Speakers

Project Coordinator

Solveig Langsrud, Senior Research Scientist, Nofima

Solveig Langsrud is Senior Research Scientists at Nofima, Norway, and coordinator of the SafeConsume project. She has over 25 years of experience with research on food microbiology and consumer behaviour related to food safety. She is an experienced manager of projects involving research and innovation. She published around 100 peer-reviewed scientific papers.  

Speakers (in alphabetical order)

Professor Lisa Ackerley 

Chartered Environmental Health Practitioner, Dr Lisa Ackerley is Director of Medical and Scientific Engagement, Hygiene at Reckitt.

She has worked in the public and private sector, academia, as an expert witness and for over 30 years as an independent hygiene and safety adviser providing advice and support to many industry sectors and worked with the mass media on hygiene and safety issues, and for five years was Food and Safety Adviser to UK Hospitality, working closely with many industry and government stakeholders on development of guidance and implementation of legislation. 

She has recently worked on further developing the concept of Targeted Hygiene in hospitality and business industries for the Global Business Services at Reckitt, to create a risk-based approach to development of hygiene interventions.

Lisa is a Trustee, and Chair of the Food Special Interest Group at the Royal Society for Public Health and Trustee and Scientific Adviser to the International Scientific Forum on Home Hygiene (IFH).

Nastasia Belc, General Director of The National R&D Institute for Food Bioresources, IBA,

Nastasia Belc is food senior scientist, PhD, and associate professor to the Faculty of Biotechnology within University of Agronomy and Veterinary Medicine, in Bucharest. She is member of Romanian Academy for Agricultural and Forestry Sciences, member of Consultative Council of Sustainable Department, member of Scientific Council of The Sanitary Veterinary Authority and Food Safety and member of The Accreditation Council of RENAR (National Accreditation Body). Nastasia Belc is member of SCAR Food System Working Group and since 2010 she is nominated by Ministry of Research and Innovation to be member of Governing Board of Food security, Agriculture and Climate Change, FACCE JPI and member of Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life Management Board, HDHL JPI. For HDHL JPI she is part also from the Steering Committee. Since 2017, she is also Romanian Node Reprezentative for pan-European Research Infrastructure, METROFOOD-RI. She is involved in FoodSafety4EU project leading the workpackage for designing the FS4EU platform strategy and business model for long-term cooperation. She is also leading the task for the elaboration the Food Safety Strategic Research Agenda.

Daniela Borda, Professor, Dunarea de Jos University of Galati

Daniela Borda is currently habil. professor at the Faculty of Food Science and Engineering from UGAL, Romania, with research expertise in food safety, dairy science, high pressure processing and food packaging. She was member of the SafeConsume Romanian team and was involved in numerous national and international projects.  As food safety expert Daniela Borda participated in third party audits with the Romanian National Accreditation Body –RENAR. She published around 50 scientific papers. She is nominated by Ministry of Research and Innovation to be a representative for Cluster 6, Horizon Europe.

Estelle Chaix, French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health Safety (ANSES)

Estelle Chaix works for the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health Safety (ANSES), and is in charge of the coordination of scientific expertise at the Risk Assessment Department. She holds a PhD in food process engineering (2014) and a post-doctorate in microbiological knowledge extraction by text-mining. Her area of expertise is related to food microbiology, predictive microbiology, and the packaging/food system.

José Manuel Correia da Costa, Scientific Coordinator of the Centre for the Study of Animal Science, University of Porto

José Manuel Correia da Costa is Principal Investigator at the National Institute of Health Dr Ricardo Jorge (INSA - Portuguese State Laboratory). He has done his undergraduate studies on Nutrition and Nutrition and Infection at the University of Porto; graduate studies, including PhD, on Public Health and Developing Countries (Parasitology – Pitié-Salpêtriére) at Pierre and Marie Curie University (Paris VI). Former Director (2007 – 2009) of the National Laboratory of Veterinary Research and member of the Executive Board of the National Institute of Biological Resources (Portuguese State Laboratory). Since 2003 to date, he is the Scientific Coordinator of the Centre for the Study of Animal Science (CECA/ICETA), University of Porto, 211 R&D Unit financed by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology.

Dr Ellen Evans, Research Fellow at the ZERO2FIVE Food Industry Centre, at Cardiff Metropolitan University.

Dr Evans is actively involved with food safety research relating to three key areas of concern:

1. consumer food safety in the domestic setting;
2. food safety culture in the food manufacturing industry and food service sector, and
3. the food safety education of healthcare professionals and food safety communication to vulnerable patient groups in healthcare settings.

Ellen states that the relationship between people and food fascinates her. She is particularly intrigued by the influence of human knowledge and perceptions upon behaviour, and the subsequent impact on food safety; this interest spans from food handlers in the food sector through to the consumer in the domestic environment. Ellen conducts various aspects of food safety research from microbiological analysis, the development and evaluation of food safety education intervention strategies, to assessing food safety compliance in the food industry using covert observation methods, and observation of food safety practices in the innovative model domestic kitchen at the ZERO2FIVE Food Industry Centre.

Mike Foden, University of Sheffield

Mike is a Research Fellow in Geography at the University of Sheffield. He uses qualitative research methods to explore the everyday work done by households in making and consuming food that is (to varying extents) tasty, affordable, nutritious, sustainable and safe to eat.

Dr. Susana Guix, Associate Professor at the Department of Genetics, Microbiology and Statistics, University of Barcelona

Her research is devoted to the study of human foodborne enteric viruses such as norovirus, hepatitis A and astrovirus, as food and environmental contaminants, to implement new detection tools, develop and validate control options to reduce their impact on the food chain, and better understand their molecular and clinical aspects. 

Dr Guix reports more than 80 peer-reviewed international publications and book chapters. Currently, Dr Guix is the deputy director of the Institute of Nutrition and Food Safety of the University of Barcelona (INSA-UB); she has been a member of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV), and the scientific committee of the Spanish Authority for Food Safety and Nutrition (AESAN).

Magda Hann, Research Assistant, UK Health Security Agency

Magda Hann is research assistant with the UK Health Security Agency, working predominately on the e-Bug project (www.e-bug.eu), a European teaching resource which aims to provide accessible education on the topics of microbes, the spread, treatment and prevention of infections and the rising concern of antimicrobial resistance.  She holds a MSc in science communication and has gained experience in resource development while working on development of the SafeConsume teaching resources and recent review of the e-Bug resources.

Dr. Pikka Jokelainen, DVM, PhD, Adj. Prof. Infectious Disease Preparedness, Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark

Dr. Pikka Jokelainen is based in Copenhagen, Denmark, at Statens Serum Institut - a public health institute that also has veterinary infectious disease preparedness functions. Her research focus areas are One Health, endemic and emerging zoonoses, infectious disease preparedness, and science-to-policy interfaces. She is the Leader of TOXOSOURCES Consortium, a member of the Project Management Team of One Health EJP, the President of Scandinavian-Baltic Society for Parasitology, the 1st Vice-President of World Federation of Parasitologists, and the Chair of International Congress of Parasitology 2022. She has published about 90 scientific articles covering different pathogens in more than 15 different affected host species. She is Editor of Parasite Epidemiology and Control, Associate Editor of Epidemiology & Infection, and Deputy Editor of PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases.

Gyula Kasza, Head of Department, National Food Chain Safety Office in Hungary

Gyula Kasza is the head of the Risk Prevention and Education Department of the National Food Chain Safety Office (NFCSO) in Hungary, an honorary professor at the University of Veterinary Medicine and the Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and a lecturer at Semmelweis University. He has degrees in agricultural economics and law, obtained his Ph.D. at the Corvinus University of Budapest, and habilitated at the University of Veterinary Medicine. His research activity focuses on food safety risk perception, risk management, and communication, as well as the analysis of consumer behaviour. Dr. Kasza is experienced in food safety policy-making and the implementation of scientific findings into food chain control system measures. He published more than 150 peer-reviewed scientific papers and educational materials.

Susanne Knøchel, Professor, University of Copenhagen

Susanne Knøchel is Professor and Section Head of Food Microbiology at the Faculty of Science from the University of Copenhagen. She is an expert in microbiological food safety and hygiene with more than 35 years’ experience in the field. She has worked with survival and growth of a range of pathogens during food processing and has been involved in making IT tools for the catering industry regarding safe cooking and cooling processes. She has also been involved in raising public awareness regarding food safety via websites, radio, TV and newspapers.

Donna Lecky, Head of the Primary Care and Interventions Unit, UK Health Security Agency

Donna Lecky has 15 years post-doctoral (Ulster University) experience working within Public Health in a communication, research and intervention development capacity. She leads the TARGET antibiotics programme for Health Care Professionals and the international e-Bug programme for schools and communities. Her primary interests include infection prevention and control, and antimicrobial stewardship. Donna has published over 50 peer reviewed publications and is Topic Board Member (Antibiotics Use and Antimicrobial Stewardship) for MDPI Antibiotics.

Isabelle Maître, Researcher & Lecturer, Ecole Supérieure d’Agriculture

Isabelle Maître is a researcher and lecturer in Ecole Supérieure d’Agriculture from Angers, France. Her research topic is the study of the elderly's sensory perceptions, food habits and preferences, especially with the elderly who are dependent for food.

Trond Møretrø, Research Scientist & Food Microbiologist, Nofima

Trond Møretrø is Research Scientist and Food Microbiologist at Nofima, Norway. He has more than 20 years of experience working within applied food microbiology, and cooperating with the food industry in over 20 projects. Main research areas are hygiene, biofilm formation and how bacteria survive sanitation. He has also experience with research on consumers handling and preparation of food.

Lars Münter, Communication Expert, Danish Committee for Health Education & Danish Rådet for Bedre Hygiejne (RBH)

Lars Münter is Head of the International Projects Unit from the Danish Committee for Health Education and the Administrative Director of the Danish Rådet for Bedre Hygiejne. He is an expert on developing communication material and engaging public or private partners to use these materials and also engaging media to enhance press coverage and sense of urgency among citizens or needed network professionals. He is the promoter of the European Self-Care Week. He was involved in illness prevention activities in Denmark and Sweden for more than a decade.

Anca Ioana Nicolau, Professor, Dunarea de Jos University of Galati

Anca Nicolau is professor (Food Microbiology, Food Safety and Hygiene, and Rapid and Automated Methods in Microbiology) at the Faculty of Food Science and Engineering from the Dunarea de Jos University of Galati, Romania, coordinates PhD and post-doctoral students, and manages research and dissemination activities both in national and EC funded projects. Her research is related to pathogen survival in foods and biofilm formation in food processing environments. She is member of EFFoST, Global Harmonization Initiative and BacFoodNet.

Bianca Pop, Scientific Manager and Owner of Tritecc SRL

Bianca Pop has an environmental engineering degree and more than 15 years of professional experience in managing European projects. Among others, she is leading dissemination and communication tasks since FP6, the latest responsible for various Horizon2020 projects, including Stance4Health. Apart from leading all dissemination and communication tasks, Mrs Pop performs also other relevant activities. In the project Pleasure - First European research project addressing the challenges involved with producing food low in fat, salt, and sugar from the processing side Ms Pop was responsible among others for tasks related to consumer expectation to obtain information on consumer requirements towards fat, salt and/or sugar-reduced food products to allow for consumer-oriented product development and also with the organisation of concept validation through consumer testing. Also, in the Sense project - HarmoniSed Environmental Sustainability in the European food and drink chain, Ms. Pop organised consumer focus groups and was the day-to-day link between software developers and the food industry. Moreover, she is working as an External Expert for the European Commission since 2014 filling roles as an expert evaluator, vice-chair, rapporteur, expert reviewer etc.

Maria Scherbov, European Food Information Council (EUFIC), Belgium

Maria Scherbov is a Junior Manager in the EU Collaborative Projects Team at the European Food Information Council (EUFIC) in Belgium, where she is involved in several publicly funded research projects related to food safety, health & nutrition. Prior, she worked for the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in Italy, in the Engagement and Cooperation Unit, supporting areas of communication, coordination and stakeholder engagement related to food safety.

Maria holds a BA in English Literature from the University of Warwick in the UK and an MSc in European Studies from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). She is passionate about engaging with people across the food system and speaks five languages.

Joachim Scholderer, Professor, Norwegian University of Life Sciences and University of Zurich

Joachim Scholderer is professor (Innovation Management) at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences and Adjunct Professor (Informatics) at the University of Zurich. He has more than 20 years of experience in the measurement and statistical modelling of consumer behaviour. He has conducted numerous projects on exposure assessment, risk perception and communication, risk management, and other aspects of consumer science and policy. In 2005, he received the Danish Business Research Award for his work. He has published 70 peer-reviewed journal articles, 30 book chapters and 5 books.

Silje Elisabeth Skuland, Researcher, Oslo Metropolitan University

Silje Elisabeth Skuland is a sociologist and has a PhD degree on consumers’ everyday food practices in Norway. She is Head of Research at the Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway. She has researched various forms of consumption and has published on consumer eating practices in relation to cooking, health, gender and class differences both internationally and nationally. She has extensive experience in doing household interviews, food store ethnography and foodscape studies.

Paula Cristina Maia Teixeira, Professor, Universidade Católica Portuguesa

Paula Teixeira is Associate Professor with Aggregation in Food Microbiology at Escola Superior de Biotecnologia at the Universidade Católica Portuguesa (ESB-UCP) and lead of the CBQF Research Line Food & Nutrition and of the Food Microbiology Laboratory. She has held a number of coordination positions at the ESB-UCP and is member of the direction Board of the faculty. She has participated in and led a large number of research projects in the area of Food Microbiology/Food Safety. She has been author/co-author of several book chapters, more than 200 original articles, 190 indexed to Scopus (index h= 41). She has been collaborating in listeriosis surveillance across Europe and with the Portuguese Health Directorate and Portuguese Food Safety Authority in typing Listeria monocytogenes isolates from clinical cases of listeriosis and from foods.

Pia Annika Tuboul Lundgren, General Physician, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nice

Pia Annika Touboul Lundgren works for the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nice, France, and coordinates the French participation to several European projects concerning infections in the community. She is the French coordinator of the e-Bug project (www.e-Bug.eu) since 2006, a European educational school project concerning microbes, infection transmission, prevention and treatment for junior, senior students as well as young adults and teachers.  She is a senior lecturer at the Department of General Practice, provides methodological tutoring to medical students during the work for their thesis in particular in qualitative research.

Mónica Truninger, Sociologist & Senior Research Fellow, Institute of Social Sciences of the University of Lisbon

Mónica Truninger is a sociologist and a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Social Sciences of the University of Lisbon. She has a PhD in Sociology from the University of Manchester, UK (2005). Currently she coordinates, develops and participates in projects on food sociology and consumption as varied as fresh foods, school meals, sustainable public procurement, food trust and sustainable food consumption. She has more than 50 national and international publications and has been an invited guest speaker in key health and food conferences. She is also a member of several international research and practice networks related to food, consumption, practices, and environmental issues.

Nina Veflen, Adjunct Senior Researcher, Nofima

Nina Veflen is a professor of marketing at BI Norwegian Business School and an adjunct senior researcher at Nofima, Norway. Her main research areas are consumer behavior in relation to fast-moving consumer goods, design thinking, and innovation in networks. Recently, she has developed a specific interest in risk communication for food safety.

She has published more than 40 scientific publications in international peer-reviewed articles, written book chapters, and delivered teaching and supervision at both bachelor, master, PhD, and executive levels. She is frequently used as a reviewer for international journals of business, food science, and marketing.

In Safeconsume she headed WP5: Communication strategies for risk mitigation

Domagoj Vrbos, Team Leader (Strategic Communications), European Food Safety Authority

Domagoj Vrbos currently works as Team Leader in the Communication and Partnership Department of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in Parma. His responsibilities relate to providing social science perspectives to different areas of EFSA’s work, including generating insights from society that can support the delivery of trustworthy assessment and communication of risks from farm to fork as well as evolving the social science methods and capabilities available to the organisation. His recent publications focus on social research in areas within the remit of the EU food safety system and the science of risk communication. He has a background in economics and consumer studies from University of Zagreb (Croatia) and holds a master’s degree in development studies from Universita’ La Sapienza (Italy).