Advisory Board and Editors Food Science & Technology
Yoshinori Marunaka
Prof. Marunaka is the President and the Representative Director, Director of Clinical, and Director of Medical Research Institute, Kyoto Industrial Health Association; Professor, Research Organization of Science and Technology, Ritsumeikan University; Professor Emeritus, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine; Former President, Physiological Society of Japan. Former President, International Society of Cancer Metabolism. MD (1979), PhD (1985), Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine; National License of Physician and Surgeon, Japan (1979). He was Professor and Chairperson, Departments of Molecular Cell Physiology and Bio-Ionomics, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Japan, and Director and Professor, Japan Institute for Food Education and Health, St. Agnes’ University. He was awarded “Vebleo Nanomedicine Scientist Award” (Sweden), “Marco Polo della Scienza Italiana” (Italy), The Premier's Research Excellence Award (Canada), Scholar Award (Medical Research Council of Canada) and Research Award from National Kidney Foundation of USA. He has obtained more than 60 research grants, published more than 270 peer reviewed articles, and provided more than 30 invited plenary lectures at international congresses and research conferences. h-index 47, i10-index 190, Citation 7498
Fernando Mata
Dr. Fernando Mata has an academic background in Agronomy and Animal Production at the Technical University of Lisbon, Portugal, where he also completed his postgraduate studies in Applied Maths. In addition, Dr. Mata completed his postgraduate studies in Pedagogy for Higher Education at The University of the West of England, UK. The skills gained while studying Maths and Animal Science led to him becoming an Animal Welfare Epidemiologist, the topic of his Doctorate in Veterinary Sciences at Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge.
Professionally, he began his career as a dairy farmer and later moved into academia. He has lecturing experiences both in Portugal (Polytechnic Institute of Portalegre) and in the UK (University of the West of England, Newcastle University, Greenwich University and Wrexham Glyndwr University).
Currently, Dr. Mata is fully focused on research at the Centre for Research and Development in Agrifood Systems and Sustainability in the Polytechnic Institute of Viana do Castelo Portugal. Fernando has Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy, is a Registered animal Scientist with the British Society of Animal Science and is a Certified Biologist with the Royal Society of Biology. Apart from Animal Welfare Epidemiology, Fernando is interested in Animal Production, and Animal Performance in general.
Conor P O'Byrne
Director of the Bacterial Stress Response Group, Senior lecturer in Microbiology at the National University of Ireland, Galway. The research focus in my group is on the molecular mechanisms that food-borne bacterial pathogens use to sense and respond to harsh conditions in their environment. Pathogens encounter major physicochemical changes as they transition from food into the host, particularly in relation to pH, osmolarity, oxygen concentration, light and temperature. Understanding how pathogenic bacteria detect and respond to these changes is critical if we are to devise sensible strategies to prevent their entry into the food chain and to prevent infections from arising in the human population. In my laboratory we study two important food-borne pathogens, Listeria monocytogenes and Escherichia coli.
Charles Odilichukwu R Okpala
Charles Odilichukwu R. Okpala is a Certified Food Scientist (CFS) - International Food Science Certification Commission (IFSCC-USA), Chartered Scientist (CSci) of the Science Council-UK, Fellow - Linnaean Society of London (FLS), Fellow - Institute of Food Science and Technology (FIFST-UK), Member - International Association of Food Protection (MIAFP-USA), Member - Institution of Agricultural Engineers (MIAgrE-UK), Professional Engineer (PEng-UK), Member - The Federalist Society (USA), among others. Charles' first college education was in Statistics and Computer Applications (CertDiplom, 2002) at the University of Nigeria Nsukka - Nigeria, followed by Agriculture (B.Sc. Hons, 2008) at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi-Ghana. Subsequently, he underwent specialist food science research training (Master of Research [MRES], 2010) at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow-UK, and during that period, undertook chemical engineering training under the European Federation of Chemical Engineers at Koc Universitesi-Istanbul, Turkey(Intensive Lifelong Learning Diploma - Chemical Engineering with distinction, 2009). He recently accomplished an advanced specialist food nutrition technology research training at Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences(UPWr), Wrocław-Poland (Dyplom Doktorski, Ph.D., 2023). He holds an excess of 75 other credentials, for example, Diplomas in Legal Studies, Social Work Studies, Psychology, Workplace Safety & Health, as well as certifications like FSPCA Preventive Controls for Human Food(USA); HACCP Meat & Poultry(USA); HACCP Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Packinghouse(USA); ServSafe® Instructor/Registered Examination Proctor(National Restaurant Association-USA); ServSafe® Food Protection Manager(National Restaurant Association-USA); Produce Safety Alliance (PSA) Train-the-Trainer (Association of Food and Drug Officials, USA); etc. Currently, he is a County Extension Agent at Assistant Professor cadre (Family & Consumer Science) - University of Georgia Cooperative Extension (Richmond County Office), College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University of Georgia- Athens, USA, and before, Research Scholar - Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Sciences, Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Wrocław-Poland. Previously held at other notable institutions include Research Fellow at IRBIM CNR (previously known as IAMC CNR) Mazara del Vallo, Trapani-Italy (2015-2016), and Research Scholar (School of Science, 2011-2013)/Research Associate (Global Public Health Unit, 2012-2013) at Monash University Sunway Campus, Malaysia. Adding to being an Extension Educator and Subject Matter Specialist, he freely lends his expertise as an Independent Academic-Research Practice Consultant, Lead Internal Quality Assurer, and Lean Six Sigma Black Belt Practitioner, among others. He has over 150 scholarly works in very promising ISI impact factor journals, with over 3000 Google Scholar citations, and over h-index of 25. In addition to being an academic/associate editor with some Scopus-indexed journals, he also serves as a scientific reviewer for over 45 others. He delivered posters/presentations at regional/state/international conferences/seminars. Adding to being a proud Strathclyder, Charles' interests include the following: utilization of animal products in sustainable global food systems; family consumer sciences/extension services; agri-food processing/production/quality; consumer safety/food protection; foodservice industries and their personnel development; environmental public health/epidemiology; qualitative and quantitative research methods; quality management of agrifood products/socio-related aspects of foods. Most essentially, Charles trusts Almighty God to lead him in academic, administrative, and vocational endeavors. Additionally, he is extremely passionate and zealous about ensuring colleagues/students, and community members strive to achieve, excel, and succeed.
Timothy Omara
Dr. Timothy Omara is a researcher with the Institute of Chemistry of Renewable Resources, BOKU University, Austria. He is also an Assistant Lecturer of Chemistry at the Department of Chemistry, College of Natural Sciences, Makerere University, Uganda.
He was previously with the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, School of Sciences and Aerospace Studies, Moi University, Kenya, and affiliated with the Centre of Excellence II in Phytochemicals, Textile and Renewable Energy (PTRE) hosted at the same University.
Dr. Omara holds research assiduity and proven track record of publications and refereeing across international peer-reviewed journals, with research interests including-but not limited to- food toxicology, analytical, natural products and environmental chemistry employing advanced analytical techniques.
He has published over 80 peer-reviewed articles and 5 book chapters as of August 2025, and currently serves as an Academic Editor in PeerJ Life & Environment, PLoS ONE, PeerJ Analytical Chemistry, Journal of Food Quality (Wiley), Natural Product Communications (SAGE) and VEGETOS (Springer)
Jara Pérez-Jiménez
Researcher at the Institute of Food Science and Technology and Nutrition (ICTAN-CSIC), Madrid, Spain. Co-author of more than 70 papers published in JCR journals and book chapters in international editions. Member of the Editorial Board of Food Reserch International. Former member of the Committee of Experts in Human Nutrition, French Agency for Food Safety (ANSES).
Paripok Phitsuwan
Dr. Paripok Phitsuwan is Assistant Professor in the Division of Biochemical Technology at King Mongkut's Univeristy of Technology, Thonburi.
Dr. Phitsuwan's research focuses on biomass conversion and processing, particularly lignin valorization. He is interested in carbohydrate and lignin active enzymes and their applications in biotechnology-relevant industries and environmental remediation.
Maria del Carmen Portillo
MC Portillo holds a PhD in Molecular Biology from the University of Seville (2007). She has held postdoctoral stays at IRNAS-CSIC (2007-2009, Seville), Boulder University (2009-2011, Colorado) and Abengoa Research (2012-2014, Seville). She currently conducts her research at the Rovira i Virgili University (2014-present, Tarragona). Her research line is the study of microbial diversity in wine-related environments applying molecular techniques and in particular, mass sequencing techniques.
Matthew J Powell-Palm
Dr. Matthew Powell-Palm is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering / Materials Science and Engineering at Texas A&M, working on matters of core materials thermodynamics, phase change processes, cryopreservation, and low-temperature aqueous physics writ large.
Maria Valeria Raimondi
Prof. Dr. Maria Valeria Raimondi, PhD is Assistant Professor in Medicinal Chemistry, University of Palermo, Italy.
In 2018 and 2020, Dr. Raimondi's was a visiting Scientist in Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Vienna and the University of Hamburg respectively. Prior to this Dr. Raimondi was Assistant Professor in Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Palermo
Her scientific interests include:
-Synthesis and antimicrobial evaluation of new compounds with phenoxyacetamidic and iodobenzamidic structure
-Synthesis and antiproliferative activity of new derivatives with triazenic, tetrazepinonic and indazolocarboxyamidic structure
-Design and synthesis of new derivatives with a 4-quinazolinone structure, potential inhibitors of folate receptors
-Synthesis of new pyrrole derivatives related to pyrrolomycin inhibitors of Sortase A
-Synthesis of pyrazole and indazole derivatives, potential inhibitors of CDK1
-Identification of new sigma receptor ligands. Design and synthesis of a beta-aminoketones drug discovery library
-Microwave-assisted organic synthesis (MAOS) of compounds with potential antitumor activity
-Synthesis of polycyclic structures with marked antitumor activity in vitro
-Qualitative and quantitative analysis of industrial hydrocolls from the citrus industries
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3143-738X
Scopus Author ID: 7006063479
Boris Rubinsky
Professor at UC Berkeley since 1980. Resides in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Research in biomedical engineering.
Dr. Rubinsky's research interests include:
Heat and mass transfer in biomedical engineering and biotechnology in particular low temperature biology, bio-electronics and biomedical devices in particular micro and nano bionic technologies and electroporation, medical imaging in particular electrical impedance tomography and light imaging, biomedical numerical analysis in particular genetic and evolutionary algorithms and fractal techniques.
Albert Salas-Huetos
Dr. Salas-Huetos obtained his Bachelor of Science (Biology) from the Universitat de Girona (UdG) in 2009, his MSc in Cell Biology in 2010 at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), and his Ph.D. in Cell Biology (Cum-Laude and Extraordinary Doctorate Award) in 2016 at the same University (UAB). He joined the Genetics of Male Fertility group (UAB) as a PhD Student, and Human Nutrition Unit (Universitat Rovira i Virgili; URV) in 2016 as a Post-doctoral Fellowship. He spent a three-month Post-doctoral stay (September-December 2017) at Universidad de Guadalajara in Mexico. In 2018, he joined the University of Utah (USA) and in 2020 the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (Harvard University; USA) as a Post-doctoral Fellow. Nowadays he is a Visiting Scholar at Harvard University for the Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and a Post-doctoral Fellow at Universitat de Girona (JdlCI). Currently, he is working on different large international multicentric projects related to genetics and epigenetics of male (in)fertility, and nutrition. The main contributions of his scientific activity are reflected in a total of 63 original articles (Q1: 51/63; first or corresponding author: 23/63) in SCI/JCR-journals (+ 5 submitted), and 3 book chapter (+2 submitted). He has attended 9 national/international conferences as invited (plenary) speaker and he was the leading author of 10 contributions in international conferences (+15 as a collaborator author).