particular focus on the microbiome–gut–brain axis. 

She completed her PhD at Birkbeck College, University of London, and undertook postdoctoral training at University College London, King’s College London, the National Institutes of Health (USA), and the University of Oxford. Her current work investigates how gut health and dietary interventions influence brain function, psychological wellbeing, and behaviour from childhood through key life transitions, including adolescence and perimenopause, using behavioural, neuroimaging, and psychobiotic approaches. 

Professor Cohen Kadosh is a founding member of the Nutrition Society’s Special Interest Group for Nutritional Psychiatry and is actively involved in advancing translational, biologically informed approaches to mental health. Her research is conducted in close collaboration with young people, families, clinicians, and industry partners to ensure real-world relevance and impact. 

MS in Chemical Science (Macromolecules). Coordinator of E-OILÉ project, Senior Researcher at GAIKER, and leader of the Biobased and Biodegradable Polymers Team. With over 30 years of R&D experience in regional, national, and European projects (FP7, H2020, Interreg, and Horizon Europe), she specializes in the areas of compounding, processing technologies, and validation of sustainable polymers, particularly bioplastics and bio composites. Project evaluator for the EC in the EIC Program and representant of the GAIKER in the Biobased Industries Consortium.

Full Professor at the University of Zaragoza (Spain), PhD in Analytical Chemistry, Master in Science (Analytical Chemistry) and Degree in Chemistry at the University of Zaragoza (Spain). Director of the Research Group GUIA at the University of Zaragoza and Director of the Master in Environmental Engineering at the University of Zaragoza from 1990 to 2012. Author of more than 450 Scientific Publications included in the Citation Index, Director of 43 PhD Thesis (5 more are in process). Principal Investigator of more than 300 Research Projects in both Competitive calls and also R&D&I with Industry Inventor in six International Patents dealing with active packaging and in one International Patent on Intelligent Packaging. All of them are in exploitation (market). Six Research Awards received. Participant in more than 180 International Conferences and Professor of several International Courses n Europe, Asia and South-America. Evaluator of many International projects (EU, USA, EU countries, Israel, Arabia Saudi, etc.) and external expert in EFSA for 8 years in recycling plastics. Member of the Task Force “Food Packaging” in ILSI Europe.

Linda Monaci is Acting Director of IBIOM – Institute of Biomembranes, Bioenergetics and Molecular Biotechnologies at National Research Council of Italy – CNR, and is the head of the proteomics and food allergy team. She has 27 years’ experience in the field of food and nutrition and use of proteomic platforms for protein characterizations. She has led national and EU-funded projects in the field of food safety, food authenticity, food allergy and targeted nutrition and is currently CNR responsible of the PNRR project TAHYTI focused on the establishment of allergens thresholds and production of hypoallergenic foods. Dr Linda Monaci has taken active part in international bodies working on the standardization of methodologies for allergen detection such as AOAC-US, CEN, EFSA, and is past President of MoniQA Association.

She has co-authored over 120 peer-reviewed scientific papers, chaired sessions in International congress and has been invited speaker at several conferences around the globe. She is editor of scientific peer-reviewed journals and guest editor of numerous special issues in the field of food safety and allergy.

Simon Flanagan is a biochemist who has worked in numerous sectors of the food industry before joining RSSL 14 years ago, holding both managerial and technical roles. He owns a broad knowledge of biological & chemical contaminants and is a qualified HACCP practitioner consulting for the RSSL business. Recognised as a global expert on food allergy & allergens representing toxicology for MEU & World-Wide HACCP team, he is also member of numerous professional bodies and industry groups & published several articles in peer reviewed journals and a reference book in 2014. Awarded technical leadership award in 2014 for contributions to food safety.

Neil Buck is the Corporate Toxicologist for the global food company General Mills Inc whose products span cereals, snacks, bakery, packaged meals, yoghurt and ice cream. He is engaged in the application of emerging approaches to ensure the consumer is best protected via supply chain management and labelling. Following a PhD in additive risk assessment his career in toxicology and regulatory affairs has been predominantly focused on food innovation and supply chain safety. Neil is the Chair of Food Contaminants Task Force of ILSI Europe. 

He studied chemistry at the Universities of Nijmegen (NL) and Paris (FR), obtaining an MSc in 1983. He completed his PhD in food toxicology at the University of Maastricht (NL), with his thesis published in 1989.
From 1990 to 2000, he worked at the TNO Nutrition and Food Research Institute in Zeist (NL), and from 2000 to 2005 he worked for Unilever in Vlaardingen (NL). In May 2005, he joined the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) in Bilthoven, the Netherlands. Between 2005 and 2012 he served as Head of the Centre for Nutrition and Health, and from 2013 to 2015 he worked as Senior Scientific Adviser for Nutrition and Food Safety.
He served as editor-in-chief of Food & Chemical Toxicology from 1999 to 2004 and as Chief Editor of the European Journal of Nutrition & Food Safety from 2011 to 2015. He was a staff member at the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in Parma, Italy, from 2015 to 2018 as Head of the Risk Assessment and Scientific Assistance Department, and from 2018 to 2020 as Senior Scientific Officer.
He has been a board-certified toxicologist since 1990 and a board-certified nutritionist since 2005. From 2006 to 2015 he was a member of the EFSA NDA Panel. Since 2009 he has been a visiting professor at the University of Ulster (Northern Ireland), and since January 2021 he has also served as an adjunct professor at the Technical University of Denmark.
Since November 2020, he has been the owner and consultant at Food Safety & Nutrition Consultancy in the Netherlands.

Dario is a full professor of medical statistics at the University of Padova. After graduating in Statistics at Pennsylvania State University (US), he got a PhD in Applied Statistics in 1995 at the University of Firenze. After being an Associate Professor at the University of Torino for almost 10 years, he moved to Padova in 2009. He is Vice-Director of the residency program in Medical Statistics and Biometrics and Coordinator of the Ph.D. Program in Specialized and Translational Medicine “G.B. Morgagni” at the University of Padova. He is a fellow of the American College of Nutrition and the Obesity Society. 
His interests include clinical predictive modeling and machine learning algorithms for biomedical research, including the use of big data and wearable devices for primary and secondary prevention. He holds several grants in this field from national and international agencies. Among the most recents, he is Principal Investigator for several framework contracts with EFSA and ECDC, the Statistical section of the 10th Edition of the IASLC (International Association for Lung Cancer Staging) staging program of Lung, Pleura and Thymus cancers, the European Society for Thoracic Surgery (ESTS) data environment, and for the FISA (Fondo Italiano Scienze Applicate) for the development of a Federated Learning System for biomedical research. 
Today, he has published 756 papers (12732 citations, H-index 56) and several books for national and international publishers. 

Dr. Alie de Boer is Associate Professor of nutrition and food information at Maastricht University’s Campus Venlo. She is the founder of the Food Claims Research Centre, a hub for interdisciplinary research on functional foods and food law. Dr. de Boer’s research focuses on the generation and use of scientific evidence in food policy and legislation, and its implications for food safety, nutrition, and sustainability of food systems. She employs an interdisciplinary approach, integrating nutrition & food science, law, and policy studies to examine the role of risk analysis in food governance. Alie has a particular interest in the use of new approach methods in risk analysis. Through her work, she aims to support fair, safe, healthy, and sustainable food choices by ensuring that food information is accessible, understandable and rooted in science.  

John is a food safety scientist with expertise in toxicology, food chemistry, nutrition and regulatory affairs with 40 years of experience in the food industry (Danone & Nestle), academe and government. 
 
John is currently Chair of the Science Council of Food Standards Agency, UK; Member of the Advisory Council of Campden BRI, UK; Visiting Professor in Food Regulatory Affairs, Ulster University, UK; and Chair of the Advisory Board Nutrition Innovation Centre for Diet & Health. He is Director of The Food Observatory, UK.   
 
John was formerly CEO of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, Chair of the ILSI Europe Board of Directors, Treasurer, ILSI Europe and a trustee of ILSI Global; he has contributed to different expert committees and taskforces in the area of food safety, including the EFSA Emerging risk stakeholder group and was founding editor of the leading journal Trends in Food Science & Technology.  In his industrial career, he was Deputy Head of the Nestle Research Centre, Lausanne and Head of Food Safety for Groupe Danone, Paris.     He has a PhD from University College, Cork and an MSc in Toxicology from the University of Surrey.   

Maxence Oboeuf is a Food Safety & Toxicology Scientist at Danone. He holds a Doctor of Pharmacy degree and a Master’s degree in Toxicology, and is a member of the French society of Toxicology.  He has over ten years of experience in chemical risk assessment across diverse industries, including medical devices, cosmetics, and food. Since joining Danone in 2020, he has played a key role in shaping the company’s global food safety strategy and led the transformation of the approach to define raw materials specifications. His work spans risk assessments of chemical contaminants and food contact materials, development of self-assessment tools, regulatory and scientific monitoring, and cross-functional support for innovation and crisis management. 

Patrice D. Cani is a Full Professor of Physiology, Metabolism, and Nutrition at the Faculty of Pharmacy and Biomedical sciences (FASB) at UCLouvain (Brussels, Belgium), affiliated with the Louvain Drug Research Institute (LDRI) and the Institute of Experimental and Clinical Research (IREC).  
He is Visiting Professor at the Faculty of Medicine of Imperial College London since 2010, an Honorary Research Director of the FNRS, and a WEL Research Institute (WELRI) researcher. 
After completing his initial training in dietetics, he joined the Faculty of Medicine at UCLouvain, where he obtained a Master’s degree in Human Nutrition, a Master’s degree in Health Sciences, and a PhD in Biomedical Sciences (physiology, metabolism, and nutrition). 
His research focuses on nutrition and the role of the gut microbiota in obesity, overweight, type 2 diabetes, inflammation, cardiovascular diseases, and certain cancers. 
A full member of the Royal Academy of Medicine of Belgium, he is the author of more than 400 scientific publications, reviews, and book chapters. 
A highly cited researcher, he has received more than 78 000 citations (h-index: 123, Scopus) and more than 111 000 citations (h-index: 142, Google Scholar, January 2026). Since 2016, he has also been listed among Clarivate’s “Highly Cited Researchers” and in the Stanford ranking, highlighting the international impact of his work. 
His motto: “In Gut We Trust.” 

Benjamin Jensen is a tenured Associate Professor in Nutritional Immunology, consultant, and biotech entrepreneur. He leads the Jensen Group at Department of Biomedical Sciences, where they, with a focus on barrier (dys)function, dissect how dietary components, gut microbial community structures and compartmentalized immunology synergizes to orchestrate chronic inflammation of temporal intensity. The Jensen Group develop and use experimental systems tailored to model human disease with unmet medical needs. The group has a particular interest in diet-induced MASH for which they develop nutrient sufficient customized diets tailored to target liver inflammation and tweak experimental variables to induce the full spectrum of human MASLD pathology. This model is now, along with human samples, used to explore novel aspects of Gut-Liver-Brain communication during chronic inflammation. Dr. Jensen has established spinout companies with successful license agreements and is scientific advisor for several nonprofit organizations 

Dr. Janna van Diepen is Principal Scientist at Reckitt / Mead Johnson Nutrition, where she leads the preclinical research program in immunity. With a strong scientific foundation and a passion for advancing health through nutrition, she drives the development of innovative nutritional solutions that support optimal metabolic and immune function across the lifespan. Janna fosters academic collaborations and external partnerships to translate scientific insights into impactful product propositions. Before joining the industry, she was a Junior Principal Investigator in the Department of Internal Medicine at Radboudumc, Nijmegen. She earned her PhD from Leiden University Medical Centre and has over a decade of experience in translational research, with a focus on the metabolic and inflammatory mechanisms underlying diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Janna also holds an MSc in Biological Health Sciences, with a specialisation in nutrition and exercise science. Her work bridges science and application, aiming to improve lifelong health through evidence-based nutrition.