Ricky Cassini, Michroma
Ricky Cassini is the Co-Founder and CEO of Michroma 🍄🧬🌈. Michroma was born to create innovative ingredients for consumers, the planet, and food companies. Urged by his entrepreneurial essence, he created visionary startups with a positive environmental impact. He is an Indiebio alumni and was selected as Young Founder of Westerwelle Foundation. Prior to founding Michroma in 2019, Ricky was also a Strategy Consultant for multinational companies and served as Profesor of Operations and Logistics at Austral University. He holds a degree in Business Administration and a postgraduate degree in Industrial Management.
Patrick Collopy, Chromologics
Patrick Collopy is an experienced business leader with over 15 years bringing new technologies from lab to market in all aspects of the food production value chain. His work has focused on new & novel pesticides, biopesticides, and food ingredients. He is scientifically trained in fungal genetics from the University of Wisconsin, Penn State, and Dartmouth. With an MBA from Cornell, he connects novel innovations to key markets with a strong understanding of the voice of customers as well as the scientific capabilities of biotechnology. He is currently Vice President of Product Strategy at Chromologics and lives in Copenhagen, Denmark with his wife and daughter.
Joanna Drake, International Association of Color Manufacturers
Ms. Drake serves as General Counsel to the International Association of Color Manufacturers. She leverages her 15 years of experience in the food and food ingredient industries and her extensive experience navigating complex regulatory and legal challenges and opportunities with respect to product innovation, food safety, labeling, trade and other compliance matters involving federal agencies including the US Food and Drug Administration, the US Department of Agriculture, the Federal Trade Commission and the US International Trade Commission to help the color industry succeed. Ms. Drake is also an experienced public speaker and co-author on multiple publications. Prior to joining Verto Legal Solutions nine years ago, Ms. Drake served on the regulatory team and then as Assistant Counsel to a multi-national flavor and food ingredient company. In addition to her Juris Doctor, Ms. Drake also holds a Master of Arts in Applied Economics.
Kristi Muldoon Jacobs, U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Dr. Kristi Muldoon Jacobs is the current Director for the FDA’s Office of Food Additive Safety (OFAS). OFAS is responsible for ensuring the safety of direct and indirect food additives, color additives and GRAS substances as well as supporting safety and innovation in food from new plant varieties and made with cultured animal cells. Dr. Muldoon Jacobs earned a Ph.D. from UMDNJ/Rutgers University program in biomedical sciences and continued research at NIH/National Cancer Institute on mechanism of tumor suppression and carcinogenesis. In her previous roles at FDA and USP she served as a toxicologist with expertise in the safety assessment of FDA regulated products including food ingredients, indirect and direct additives, dietary supplements, and drug impurities. She has extensive knowledge regulatory systems globally to ensure quality and safety of products and has served as an expert to JECFA, OECD and ICH committees. She is an internationally recognized expert in the application of new and alternative safety and risk assessment methods such as TTC, QSAR and read across methodology. She has served as an expert on 15 international working groups and has published over 30 peer reviewed publications in areas related to her expertise.
Erin McVeigh, Anthesis
Erin leads the supply chain and operations practice At Anthesis. She is a dynamic leader and change maker with over 20 years of experience in EH&S; Product Compliance; Sustainability & ESG. She is committed to driving transformational change and creating impact through data and technology. Prior to Anthesis, she was the VP of Partnerships & Strategic Initiatives at Higg (now Worldly) and the Chief Product and Technology Officer at Verisk Maplecroft.
Erin has worked for a range of clients across a multitude of sectors with a deep dive focus on Supply Chain Sustainability. She holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and a master’s degree in Natural Resource Law Studies, focusing on Environmental Law and Natural Resource Planning, from the University of Denver College of Law.
Brian Sylvester, Perkins Coie
Brian P. Sylvester is a partner at international law firm Perkins Coie, resident in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office. He focuses his regulatory practice on consumer products with an emphasis on the food and beverage sector, providing strategic FDA and USDA regulatory advice to globally leading companies and trade associations.
In the area of food and beverage, Brian develops regulatory strategies to commercialize a range of food tech innovations, including transgenic crops and alternative proteins, such as cultivated meat and fermentation-derived food ingredients, among others. Brian draws on his tenure as a former regulator at USDA to counsel clients on strategic considerations around engagement with and advocacy before USDA and FDA on numerous complex issues, including those of first impression. He is a prolific author and frequent speaker at industry-leading events in the United States, the European Union, China, Israel, and other parts of the world. He is regularly called upon to offer insights on trending legal issues by preeminent industry and global publications.
Hannah Lester, Atova Regulatory Consulting
Hannah has over 18-years’ experience in regulatory affairs, helping clients world-wide obtain regulatory approval for veterinary medicines, animal feed and human food in the EU and other global markets. Hannah is a leading expert in alternative proteins and innovative food and feed technology and along with assisting Atova´s clients, she also supports industry associations, non-governmental organizations, and governmental agencies to help them develop new approaches for the risk assessment and risk management of alternative proteins and innovative foods, and drive policy change. Hannah is on the board of Cellular Agriculture Europe, where she is actively working with stakeholders to pave the way for a smother and more predicable approval process for novel foods in the EU. She is also a mentor for the ProVeg Incubator, Big Idea Ventures, Mass Challenge and the GEC Catalyst Program.
Tony Pavel, Keller and Heckman LLP
Anthony (Tony) Pavel guides clients through a comprehensive array of food and drug regulatory matters with his extensive knowledge of U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations related to food, food additives and ingredients, dietary supplements, and cosmetics. In addition to FDA matters, Tony assists clients with issues related to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and other regulatory bodies around the world. Tony counsels clients in obtaining the authorization of new food ingredients, complying with manufacturing requirements, promotional and labeling claims, and regulatory compliance within the global supply chain. Clients seek his advice in navigating selfdetermined Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) positions and submitting GRAS Notices, New Dietary Ingredient Notifications (NDINs), food additive petitions (FAPs), and color additive petitions (CAPs) to FDA. He also helps clients navigate recall and market withdrawal strategies, import detentions, seizures, and alleged food tampering. Prior to joining Keller and Heckman, Tony was in private practice at a major international law firm, followed by in-house positions leading a global food law team at a major food, agricultural, and industrial products producer and Deputy General Counsel, Global Food Law for a consumer biology startup. Tony’s in-house corporate experience helped shape his approach to practical, actionable advice and effective solutions for clients. Tony is frequently invited to speak at domestic and global conferences on food ingredients, food additives, and related policy matters.
Mary M. Murphy, MS, RD, Exponent
Ms. Mary Murphy has over 25 years of experience providing scientific consulting services to clients in the food and beverage industries. She has extensive experience in evaluating the safety and efficacy of ingredients added to foods, infant formula, medical foods and dietary supplements, and supports clients through the development of dossiers and regulatory submissions including Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) conclusions, Food Additive Petitions, Color Additive Petitions, and claims substantiation dossiers. Ms. Murphy has also developed submissions for regulatory authorities outside the United States. In addition to technical support on safety and efficacy of ingredients, Ms. Murphy, a registered dietitian, analyzes national dietary data to identify food consumption patterns, assess nutrient intake adequacy and diet quality, examine relationships between food and nutrient intake and health measures, and model various fortification scenarios. Ms. Murphy also has conducted numerous critical reviews on a variety of nutrition topics, including systematic reviews and meta-analyses; these reviews have been summarized as white papers, published as peer-reviewed papers, included as components of regulatory submissions, and used to guide product development.
Veronica Jaramillo and Priscilla Leftakis, The Food Truth Project
Veronica is a Food Scientist having recently completed her Bachelor's degree in Food Science at McGill University in Montreal, QC, and is now about to start her Master's in Food Safety, also at McGill. During her undergraduate studies, Veronica noticed the widespread and harmful effects of misinformation about food, nutrition, and wellness in her community and across Canada. This realization led her to establish The Food Truth Project (@foodtruthproject) with fellow Food Scientist Priscilla Leftakis, a non-profit organization where she conducts educational and interactive workshops throughout Canada and the U.S. Her workshops help people of all ages and backgrounds identify, debunk, and clarify misinformation about food and nutrition, drawing on her background in Food Science. Since its inception in 2023, Veronica has conducted workshops for over 2,000 participants, enhancing critical thinking and food science literacy. This endeavor ignited a passion for communication in Veronica. Now working with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, she remains dedicated to improving food literacy and safety among Canadians through her engaging and accessible approach to science. When she's not fighting misinformation, Veronica works as a private piano teacher in her hometown of Montreal, Quebec. Additionally, she is a content creator and researcher for the Unbiased Sci Podcast (@unbiasedscipod).
Priscilla Leftakis is a food scientist based in Montreal, Canada, with a Bachelors in Food Science and Agricultural Chemistry from McGill University. She currently works in quality assurance field for a private label snacks factory in Quebec with brands that sell worldwide. She co-founded The Food Truth Project, which combats misinformation about food, wellness, and nutrition and provides workshops to local youth in Canada to help them navigate social media. At The Food Truth Project, we believe in an approach that enables people to learn about the science behind their favorite foods and gives communities skills to think critically about what they see online. Her current interests involve public health policy, food safety, product development and communicating science through a friendly lens with her partner in STEM, Veronica Jaramillo.
Mimi Bonnett, Innova Market Insights
Mimi is a seasoned insights professional with more than two decades of experience in the CPG and foodservice space, shaping brand messaging and product development for brands in the food, drink, flavors, ingredients, and the emerging cannabis market.
Mara Burr, Consumer Brands Association
Mara Burr serves as vice president, regulatory and technical affairs at Consumer Brands Association, providing strategic and tactical regulatory policy leadership on issues impacting the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry and CBA’s strategic priorities, as well as proactively identify emerging regulatory policy issues, concerns, and opportunities that enhance the intersection of advancing the CPG industry’s agenda and meeting expectations of the American consumer. Prior to joining Consumer Brands Association, Burr served as Director, Multilateral Relations in the Office of the Secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) where she led U.S. government engagement with the World Health Organization (WHO) and its six regional offices, the United Nations, the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO), the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). Burr was twice elected Vice Chair of the Governing Council of IARC (2022-2023). Burr also served at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in the Office of the Center Director at the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition where she was responsible for implementing provisions of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) and other regulatory, legal and policy goals of FDA. From 2004-2014, Burr served as Deputy Assistant United States Trade Representative at the Office of the United States Trade Representative in the Executive Office of the President of the United States. Before her government service Burr was in private practice in Washington, DC working on international trade, regulatory, customs and World Trade Organization legal and policy issues. Over the course of her distinguished federal government career, Burr’s work earned recognition from her agencies and peers. In 2023, she received the HHS Secretary’s Distinguished Service Award for the work of Multilateral Relations in leading multilateral efforts to fight the COVID19 pandemic. She has also received awards from the United States Trade Representative, the Department of State, the Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, recognizing her strong and unwavering commitment to serving the American people. In 2024, Burr was appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture and the United States Trade Representative to the Agricultural Trade Advisory Committee (ATAC) for Processed Foods where she will advise both agencies on issues related to international trade and processed foods. Burr was invited to join the Board of Directors of Women in International Trade (WIIT) and continue her work on the multilateral organizations committee. Burr graduated from Georgetown University Law Center with an LL.M in international and comparative law, receiving the Dean’s Certificate for distinguished contributions to Georgetown Law, Mitchell-Hamline Law School with a Juris Doctorate, and the University of Saint Thomas (Saint Paul, Minnesota) with a BA. Burr remains active in the legal community as an Adjunct Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center. Burr is originally from Central Minnesota and now lives with her family in Alexandria, Virginia.
Eric Edmunds, The Acheson Group
Drawing from over 15 years of experience working in food industry, government, and private legal practice, Eric brings a broad range of experience to the TAG team which directs the strategic advice he provides to clients for food safety, regulatory, and enforcement issues from farm to fork. Eric’s work spans new product development, labeling, food safety program development, risk mitigation, due diligence, recalls and crisis management, audits and investigations, and other regulatory actions. After earning a Bachelor of Science in Biology at Westminster College in Salt Lake City, and studying the environmental genetics of the Great Salt Lake, Eric received his Juris Doctor degree from Willamette University in Salem, OR.
Eric is frequently invited to speak at food industry events to offer updates and insights on pressing food and cannabis regulatory and enforcement issues. He is certified in HACCP, Preventive Controls for Human Food, Foreign Supplier Verification Programs, and is a certified instructor for Produce Safety. He currently serves as the Chair of the Food Law Professional Development Group at the International Association of Food Protection. He is based in southern Idaho, travels whenever possible, and tries to spend as much time as he can outdoors, whether it be hiking, biking, skiing and snowboarding, or exploring in his Land Cruisers.
Dan Colegrove, Prism Group
Dan Colegrove is a Partner at Prism Group, a bipartisan public affairs firm headquartered in Washington, DC.
Dan has over 30 years of hands-on experience building and directing comprehensive public affairs programs for some of the world’s largest corporations and trade associations. His extensive background spans all levels of government entities, corporate environments, and business groups.
Experienced in the ways of Washington and the world, Dan is a recognized expert in US state government affairs. He leads Prism Group’s state government relations practice building and helping others develop comprehensive programs across the country. In addition to his state affairs expertise, Dan’s has worked extensively on matters related to global food and agriculture policy, consumer products, retail and marketing, and corporate social responsibility.
Dan served in a number of senior positions prior to joining Prism Group. He was Vice President of Government Affairs for one of the world’s largest casual dining companies, and directed US state government efforts nationwide for America’s largest food company. He was the Director of Global Issues Management for Altria and a Director with the Grocery Manufacturers of America. He was a Chief of Staff in the California State Assembly where he began his career.