Food Science, Nutrition and Technology

Dr. Michele E. Morgado is a Post-Doctoral Associate with the Department of Global, Environmental, and Occupational Health at the University of Maryland School of Public Health, where she received her PhD in Environmental Health Sciences (December 2023). Previously, she worked as an Oceanographic Technician and Adjunct Faculty at the U.S. Naval Academy and taught Oceanography at the Anne Arundel Community College. She received her Honors B.S. (Marine Biology and Fisheries) from the Universidade do Algarve in Portugal (2002) and earned an M.S. in Oceanography/Coastal Zone Management from Nova Southeastern University in Florida (2007). She also attended Johns Hopkins University and received a post-master’s graduate certificate in Environmental Engineering, Science and Planning (2014). Her research focuses on understanding how to better protect public health from the increased risk of bacterial waterborne and foodborne infections with climate change and increased environmental stressors, as well as global health related issues within the food, energy, and water nexus with a focus on interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research and collaboration.

Dr. Saif received his PhD in Soil Science from Oklahoma State University in the United States in 2018. He currently serves as the director of the research planning and follow-up department at the National Center of Research and Development for Sustainable Agriculture (Estidamah). Before taking this position, he worked at King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology as an Associate Professor of Soil Chemistry, and he participated in many cooperative research projects nationally and internationally. He also worked as the Head of the Soil and Water Chemistry Laboratory at the Institute of Advanced Agricultural and Food Technologies in the KACST. Alharbi’s research interests focused mainly on Soil Fertility and Nutrient Management, Environmental Soil Chemistry, Soil Salinity, and Bioremediation.

RESEARCHER (SSD PAED-02/A Didactics and Special Pedagogy) at the Pegaso Telematic University (Italy), where he has been teaching General Didactics II at the Degree Course in Pedagogical Sciences since the current A.A. PhD in ‘Design and Evaluation of Educational Processes’ at the University of Bari. Her research interests include: research centres for excellence in university teaching, a focus on disciplinary didactics and environmental didactics, on new ways of learning reading and writing through new technologies, on gaming and video games for learning; on multimodal narratives (cross-medial and transnational) and their impact on learning, and finally on the role of the inclusive teacher and strategies for the acquisition of life skills. Special attention is paid to the use of artificial intelligence in schools, especially for pupils with BES. He is the author of numerous national and international publications and has also participated as a speaker at numerous national and international conferences.

Ahmed S. Zahran. Professor of food microbiology , Minia University , Egypt .Graduated from the University of Edinburgh (UK) , department of Microbiology .His main area of interest is probiotic foods and functional foods . Published more than 80 research papers in the field of bacterial enzymes , probiotic foods , functional foods and antibacterial substances isolated from lactic acid bacteria .He has his expertise in evaluation and passion in improving the quality of probiotic foods. H supervised 30 graduate students in the field of food microbiology , microbioal biochemistry and synbiotic foods . He teaches to both undergraduate and postgraduate students courses in fermentation technology and biochemistry, microbial enzymes, food poisoning and probiotic foods.

Hajar EL BASETT is a PhD student with a specialization in the optimization and valorization of the extraction of bioactive substances from bioresources. Hajar brings a strong academic background and a passion for innovative research to the field of natural product extraction, where she has made significant contributions. She has published a peer-reviewed paper and holds three PCT patents, which demonstrate her expertise and commitment to advancing scientific knowledge. Hajar's research is focused on the development of efficient and sustainable methods for the extraction of lycopene, a powerful antioxidant with numerous health benefits. Her work aims to improve the bioavailability and application of lycopene in various industries, including food, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics. In addition to her research,
Hajar actively participates in scientific conferences and collaborates with international researchers to further her studies. Her dedication to excellence and innovation has earned her recognition from the scientific community.

Dr. Garima Singh (Ph. D in Food & Nutrition) being an Assistant Professor & Nutritionist, has an expertization in all types of diet counseling like weight loss and therapeutic diets. She has been the HOD (Nutrition & Dietetics) in VLCC Institute of Beauty & Nutrition. She has also worked as a HOD (Home Science) in BFIT, Dehradun. She has done her dietetic training from AIIMS, New Delhi. Dr. Garima has taken the workshops in VLCC Institute on different topics like: Advanced workshop on Diabetes & Cardiovascular disorders, Obesity & Sports & Fitness. She has been a Gold Medalist, which was given by Mr. Hooda (Former CM of Haryana) and cleared UGC/NET/JRF in 2010. She has also been awarded University Research Fellowship (URS) in 2008 by Kurukshetra University. With 13 years of teaching & research experience, she has also been an author of Nutrition related books (Nutritional interventions in Cancer Therapy & Therapeutic Nutrition) and also published a great number of research papers in national and international Journals. She has been a life time member of Indian Dietetic Association and Universal Society of food & Nutrition.

Dr Ikechi Agbugba is the Pioneer of the ‘Brain Re-Engineering Initiative (BRI or BRECR), Strategy for actualising the UN SDGs.’ This initiative is registered in the Library of Congress Copyrights Law at Washington DC USA. He is a profound food & agro economist with wide experiences in agriculture, business management, economics of agriculture, project management, entrepreneurship development, clean and renewable energy options, food security, technology in agriculture (such as blockchain, AI and IOTs).

He has intense experience in developing project proposals which has been delivered in South African communities and has also been part of EU Horizon Funding, NUFFIC, ARC and WRC among other opportunities aligning with the SDGs agenda of the United Nations. He has twice consulted for the United Nations under the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) Connecting Diaspora for Development Project focused on train-the-trainers programme spearheaded by the Hague Office in the Netherlands. He successfully delivered his assignments at the Food Crop Production Technology Transfer Station; and a Horticulture Research Institute (NIHORT), both in Nigeria. During the UN assignment, He developed a holistic strategy for horticulture ecosystem from production to consumption (hands of the end-user) thereby promoting safety of horticulture and arable crops in agrochemical usage to tackle pest incidence(s) as it complies with crop health regulations at the local, regional, national, and regional (EU) levels. Dr. Ikechi is the Director, Research and Development/Innovation, African Diaspora Collective, North and South America (ADC-NSA).

After defending his PhD (Agricultural Economics) in 2014 at University of Nigeria Nsukka, he proceeded to the University of Fort Hare, South Africa for his Postdoctoral Research Fellowship on a Smallholder Collaborative Study between Agricultural Research Council (ARC) and Faculty of Science and Agriculture UFH, and later on with a NUFFIC Project of which three South African Universities (Limpopo, Venda, and Fort Hare Universities) benefitted from. More so, he has garnered experiences as external examiner with Development Studies Department, University of Fort Hare and has been examining PhD students since 2018. More so, he has featured as external examiner for MSc students of Agricultural Economics, University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), South Africa and Pince Abubakar Audu University (formerly Kogi State University), Nigeria. Since 2022, he has been receiving invitations to evaluate/assess the research outputs of professors of Agricultural Economics as a National Research Foundation (NRF) Scholar.

Dr Ikechi is an accredited member of the International Trade Council (ITC). He has also garnered wide experiences and affiliations in the academia and research domains as Advisory Board Member at Saudi Education & Technology Collective Alliance (SETCA); Advisory Board Member at Food Security Consortium USA; Honorary Associate Professor at the University of Birmingham, England; Lecturer at York St John University England; Faculty Member at School of Pan African Thought, London; Adjunct Graduate Faculty at Tennessee State University (TSU); Mentor on New Faces for Farming at Writtle University College, Chelmsford, England; Visiting Professor at Rome Business School (RBSN); Honorary Adjunct Professor at Lovely Professional University (LPU); Senior Lecturer at Rivers State University (RSU), Consultant on Agribusiness and Agricultural Economics at Nigeria Stored Products Research Institute (a Parastatal under the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Nigerian Government) among others. Since 2003, he has been carrying-out research on food and agricultural economics, agribusiness, food systems studies and development studies. To his credit, he has published over 60 papers in reputable journals and is working assiduously with colleagues to develop a formidable ecosystem agribusiness facility with the aim of revamping efficiency and sustainability for youth engagement in selected locations.

In many ways, Dr Ikechi Agbugba has been instrumental in creating visibility for RSU and his other affiliations even in his collaborations with other international organisations. In 2022, he received the Global Mentor of Change and Global Emerging Leader Awards by the Global Council for the Promotion of International Trade (GCPIT). Moreover, Dr Ikechi was recognised by the University of Rwanda as lead facilitator in cementing MoU with RSU with focus on spearheading formidable productive collaborations between UR’s College of Agriculture, Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine (CAAVM) and Faculty of Agriculture RSU. To his credit, Dr Ikechi has published over 70 articles in reputable journals and conference proceedings, book chapters and issues.

More so, he is a Co-founder of the Africa Organisation of Technology in Agriculture (AOTA), a Rwanda based initiative poised to transform Africa’s agriculture sector through targeted approaches for unlocking her food and agricultural potentials with the help of technology and business models for her key players. Jointly, AOTA, University of Rwanda, and Rwanda Ministry of Agriculture have twice delivered Int’l Conference on Business Models in Agriculture (IBMA). Also, Dr. Ikechi had served as Technical Adviser to NutriCare, Malawi (an initiative developing strong farmers’ links and networks with the agriculture sector in specific regions thereby identifying farmer/farming needs, as well as building networks, partnerships, and relevant opportunities in line with the vision of actualizing food and nutrition secure communities through empowering women to increase availability of affordable nutritious foods.

In 2021, Dr B Bischof learnt about his passion in agriculture and incorporated Dr Ikechi as partner in the PETS Foreign Policy Ecosystem Programme she created for training African farmers who are majorly smallholders on developing smart dimensions, protected farming systems and relevant agtechs, as well as upgrading farmers’ knowledge and skills on indigenous technologies provided food production is efficient. Dr Bischof, a German ambassador enrolled him as EUTECH advocate. As an EUTECH advocate & Board Member, Food, Farming & Fisheries Alliance, he has participated in different workstreams as either expert, consultant, or speaker, since 2021. In addition, he partners with agribusiness leaders and establishments across the global south (especially sub-Sahara Africa) in advising on efficient, effective and actionable ways for driving the needed transformation in specific communities of Africa.

In 2015, Dr Ikechi facilitated a plenary session on Food Security and Agribusiness at the International Food and Agribusiness Management Association (IFAMA) World Congress which held at St Paul Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. In 2017, he earned the excellence award as ‘Agro-Economist of the Year’ by the Pan African Agricultural Journalists. That same year, he was selected as academic/researcher in the stakeholder roundtable at the Feed-the-Future initiative of the USAID Global Food Security Strategy Whole-System Workshop. Moreover, in 2021, Dr Ikechi was invited to facilitate the Rivers State Nigeria Chapter of the Michigan State University Collaboration Research Workshop with World Bank, USAID, FAO and Worldfish on ‘the impact of COVID-19 on farmers’ incomes and food systems in urban and rural communities of Nigeria.’ At this event, key staff from the Ministry of Agriculture, Poultry and Fishery Farmers’ Association, among other stakeholder members were in attendance and all attendees were compensated monetarily.

Prof. Dr. Mounaim Halim El Jalil, PhD, MBA is a distinguished academic and researcher specializing in Microbiology and Biotechnology, with a focus on applications in food engineering and industrial microbiology. Currently a Professor at Mohammed V University in Rabat, he is recognized for his pioneering work in screening indigenous lactic acid bacteria strains with industrial potential and developing innovative solutions for valorising by-products and waste from agri-food industries. Prof. El Jalil’s expertise spans the fields of food biotechnology, fermented food processes, and sustainable resource management, making him a key contributor to the advancement of resilient and eco-friendly practices in the agri-food sector. His scientific endeavours are underscored by numerous publications in high-impact journals, patents on biotechnological processes, and active participation in international research collaborations, including multiple European Union-funded projects. A firm advocate for interdisciplinary research, Prof. El Jalil’s commitment to innovation and sustainability continues to impact both academia and industry. His ability to blend academic rigor with practical applications exemplifies his dedication to fostering progress in food security and environmental stewardship on both local and global scales.

Dr Elizabeth T. Adesemoye is a distinguished lecturer and researcher at the Federal University Oye Ekiti, Ekiti State in Nigeria with research interest cutting across Food Microbiology, Human Nutrition and Public Health. Her academic and professional journey reflects a deep commitment to advancing the understanding of microbial processes, food safety, and the nutritional benefits of indigenous fermented foods, particularly in the context of public health and sustainable food systems. Dr Elizabeth T. Adesemoye earned her Ph.D. in Food Microbiology with groundbreaking research on "The Bioproduction of B-Vitamins by Lactic Acid Bacteria from Nigerian Traditional Fermented Foods with Probiotic and Technological Potential." This work explored the use of beneficial microorganisms to enhance the nutritional quality of traditional foods, emphasizing their role in addressing B-vitamins deficiencies and promoting health. She collaborates with scientist with similar interests within and outside her country hence, was a visiting Scientists at the Laboratory of the Department of Molecular Microbiology, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Foggia, Italy, and the Institute of Science of Food Production and Research, Italy. Her M.Sc. research, "The Role of Religion on the Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice of Mothers on Infant Feeding," provided a sociocultural perspective on nutrition and maternal health, while her undergraduate study on "The Effect of Preservatives on the Microbial Spoilage of Moinmoin" laid the foundation for her interest in microbial interactions in food systems. Dr Elizabeth T. Adesemoye is also an inspiring educator, dedicated to shaping the next generation of scientists and researchers. Her teaching philosophy combines theoretical knowledge with practical applications, fostering critical thinking and innovation among her students. She actively mentors postgraduate researchers, guiding them to pursue impactful projects that address real-world problems in food microbiology, biotechnology, and public health. With her extensive expertise, innovative research, and dedication to teaching, Dr Elizabeth T. Adesemoye continues to make significant contributions to the fields of Food Microbiology, Public Health, and Nutrition, cementing her reputation as a leader and advocate for sustainable, science-based solutions to global health challenges.