2021 Speakers

Biography available soon!

Anne Wagner is Corporate Research & Development Director at Tereos since 2013 and is responsible for group’s R&D strategies and projects as well as collaboration with other academics and research institutes. Between1996 to 2005, she served as Quality and R&D Director for Tereos Syral (now as Tereos Starch & Sweeteners Europe). Since 2008, she served as Vice-President, Innovation and Quality for Tereos Syral before being appointed to her current position in the group.

After starting her career as a post-doctoral fellow (Molecular Biology) in University College Galway (Ireland), Anne joined Jungbunzlauer, a leading producer of organic acids and hydrocolloids through fermentation, in 1993. Between 2006 and 2008, she was Head of the Microbiology Department of Eli Lilly’s Fegersheim plant (France)- the company’s second largest parental drug plant worldwide.

Besides her current role at Tereos, Anne is also President of the IMROVE SAS – a research institute focusing on new protein developments. Anne is board member of several academic institutes, clusters  and professional associations such as Protéines France, INRAE, ESCOM, LRD and Coopenergie.

She was awarded in 2017 a price for the best R&D female industrial executive in France.

Anne holds a PhD in Biochemical Engineering (1990) from the Polytechnical Institute of Lorraine (France), an Engineers Degree in Biotechnology (1986) and a Master’s Degree in Cellular Biology (1986) from the University of Strasbourg (France).

Annelien Desplenter is a researcher in food & nutrition at the Centre of expertise for Agrotechnology and Biotechnology at VIVES University of Applied Sciences in Belgium.

She has a BSc in Nutrition and Dietetics, a MSc in Health Education and Health Promotion and her main research focus is nutrition and product development for senior subjects.

Annelien is involved in the PROMISS project, a multi-country Horizon2020 project aiming to turn the challenge of tackling protein-energy malnutrition in community-dwelling older persons into an opportunity for healthy ageing for the future. Within PROMISS, low protein intake is considered a relevant target for lowering the risk of developing protein-energy malnutrition. Together with several industry partners, PROMISS aims to develop new food products and food concepts that fit within the developed dietary and physical activity strategies to prevent malnutrition and support active and healthy ageing.

Biography available soon!

Biography available soon!

Biography available soon!

Dr Caroline Childs is Lecturer in Nutritional Sciences at the University of Southampton. Dr Childs’ research to date has investigated nutrients including dietary fatty acids, probiotics, and prebiotics. Experimental approaches have included assessment tissue composition, immune function, inflammatory status, immunosenescence, and the gut microbiota. Dr Childs is currently a Member of the ILSI Europe Expert Group on Immune Competence and Co-Chair of ILSI Europe’s Nutrition, Immunity and Inflammation Task Force.

Biography available soon!

Chloé Phan Van Phi is the head of value chain at InnovaFeed. Her role involves working with all stakeholders in the aquaculture industry to build together sustainable and economically sound value chains. As an example, InnovaFeed partnered with the French retailer Auchan to commercialise the first insect-fed farm trout in the world.

Prior to InnovaFeed, Chloé worked as a project leader at Oliver Wyman and at the International Finance Corporation where she worked on infrastructure projects in Sub-Saharan Africa. She holds a Master of International Affairs from Johns Hopkins SAIS in the US and a Master of Science from the Ecole Polytechnique in France.

Christopher Kong is the Co-Founder and Head of Business Development of Better Nature, the UK’s leading all-natural meat-free brand and one of the most exciting food-tech startups in the field of fermentation. Since its founding in early 2019, Better Nature has won 6 international food-tech competitions and was 1 of 6 startups invited to present on the mainstage of the Good Food Conference – the world’s largest alternative protein conference. Better Nature produces plant-based protein without compromise – delicious, nutritious, and all-natural, just the way it should be. Aside from running Better Nature, Chris is an avid marathon runner, a boxing enthusiast and a passionate advocate of eating a wholefoods plant-based diet.

Biography available soon!

Biography available soon!

Biography available soon!

Edwig Goossens is co-coordinator in EIP-AHA A3 Group Food and Nutrition and general coordinator of Three Rivers Delta European Transnational Reference Site. He is founder of the International School of Gastrologic Sciences and Primary Food Care, association Odisee University College Brussels, Ghent and KULeuven university and inventor of oncological taste steering (as well as geriatric and dysphagia).

Biography available soon!

Biography available soon!

Biography available soon!

Ioannis Triantafyllis, is the Vice chairman of the World Union of Wholesale markets ( WUWM) an organization that reunites 217 wholesale fresh food and fresh products wholesale and retail markets distributed in 40 countries/5 continents. In average 60% of the fresh products consumed worldwide goes through our wholesale markets making our organization a key actor to ensure food security. Ioannis is also the Managing Director of the Central Markets and Fishing Organization in Greece. An organization with two wholesale markets and eleven wholesale fish markets. He has published academic works on financial programming in food distribution within central markets and financial planning. Mr. Triantafyllis is currently a PhD candidate in the Department of Planning and Regional Development of the University of Thessaly, Greece, with a research on how food markets are incorporated in the urban tissue Mr. Triantafyllis has been counsellor to various committees under the Greek Ministry of Commerce, in subjects dealing with wholesale trade. He has also contributed as an advisor in food supply chain matters in the interests of various governments in the Middle East and Africa.

Biography available soon!

Dr. Maddalena Illario MD, PhD, endocrinologist, from December 2016 to July 2020 she has been the coordinator of the Campania Region Division on Health Innovation. Since September 2019, she is Assistant professor and Senior researcher at Department of Public Health of Federico II University of Naples. In addition, since August 2020 she is Head of Research & Development Unit of Federico II University Hospital, position already held from 2013 to 2016. She has been managing the Italian team of the Perssilaa and “Sympathy” projects, and Campania participation to the “Sunfrail” Project. Since May 2015 she has been Promoter (expert) A3 of the Action Group on Prevention of Frailty and Functional Decline of the European Partnership on Active and Healthy Aging, and is in the coordination team of Action A3 Area of Food and Nutrition. Since 2013 she has been coordinating Campania Reference Site of the European Partnership on Aging Healthy and Active. She is currently co-chair of the European Reference Site Collaborative Network.

Biography available soon!

Biography available soon!

Mariëtte Abrahams MBA PhD- Nutrition business consultant and founder of Qina a boutique consultancy that provides nutrition expertise, nutrition data-science, speaking and innovation services with the goal of closing the gap between industry, technology, academia and health practitioners. She is a guest lecturer at London’s St Mary’s university on business innovation and entrepreneurship for nutrition professionals and a published researcher. She is passionate about prevention, how technology can be an enabler for equitable health solutions as well as ethical AI with a focus on inclusion. She is a regular speaker, panellist, and moderator on the topic of personalised nutrition and wellbeing at national, international and corporate events. She is currently based in Portugal and her mission is to challenge, to inspire and to connect.

Biography available soon!

Matthieu is a FoodTech expert and has been an entrepreneur for 10 years.

After exiting from his first venture (WeCook), he co-founded DigitalFoodLab with the aim to grow FoodTech in Europe. DigitalFoodLab operates as a consultancy and works with major food corporates and startups to help them understand and act on FoodTech opportunities.

Since he sold his first startup, WeCook, in early 2017, Matthieu is developing DigitalFoodLab in order to grow the European FoodTech ecosystem. DigitalFoodLab delivers talks, expertise and business intelligence to entrepreneurs, investors and food corporates. It aims to help them identify and act on FoodTech opportunities with a unique mix of data (with the most comprehensive database on FoodTech startups) and insights (coming from FoodTech entrepreneurs).

Matthieu is M.Eng from Telecom SudParis and MSc. in e-commerce from Dublin City university.

Biography available soon!

Biography available soon!

Miriam Ferrer studied Biology at the University of Barcelona (Spain). After winning an Erasmus Fellowship, she spent one year at the Biochemistry Department of Wageningen University in the Netherlands. She then moved to the Vrije Universiteit of Amsterdam to start her PhD, which focused on the molecular mechanisms of the genetic disease Fanconi Anaemia and their potential use in cancer gene therapy. After completing her doctorate, she took a post-doctoral research position at the prestigious MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge (UK) to work on BRCA1, a DNA repair protein involved in breast cancer.

Miriam decided to move into industry and went on to work for nine years at Abcam, a world leading supplier of research reagents for life scientists. Her roles included Business Development Associate and Product Manager for biochemical kits.

Looking for a change, she took on her current position at Cambridge Nutraceuticals, which commercialises premium supplements under the brand FutureYou Cambridge. Her scientific background helps her to evaluate research data and develop effective supplements that are backed by science.

Biography available soon!

Dr. Nico van Belzen is the founder and Director General of ScienceConsult.

From 2012-2018 he was Director General of the International Dairy Federation (IDF).

From 2003-2012 he was the Executive Director of ILSI Europe, the European branch of the International Life Sciences Institute.

From 1998-2003 Nico worked for DMV International, the business-to-business division of the dairy company Campina, where he set up and managed a laboratory to develop bioactive food ingredients, and subsequently became head of the department Research and Analysis.

From 1986-1998 Nico worked in universities and academic hospitals in The Netherlands as biomedical researcher specialised in molecular cell biology and cancer research, e.g. cloning the genes Drg1/NDRG1 and ICT1. He received a PhD in cell biology from Utrecht University, The Netherlands, in 1990.

Biography available soon!

Olaf Larsen (1972) studied chemistry at the VU University Amsterdam and obtained a PhD in biophysics at the same university. Following postdoctoral research in New York City and Amsterdam, he continued his career within industry. Olaf worked for ASML, TNO and as a consultant life sciences within various organizations. Since 2012 he is heading the science department at Yakult Nederland. Since 2016, he is also part time asst. professor the VU University focusing on microbiota management.

 Petr is Senior Scientific and Regulatory Affaires Manager at the European Consulting Company (ECCO) in Brussels. ECCO provides regulatory and food policy services to food/food ingredient businesses as well as association management services to food industry sectors.  Petr’s expertise includes EU regulatory affairs for food and food ingredients, food technology and nutrition. Petr also serves as Secretary General for two European trade associations.

Before joining ECCO in 2013, Petr worked as an advisor and nutrition consultant to the food industry and educational institutions. Petr gained his experience in the fields of nutrition, regulatory affairs, consumer communication and quality assurance at Nestlé where he worked on various positions including Quality Assurance Specialist and Nutrition, Health and Wellness Manager.

Petr holds an engineer’s degree in quality assurance and food technology from the Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague.

Biography available soon!

Biography available soon!

Dr. Sara De Pelsmaeker graduated as a Bio-Engineer in Food Technology and Nutrition in 2009 at Ghent University. She obtained her Doctoral Degree in Applied Biological Sciences in 2016 at Ghent University with an expertise in sensory analysis. During her PhD at the department Agricultural Economics she gained extensive knowledge on business development and economics. She started her career at the Coca-Cola Company where she worked as sensory specialist EMEA and in R&D focusing on adult sparkling drinks.

Since 2018 she has joined Rousselot as a Product and Business Development Manager to support the Rousselot business in North-West Europe. Since 2021, she is focusing on the global business development of Rousselot Health & Nutrition segment. In her role, she works together with existing and potential customers to find the perfect solution for new collagen based launches.

Saskia works as Associate at Five Seasons Ventures – a Venture Capital Fund based in Paris with a focus on Food Tech.

Before joining FSV, Saskia worked for 3,5 years at Rabobank International where she started her career as a management trainee  and later worked as an analyst on Food and Agriculture innovation. She pioneered Rabobank’s European innovation platforms connecting corporates with startups to foster innovation in the agrifood space and was involved in the set up of a specialized loan facility for startups.

Biography available soon!

Biography available soon!

Leader of a global team within Bayer Crop Science, Dr. Shawna Lemke is a nutrition and food safety expert with a career focus on taking agriculture into a sustainable future. Her specialty lies in creating partnerships and dialogue across the entire food system, helping meet the challenges of delivering safe and nutritious food in an environmentally responsible way through innovation.

Dr. Lemke oversees Bayer’s work to promote collaboration between companies, nutrition and health professionals, NGOs and other food stakeholders on a global scale. She leads the Food Chain Partnership program, which allows partners along the food value chain to share knowledge and resources, leading to improvements in sustainability, food safety, quality, yields, and transparency – all the way from seed to shelf.

In previous roles, Dr. Lemke managed pre-clinical and clinical phases of drug development and conducted nutritional and food safety evaluation of agricultural products. She led the Toxicology and Nutrition Center at Monsanto, with oversight of human safety evaluation for crop protection chemicals and crops developed through biotechnology (GMO).

Shawna holds a PhD in Toxicology from Texas A&M University and completed post-doctoral training in Human Nutrition at University of California -Davis. She attended the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay and received a B.S. in Chemistry with a minor in Environmental Sciences.

Stephanie Rink, MS, RD, LDN, CNSC is a registered, licensed dietitian who specializes in personalized nutrition and the microbiome. She was trained with a focus on research, and subsequently worked as an advanced clinical dietitian before continuing on to start her own telehealth-based private practice. Stephanie is now the lead dietitian at Integrative Phenomics, a medical and nutritional science-based company aiming to use lifestyle and gut microbiome profiles to provide tailored nutrition solutions for people who want to lose weight and improve their health. Stephanie helps translate the research and development done in-house to create evidence-based personalized nutrition solutions.

Dr. Wopereis joined TNO in 2006 and works with a systems biology research group active on the theme ‘personalized health and lifestyle’. Her main focus is studying on the understanding of what biological mechanisms drive health, how you can measure health and deviations from health and importantly on how to intervene on an individual level with lifestyle on health. An important aspect in her research focuses on phenotypic flexibility as a measurement of health, where she uses standardized challenge tests to study the response of a multitude of biological processes to quantify resilience in health optimization and chronic lifestyle related diseases such as Diabetes Mellitus type II. Suzan acts as principal investigator in several public private partnerships focusing on systems health applying genomics technology, bioinformatics, and standardized infrastructures. Moreover, she is responsible for scientific contents in the TNO program on digital health measurements and the TNO program on personalized health focusing on inflammatory resilience. Suzan is internationally recognized as an expert in the area of personalized metabolic health. Suzan Wopereis was involved in the initiation of the Dutch Innovation Center for Lifestyle4Health (lifestyle4health.nl/) with the mission to reduce the societal and economic impact of lifestyle related diseases, where she coordinates the program line ‘bio-mechanisms’. In 2016 she was awarded the ‘Excellent researcher of 2015’ for her work on personalized nutrition. She has a PhD in medical sciences from Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center (2006).

CEO and Co-Founder of Kafoodle; award-winning food technology company providing innovative software solutions to the foodservice sector – connecting people to the food they need.

Her belief is that when the right technology is introduced and embraced, it can provide operators with simpler and better controls and consumers with the information they need to make safer and healthier food choices.

Tarryn founded Kafoodle in 2014 to help foodservice businesses better manage and communicate allergen information following the EU food information regulations. Previously Tarryn spent 12 years in hospitality strategy, sales, marketing and management.

Biography available soon!