Uygun Aksoy, PhD Department of Horticulture Faculty of Agriculture Ege University Izmir TURKEY Dr. Aksoy received her Ph.D. from Ege University where she is now a in the faculty of Agriculture. She has over 200 publications including articles in scientific journals, international and national scientific meetings, specialty trade magazines and books. Her research focuses on agricultural practices, fruit production and breeding of Mediterranean plants, and organic agriculture in the Mediterranean basin. She is a member of the Scientific Committee of the International Nut and Dried Fruit Council; the International Center for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (CIHEAM) representing Turkey, and a past Board Member of the Department of Ecological Agriculture Association, and of the International Society for Horticultural Sciences. Arianna Carughi, PhD, CNS Health & Nutrition Research Coordinator Sun Maid Growers of California Dr. Carughi received her Ph.D. in Nutritional Sciences from the University of California, Berkeley. Her graduate training was followed by two years of post doctoral work in Biochemistry at Stanford University School of Medicine. Dr. Carughi has been involved with the food, nutrition and wellness industry for over 20 years as Director of Research and Development for GNLD International and as Research Director for Health Research and Studies Center in Los Altos California. She was co founder and member of the Steering Committee of the Polyphenol Research Interest Group since 2001. Currently she is Health and Nutrition Research Coordinator at Sun Maid, provides technical support to various agricultural boards in California, is on the Scientific Advisory board of GNLD International and the Advisory Board of the College of Natural Resources at the University of California, Berkeley.
Mary Jo Feeney, MS, RD, FADA Consultant to Food and Agricultural Industries Nutrition Research Coordinator, California Dried Plum Board Los Altos, CA 94024 Ms. Feeney is recognized as a leading consultant to the food and health care industries, and often serves as a nutrition spokesperson for clients at professional symposia or media events. She is a registered dietitian with 30 years of experience in the nutrition field. During her career, she has taught student nurses, college students and other health care professionals and served as a technical writer and author. Currently, she coordinates the nutrition research activities of the California Dried Plum Board. A charter Fellow of the American Dietetic Association, Mary Jo served on the Board of Directors of both the American Dietetic Association (ADA) and its Foundation (ADAF) and received the association's Medallion Award. Daniel Gallaher, PhD Department of Food Science and Nutrition College of Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources University of Minnesota Prof. Gallaher s research program focuses on the influence of dietary components on the development of chronic diseases, with emphasis on events occurring within the gastrointestinal tract. Currently he is studying the effects of whole grains colon cancer risk and on the development of type II diabetes, in an animal model. His research encompasses collaborations with academic and medical entities such as the Minnesota Cancer Center and industry. He has numerous publications in scientific journals, and invitations to present at scientific meetings. Prof. Gallaher has received many awards including two Distinguished Teaching Awards from the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences and his 2000 paper was selected for the Annual Bibliography of Significant Advances in Dietary Supplement Health by the Office of Dietary Supplements of the National Institute of Health.
Vaios Karathanos in Food Engineering Department of Nutrition & Dietetics, Harokopio University, Athens, Greece Dr. Karathanos received his Ph.D. from Rutgers University, New Jersey. His research is in the area of Food Chemistry, Food Quality and Food Engineering with emphasis on drying of vine fruits. Andriana Kaliora, PhD. Lecturer in Foods and Human Nutrition Department of Nutrition & Dietetics Harokopio University Athens, Greece Dr. Kaliora received her Ph.D. in the Science of Dietetics from Harokopio University, Greece. Her research interests focus on the study of the biologically drastic compounds of foods and natural products of the Mediterranean basin, antioxidant compounds, cell culture models to assess bioactivity of functional ingredients, in vitro and in vivo studies, and animal model application for the investigation of the potential activity of foods on prevention of degenerative diseases. Shin ichi Kayano, Ph.D. Faculty of Health Science Department of Health and Nutrition Kio University Koryo, Kitakatsuragi gun Nara, JAPAN Prof. Kayano s research focuses on the elucidation and quantification of functional components in prunes (Prunus domestica L) and the identification and quantification of functional components in food. Prof. Kayano received his Ph.D. in Food Science from the Osaka City University where he later was visiting researcher, at the Graduate School of Human Life Science. Most of his work on the antioxidant components of prunes and their components was conducted at the Research and Development Institute of the MIKI Corporation, Japan. He is a member of the Japanese Society of Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Agrochemistry and The Japanese Society of Nutrition and Food Science.
Jim Painter, PhD, R.D. Chair, School of Family and Consumer Sciences Eastern Illinois University Charleston, Illinois Dr. Painter received his Ph.D. in Human Resource and Family Studies from the University of Illinois and his Master's Degree in Food and Nutrition from Oklahoma State University. Dr. Painter has conducted numerous studies in the field of Food Psychology and Mindless Eating. He has been involved in the study of food science at the university level for almost 20 years and is presently the Chairman of the School of Family and Consumer Sciences at Eastern Illinois University and a member of several professional associations including The American Dietetic Association and The Society for Nutrition Education. Dr. Painter has given presentations in countries worldwide to a variety of professional, civic, public, and private groups including groups such as Apicius (the Culinary Institute in Florence Italy) and the National Soybean Research Lab in Bhopal, India. Over the years, he has also made headlines with projects like The Nutrition Analysis Tool and Portion Size Me. Dr. Painter has been on the Advisory Board of numerous entities including the California Raisin Marketing Board, Disney College Program Advisory Board, Paramount Farms, and White Wave, Soy Silk. Ron Prior Adjunct of Food Science Department of Food Science University of Arkansas Fayetteville, Arkansas Dr. Prior received his Ph.D. in Nutrition with minors in biochemistry and physiology from Cornell University. His graduate training was followed by two years of post doctoral work in Comparative Gastroenterology in the College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University. Dr. Prior has been with the Agricultural Research Service of the USDA for 30+ years. Following 13 years at the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts, Dr. Prior moved in 2000 to the Arkansas Children s Nutrition Center in Little Rock, AR where he is involved in their phytochemical and health research program. Dr. Prior moved in 2000 to the Arkansas Children s Nutrition Center in Little Rock, AR where he is involved in their phytochemical and health research program. Dr. Prior has published more than 200 articles in peer reviewed scientific journals
and received numerous grants and awards. Dr. Prior s research efforts have focused on assessing antioxidant capacity of fruits and vegetables and understanding the absorption and metabolism of antioxidant phytochemicals in fruits and vegetables. Dr. Prior s laboratory has provided the data on anthocyanins, proanthocyanidins and antioxidant capacity of fruits and vegetables for the flavonoid database in the USDA food nutrient database. Dr. Prior s recent research focus has been on effects of foods high in anthocyanins on the development of obesity and metabolic syndrome. Praveen K. Vayalil, PhD Senior Research Associate Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology Center for Nutrient Gene Interaction in Cancer Prevention University of Alabama at Birmingham Birmingham, AL 35294 Dr. Vayalil received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Calicut University, India. His graduate training was followed by post doctoral work in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at University of Alabama at Birmingham. He is currently a Senior Research Associate at the University of Alabama at Birmingham where his research interests include the identification and development of new dietary components and novel approaches against molecular targets and pathways for prevention and treatment of breast cancer. He has written several reviews on the medicinal properties, chemistry and pharmacology of the date fruit. Dr. Vayalil is a Journal Reviewer of various scientific publications including Phytotherapy Research, Planta, Journal of Agriculture and Food chemistry, Nutrition: The International Journal of Applied and Basic Nutritional Sciences and Experimental and Toxicologic Pathology. Gary Williamson, PhD Chair of Functional Food Department of Food Science and Nutrition University of Leeds Leeds Prof. Williamson has published over 280 refereed scientific publications, and is an ISI highly cited author in Agricultural Sciences. He is Visiting of Food Safety at University of Surrey, UK, and has an Honorary Chair at Harbin Medical University, China. Prof. Williamson has a wide
range of experience with research in academic, research institute and industrial environments and in supervising and running large multidisciplinary research groups and projects, and has given more than 120 invited research seminars at international scientific conferences. He was head of Nutrient Bioavailability at the Nestle Research Center in Switzerland where he is now a Scientific Advisor. Before that he was head of the Phytochemicals Group at the Institute of Food Research, Norwich UK where here he was also Director of a Europe wide training program for PhD students in phytochemicals. Prof. Williamson s research interests focus on dietary phytochemicals including polyphenols and phenolic acids, their metabolism and health effects, and their relationship to other nutrients. Ted Wilson, PhD Associate Department of Biology Winona State University Winona, MN Prof. Wilson received his Masters and Ph.D. from Iowa State University. He has had academic appointments at the University of Wisconsin La Crosse in Biology/Microbiology and Exercise/Sports Science where his research focused on the effects of dietary bioactive compounds in soy, cranberry and grape juice on cardiovascular disease risk reduction. He continues a strong collaboration with clinical researchers at the Mayo Clinic where he studies nutritional physiology and dietary aspects of high altitude medicine. He is currently an Associate in the Department of Biology at Winona State University. His primary research interests include examining interactions between dried fruit and beverage polyphenolic content and glycemic response of type 2 diabetics. He is the recipient of numerous grants, has edited four books on nutrition, and published 19 peer reviewed publications on nutrition.