PROGRAM

​Mary Ann Lila is the David H. Murdock Distinguished Professor and a Professor of Food Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences at North Carolina State University. Her research advances the use of food crops as sources of health promoting bioactives, integrating metabolomics, nutrigenomics, plant breeding, and translational food science. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Food Technologists and has led global research initiatives across multiple continents.

Philippe Schmitt-Kopplin is an analytical chemist and metabolomics researcher specialising in high resolution molecular profiling across food, environment, and health. He is Director of Analytical BioGeoChemistry at Helmholtz Munich and leads the Comprehensive Foodomics Platform at the Technical University of Munich, integrating advanced mass spectrometry, NMR, and data science to characterise complex chemical systems.

Cristina Andres-Lacueva is a Full Professor at the University of Barcelona and a Principal Investigator at CIBERFES. She leads an accredited research group in nutritional metabolomics and precision nutrition, pioneering exposome-based approaches to healthy ageing. A recipient of the ICREA Academia Award, she is a Clarivate Highly Cited Scientist and among the top 2 percent of the world’s most influential scientists.

Ana Rodriguez-Mateos is a Professor of Human Nutrition at King’s College London. Her research focuses on the health effects of plant foods and phytochemicals, particularly (poly)phenols, including the role of the gut microbiome, precision nutrition, and metabolomics-based biomarkers of dietary intake. She is the recipient of the Nutrition Society Silver Medal Award for excellence in Nutritional Sciences.

Miranda Mirosa is a Professor of Food Science and Head of Department at the University of Otago. Her research specialises in agri food marketing and consumer behaviour, sustainable food systems, alternative proteins, and food waste reduction. She leads interdisciplinary, cross cultural research that provides evidence to support decision making across industry, government, and society, and directs the University of Otago Food Waste Innovation Research Theme.

​Colin Barrow is a Deakin Distinguished Professor and Chair of Biotechnology at Deakin University. His research spans food, agricultural and marine biotechnology, and he is Director of the Centre for Sustainable Bioproducts. He is a Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher and a member of the ARC College of Experts and the TGA Advisory Committee on Complementary Medicines.

Michelle Colgrave is a Professor of Food and Agricultural Proteomics at Edith Cowan University and a Chief Investigator on the ARC Centre of Excellence for Innovations in Peptide and Protein Science. Her research applies proteomics and mass spectrometry to food and agriculture to support human health, and she is Deputy Director of CSIRO Agriculture and Food, leading translation and commercialisation of sustainable agrifood research.

Andrew Holmes is an Associate Professor and microbial ecologist at the University of Sydney, based in the School of Molecular Bioscience and affiliated with the Charles Perkins Centre. His research focuses on the human gut ecosystem, with the aim of understanding and manipulating the gut microbiota to improve health. He has held research positions in Australia and the UK and serves on the editorial boards of leading microbiology journals.

​Kate Howell is a Professor of Food Chemistry at the University of Melbourne. She leads a research group investigating how microbes shape the chemistry, flavour, and functional properties of foods, with a strong focus on fermentation and microbial ecology. Her work examines how botanical food composition and yeast–bacteria interactions during fermentation influence food quality, as well as how fermented foods and plant-derived compounds interact with the gut microbiome to affect health outcomes.

Dr Emma Beckett is a researcher and science communicator specialising in food and nutrition science, with a focus on how evidence is generated, interpreted, and translated for public understanding. With a background spanning molecular nutrition, food science, communication, and epidemiology, she advocates for scientific literacy, transparency, and stronger connections between research and real-world practice.

​Catherine Bondonno is an Assoc. Professor at the Nutrition & Health Innovation Research Institute, Edith Cowan University. Her research focuses on dietary strategies for cardiovascular and cognitive health, particularly dietary nitrate from vegetables and flavonoids from fruit, and has informed international evidence and policy on nitric oxide pathways and chronic disease risk.

• Prof Elaine Holmes (Murdoch University, Australia)

• Prof Yasmina Sultanbawa (University of Queensland, Australia)

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