2023 IFT Achievement Award Winners

Lifetime Achievement Award in honor of Nicolas Appert
Fereidoon Shahidi, PhD, Memorial University of Newfoundland

Fereidoon Shahidi is the recipient of the 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award in honor of Nicolas Appert. A university research professor and distinguished scholar in the Department of Biochemistry at Memorial University of Newfoundland, he has authored more than 1,000 peer-reviewed research papers and book chapters, 78 books, and 10 patents. His research includes nutraceuticals and functional foods with emphasis on lipids, proteins, polyphenols, natural antioxidants, and oxidation control in health and disease. Dr. Shahidi has received numerous international awards, from the American ACS, AOCS, and CIFST, among others, and is the past chair of the Scientific Council of the International Union of Food Science and Technology and the president-elect of the International Academy of Food Science and Technology. He is the principal founder of the International Society for Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods and founding editor-in-chief of the Journal of Functional Foods. Dr. Shahidi was also the principal founder of the Nutraceutical and Functional Food Division of IFT. He has trained nearly 200 graduate students, highly qualified personnel, visiting professors, and scholars—who are now his colleagues in over a dozen countries.

Distinguished Service Award in honor of Calvert L. Willey
Paul Raymond Cole, Bell Flavors & Fragrances

Paul Raymond Cole is the recipient of the 2023 Distinguished Service Award in honor of Calvert L. Willey. A flavor account executive at Bell Flavors & Fragrances and an active IFT member since 1987, Cole has held numerous IFT volunteer positions at the local and national levels. Most recently, he helped form IFT’s African, African American, Black Resource Group. Cole has won both the Section Outstanding Volunteer Award and the Section Service Award from IFT’s Cascadia Section in Oregon. He is a member of the Tuskegee University Food & Nutritional Sciences Advisory Board, which won the IFT Include Award in honor of George Washington Carver in 2022. Cole earned a master’s degree in food science and technology from the University of California, Davis after matriculating from Washington State University with a degree in food science and human nutrition. He is grateful for his wife, Lesa, and children, Rickey and Cino, who allow him to work and volunteer for others.

Include Award in honor of George Washington Carver
Trust Beta, PhD, University of Manitoba

Trust Beta is the 2023 recipient of the Include Award in honor of George Washington Carver. A full professor in the Department of Food and Human Nutritional Sciences, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, at the University of Manitoba, she also serves as a Canada Research Chair in Functional Foods. Over the past 20 years, Dr. Beta has attracted and mentored graduate and postgraduate trainees from Canada and numerous other countries across the globe. She credits her current and former trainees for the research contributions she has made in the form of two edited books and more than 185 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. Dr. Beta is the recipient of major funding from the Canada Research Chairs Program, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, and the Canada Foundation for Innovation, which has sustained her research primarily in grain-based functional foods.

Distinguished Career Award in honor of Carl R. Fellers
F. Xavier Malcata, PhD, University of Porto, Portugal

F. Xavier Malcata, the 2023 recipient of the Distinguished Career Award in honor of Carl R. Fellers, PhD, which is presented in partnership with Phi Tau Sigma, The Honor Society of Food Science and Technology. Dr. Malcata is recognized globally for his unique leadership ability, public service, and outstanding achievements in applying science and engineering principles to the quality, wholesomeness, and safety of food. Currently affiliated with the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Porto in Portugal, Dr. Malcata has worked for the European Food Safety Agency and as the Portuguese Government Liaison Officer for food research and development in the European Union. His scholarly publications include more than 450 papers in refereed international journals, approximately 100 technical and policy papers on specific foods and processing practices, and Food Process Engineering, an innovative three-volume book collection that comprehensively covers food processes. Dr. Malcata is a strong communicator of food science, has delivered more than 500 presentations in technical society meetings worldwide, and is a frequently called upon source in the international media.

Humanitarian Award for Service to the Science of Food in honor of Elizabeth Fleming Stier
Donna Rosa, EFour Enterprises LLC

Donna Rosa, is the recipient of the 2023 Humanitarian Award for Service to the Science of Food in honor of Elizabeth Fleming Stier. Rosa is the founder and chief entrepreneurship officer at EFour Enterprises LLC, which provides business coaching and online business planning and financial tools for entrepreneurs in developing countries. Rosa began her career as a product development technologist with a background in nutrition. After earning an MBA, she transitioned to the business side of the food industry, working for multinational food companies and ingredient suppliers, including an overseas assignment in Switzerland. She then got involved in international development, supporting microenterprises and small businesses in Africa, the Caribbean, Eastern Europe, Central America, the Middle East, and Russia. Rosa is an active member of IFT and past chair of the International Division. She founded and currently manages the Division’s Food Science for Relief and Development initiative, which seeks to expand the awareness and utilization of food science to address global food and nutrition insecurity.

Public Health Award in honor of Babcock-Hart & Gilbert A. Leveille
Brent D. Flickinger, PhD, The Science Angle

Brent D. Flickinger is the recipient of the 2023 Public Health Award in honor of Babcock-Hart and Gilbert A. Leveille, presented in partnership with the Institute for the Advancement of Food and Nutrition Sciences and the American Society for Nutrition. Dr. Flickinger is a partner and technical specialist with the niche consultancy The Science Angle, which specializes in technical and writing expertise for clients in pharmaceuticals, medical devices, in-vitro diagnostics, foods, and more. He is also an adjunct associate professor in the School of Public Health at Indiana University, Bloomington. Over more than two decades, Dr. Flickinger went from bench scientist to global leadership for quality, regulatory, and scientific affairs at a major international agribusiness and has become a key industry voice on topics related to dietary components, nutrition, and health. He and his teams have supported products from both safety (food and permissibility) and suitability (labeling and claims) perspectives, including innovative health and wellness-oriented ingredients. Two ingredients in particular—interesterified soybean oils and diacylglycerol oil—are most notable given their focus on addressing global issues. Dr. Flickinger’s work has included engaging academic, governmental, and industry stakeholders on food and nutrition issues during a time that has seen a growing focus and awareness on the intersections of agriculture, food, nutrition, and public health.

Outstanding Young Scientist Award in honor of Samuel Cate Prescott
Jasna Kovac, PhD, The Pennsylvania State University

The 2023 recipient of the Outstanding Young Scientist Award in honor of Samuel Cate Prescott, Jasna Kovac is an assistant professor in the Department of Food Science at The Pennsylvania State University. She earned a BSc in microbiology and a PhD in biosciences/biotechnology from the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, and conducted research in microbial genomics at the University of Oxford and Cornell University before assuming a faculty position at Penn State. Dr. Kovac is actively engaged in microbial food safety research domestically and internationally, particularly in Ethiopia and Cambodia, integrating next-generation sequencing and microbiological methods to investigate factors affecting foodborne pathogens’ transmission, persistence, virulence, and antimicrobial resistance. Her lab leverages research findings to develop bioinformatics and genomics-based tools to inform food safety risk assessment.

International Food Security Award in honor of Bor S. Luh
Mian Nadeem Riaz, PhD, Texas A&M University

Mian Nadeem Riaz is the 2023 recipient of the International Food Security Award in honor of Bor S. Luh. Dr. Riaz is the associate department head of Texas A&M University’s Department of Food Science and Technology and holds the IFANCA Professorship in Food Diversity. He joined the university 30 years ago after completing his PhD in Food Science from the University of Maine and served as the director of Texas A&M’s Food Protein R&D Center from 2005 to 2020. Currently, he is the director of extrusion technology, offering five extrusion courses each year. Dr. Riaz’s expertise in extrusion and food diversity has led to more than 600 talks in 60 different countries and numerous scholarly publications, including seven books, 27 book chapters, and 160 papers. His food science text, “Halal Food Production,” is widely used by food science students and has been translated into Chinese, Persian, and Korean, and his popular food science course, “Religious and Ethnic Foods,” enrolls more than 1,000 students each semester. Dr. Riaz has established food processing centers at two universities in his native Pakistan with the USAID program.

Excellence in Education Award in honor of William V. Cruess
Rebecca A. Creasy, PhD, Texas A&M University

Rebecca A. Creasy is the recipient of the 2023 Excellence in Education Award in honor of William V. Cruess. An instructional assistant professor in the Department of Food Science and Technology at Texas A&M University, Dr. Creasy also serves as the Texas A&M IFTSA Chapter faculty advisor. Dr. Creasy’s instructional focus includes introductory food science and human nutrition courses, study abroad, internship programs, and other high-impact learning experiences. With scholarly interests that integrate food science and nutrition, she enjoys mentoring students at all levels and employing active learning techniques. Dr. Creasy is committed to community outreach and has developed STEM outreach programs for youth in food science and nutrition. She is an active member of the Institute of Food Technologists and the American Society for Nutrition and a member of Phi Tau Sigma Honor Society of Food Scientists, Gamma Sigma Delta International Agricultural Honor Society, and Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society.

Achievements in Microbial Research for Food Safety Award in honor of Gerhard J. Haas
James S. Dickson, PhD, Iowa State University

For his innovative research into the microbial aspects of food safety, James Dickson is named the recipient of the 2023 Achievements in Microbial Research for Food Safety Award in honor of Gerhard J. Haas. Dr. Dickson is a professor in the Department of Animal Science and the Inter-Departmental Program in Microbiology at Iowa State University, where his research focuses on the control of bacteria of public health significance in foods of animal origin. Prior to his appointment at Iowa State University in 1993, he was employed by USDA-ARS as a research food technologist and lead scientist of the Meat Safety Assurance Program, located at the Roman L. Hruska U.S. Meat Animal Research Center in Clay Center, Nebraska. Dr. Dickson is a fellow in the American Academy of Microbiology and a past president of the International Association for Food Protection. He is also active in the American Society for Microbiology and a Certified Food Scientist with the Institute of Food Technologists. Currently, Dr. Dickson serves on the National Advisory Committee for Microbiological Specifications for Foods.

Food Packaging Award in honor of Don Riester, Rees Davis, and Aaron Brody
Ana Sanches Silva, PhD, National Institute of Agrarian and Veterinary Research, Portugal

Ana Sanches Silva is the recipient of the 2023 Food Packaging Award in honor of Don Riester, Rees Davis, and Aaron Brody. Dr. Silva is a staff researcher at the National Institute of Agrarian and Veterinary Research in Portugal and a member of the executive board of the Animal Science Studies Center. Her research focuses on the development of novel packaging, namely active and edible packaging, and she maintains a strong interest in developing analytical methodologies, especially mass-spectrometry related, to determine bioactives, food contaminants, and food packaging migrants. Dr. Silva earned a degree in pharmaceutical sciences from the University of Coimbra, in Portugal, and a PhD in pharmacy from the University of Santiago de Compostela, in Spain, where she won two awards for best doctoral thesis. Along with her high-impact scholarly publications, including coauthored papers in peer-reviewed journals, book chapters, and coedited scientific books, she has devoted great attention recently to the study of natural extracts from plants and food byproducts and their incorporation in active packaging.

Research & Development Award
Hang Xiao, PhD, University of Massachusetts

Hang Xiao is the 2023 recipient of the Research & Development Award. A professor of food science at the University of Massachusetts, he is an expert on the health-promoting effects and molecular mechanism of food and food components. Dr. Xiao’s long-term research goal is to develop food-based strategies for the prevention of major chronic diseases in humans. He has received numerous awards, both nationally and internationally, for his pioneering research work, and is an IFT Fellow.

Sensory & Consumer Sciences Achievement Award
Riëtte de Kock, PhD, University of Pretoria

A professor of consumer and food sciences at the University of Pretoria in South Africa, Riëtte de Kock is the recipient of the 2023 Sensory & Consumer Sciences Achievement Award. Dr. de Kock focuses on the optimization of the sensory properties of foods to improve the nutritional status and well-being of consumers in sub-Saharan Africa. This includes food product development that meets the demands of a growing, more urbanized African population and the exploration of Africa’s biodiverse food sources to make products not only nutritionally adequate but also appealing and appetizing. Dr. de Kock founded and is chair of the Africa Network for Sensory Evaluation Research and is a past research chair of the European Sensory Network. She is the 2021-23 president-elect of the South African Association for Food Science & Technology. In 2017, Dr. de Kock received the South African Department of Science and Technology Distinguished Woman Scientist Award for outstanding contributions to research and innovation, leading to socio-economic impact and the empowerment of women.

IFT Achievement Awards Categories

The IFT Achievement Awards recognize individuals and organizations in a variety of areas of the science of food, including lifetime achievement, advocacy, research and development, innovation, international support for developing countries, and the advancement of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the profession.