The Department of Food Science and Nutrition hosts a number of virtual events through its Seminar Series and its Virtual Food Industry Friday series.
The FDSN Seminar Series features guest lectures by invited speakers that broaden understanding and knowledge of various scientific topics and original research in food science and nutrition. Speakers include experts from academia, federal government agencies, and the food industry. These seminars are held every Thursday at 12:45 p.m. Central Time.
Our Virtual Food Industry Friday events showcase food industry professionals, board members, and alumni who are available to meet with students, providing career path insights to the broad and important field of food, science, and technology. Speakers represent a wide range of experience and roles in the food industry such as quality, product development, packaging, regulations, research and development, and more, providing a broad perspective on the food industry. Virtual Food Industry Friday events are held every third Friday of the month during the spring and fall semester from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. CST. The open seminar forum lasts approximately 45 minutes with a 10-15 minute Q&A session included.
Spring 2025 Seminars
| Date | Title | Speaker | Google Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 16 | Food Science/an R&D Overview | Duey Fimreite | In-person Robert Pritzker Science Center Room 111 |
| Jan 23 | Breaking Bugs: Microbial Metabolites Mediate the Vascular Benefits of Blueberries | Anandh Babu Pon Velayutham | Watch the Video |
| Jan 30 | Fermented Foods and Kombucha Brewing Workshop | Sarah Ku | In-person Robert Pritzker Science Center Room 111 |
| Feb 13 | Intellectual Property and Regulatory Review: Legal Analysis of What Goes On or In the Bag, Box or Bottle | Sean Swidler | Watch the Video |
| Feb 20 | Navigating Food Safety in the Age of Convenience | Lacey Guillen | Watch the Video |
| April 3 | IBRL and iFAB: Growing Biomanufacturing in Illinois | Beth Conerty | Watch the Video |
| April 17 | Can Mushrooms Impact Our Global Health Crisis? | John James Staniszewski | In-person Robert Pritzker Science Center Room 111 |
| April 24 | The Use of Natural and Artificial Ingredients in Safe Manufacture of Consumer Product | Arthur C. Curran | Watch the Video |
Fall 2024 Seminars
Spring 2024 Seminars
Fall 2023 Seminars
Spring 2023 Seminars
Fall 2022 Seminars
| Date | Title | Speaker | Google Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sept 15 | Controlling Enteric Pathogens on Wheat Grain | Teresa Bergholz | Watch the Video |
| Sept 22 | An Introduction to Kosher and Halal Food Laws | Joe Mac Regenstein
| Watch the Video |
| Sept 29 | Optimizing Protein in a Carbohydrate World | Donald Layman | Watch the Video |
| Oct 6 | Managing Food Safety Along the Supply Chain | Sandhya Krishnankutty | |
| Oct 13 | How Can Ultrasound Make Food Sound? | Hao Feng | Watch the Video |
| Oct 20 | Food Safety Needs in the Egg Industry | Urvi Shah | Watch the Video |
| Oct 27 | Anti-inflammatory Interactions of Gallotannins with the Intestinal Microbiome | Susanne U. Talcott | Watch the Video |
| Nov 3 | Legal Issues for Food and Beverage Startups | Sean Swidler | Watch the Video |
| Nov 10 | Use of Next-Generation Sequencing Methods for Surveillance and to Study Bacterial Adaptation | Séamus Fanning | Watch the Video |
| Nov 17 | Nutrition in the News: Science Fact or Science Fiction | Melissa Joy Dobbins | |
| Dec 1 | Craft Distilling–Combining History and Science | Watch the Video |
Spring 2022 Seminars
| Date | Title | Speaker | Google Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 20 | Nutrition and Immune Resilience: A Clinical Perspective | Chelsea Preiss Licensed Dietitian Nutritionist and Clinical Research Associate Center for Nutrition Research at Illinois Institute of Technology | Watch the Video |
| Jan 27 | Interlaboratory Comparison of SARS-CoV2 Molecular Detection Assays in Use by U.S. Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratories | Kaiping Deng Biologist, Staff Fellow FDA/CFSAN/OFS/DFPST | |
| Feb 3 | Disruption by the Pandemic: Future Proofing the Food Industry | Kantha Shelke Principal, Corvus Blue | Sr. Lecturer, Johns Hopkins University | |
| Feb 10 | OPEN | ||
| Feb 17 | The Continued Search for Suitable Surrogates for Clostridium Botulinum | Kristin Schill Associate Scientist @ University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Food Research Institute (FRI) | |
| Feb 24 | Anti-Inflammatory Properties of Blackberry Phenolic and Volatile Extracts | Dr. Luke R. Howard Department of Food Science at the University of Arkansas since 1997 (Associate Research Professor 1997-2002, Professor 2002-present | |
| Feb 25 | Building Career Capital in the Food Industry: How to Stand Out from the Rest | Kantha Shelke, principal at Corvus Blue Matthew Botos, CEO of ConnectFood | |
| Mar 3 | Leading with Heart – A Career from Illinois Institute of Technology to Impossible Foods | Ravi Tadapaneni Product Development & Commercialization Impossible Foods | |
| Mar 10 | The USDA Pesticide Monitoring Program for Foods Consumed in the United States | Shanker Reddy Ph.D. USDA, AMS, S&T, MPD, PDP | |
| Mar 23 | Building Career Capital in the Food Industry: The Three L's: Listen, Learn, Leverage | Kantha Shelke, principal at Corvus Blue Matthew Botos, CEO of ConnectFood | Watch the Video |
| Mar 24 | Food Quality Statistically | Dr. Bhaskar A. Janve, QA manager at the Honest Kitchen | Watch the Video |
| Mar 25 | Research & Development and Food Safety at Hormel Foods | Kevin Myers, Senior Vice President of R&D, Hormel Foods | |
| Mar 31 | Cocoa Flavanols - The Journey from Flavor Inhibitor to Potent Nutraceutical and Beyond | John Hammerstone
| |
| Apr 7 | Emerging Pathogens and Pathogens of Emerging Concern | Purnendu C. Vasavada, Ph.D. Professor Emeritus, University of Wisconsin- River Falls | |
| Apr 14 | Sadie Shake: An Entrepreneurs Journey to Bring Ground-breaking Nutrition to Children in Schools | Margaret Hyde Sadie Shake | |
| Apr 21 | Innovation Process | Dr. Valeria Acquarone Tate & Lyle | |
| Apr 28 | Experimental, modeling, and genomics-approaches to studying and characterizing risks associated with foodborne pathogens | Ruixi Chen PhD Candidate, Wiedmann Lab - Cornell University | |
| Apr 29 | Overview of B2B industry and role of Technical Service Scientist in growing the B2B business | Neeraj Kamath, Sr. Technical Service Scientist Dairy Category and Certified Food Scientist, Tate & Lyle |
Fall 2021 Seminars