- We are pleased to announce the 2025 OSU FST Hall of Distinction Inductees:
Lamar Hendricks III – former industry expert in Regulatory Compliance
Ken Lee, PhD – OSU Academy Professor; former FST Department Chair, faculty member, and Food Innovation Center Director
Steven Luebbers – former Product Development Scientist at Abbott
Mark your calendar and plan to join us on Friday, October 24th as we recognize these individuals and their contributions to food science and technology as well as their support to our department and The Ohio State University. Click here for more event information or to register. - The department hosted their annual graduation party and celebrated our students who graduated during summer semester. We also published a special edition graduation newsletter that gave the graduates a chance to share some of their favorite memories as well as acknowledge some of the people who supported them. Congratulations and best of luck to our newest alumni.
- Congratulations to graduate student Veeramani Karuppuchamy on being selected to receive the 2025 Tom Imbordino Memorial Dairy Science Scholarship. This scholarship honors the memory of Tom Imbordino, a founding member of our Dairy Council and longtime publisher of Dairy Foods Magazine.
- The New Yorker recently wrote an article titled “The Food Scientists Working to Change the Colors You Eat” and included Dr. Monica Giusti’s research.
- Dr. Melvin Pascall has been awarded a 2025-26 Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award for “Development of a Bio-based Packaging Material Using Sargassum Seaweed from Jamaica.” He will be based at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus.
- Dr. Nicole Arnold testified as a third party for Ohio House Bill 134: Authorize home kitchen registration for sale of certain foods. Her testimony highlighted some of the food safety considerations of the proposed bill. Dr. Arnold was also quoted in a recent AARP article titled “Should This Go in the Fridge or Pantry?”
- Several of our faculty and students traveled to conferences this summer representing Ohio State Food Science and Technology:
American Society for Nutrition’s (ASN) Annual Meeting - Dr. Martha Belury was recognized as a 2025 Distinguished Fellow of ASN. Induction as a Distinguished Fellow is the highest accolade bestowed by ASN, honoring individuals for their significant contributions and outstanding lifetime achievements in the field of nutrition. Also representing our department at the annual meeting were graduate students Kate Marris and Avonti Basak Tukun who presented research posters.
American Dairy Science Association (ADSA) annual meeting - Graduate students presenting their research posters included Rolando Choriego, Laura Castellanos-Suarez (Dairy Foods Semi Finalist), Isha Patil (Dairy Foods Semi Finalist), and Celeste Miller. Undergraduate students Amanda Adams and Paige Consolo also attended and presented their research posters. Dr. Rafael Jimenez-Flores chaired the Paul Kindstedt Recognition Symposium.Institute of Food Technologist (IFT First) Annual Meeting - Dr. Bala Balasubramanian, Dr. Melvin Pascall, and Dr. Devin Peterson made presentations, helped lead workshops, and sat on various panels throughout the meeting. Hazel Callis placed 2nd in the IFTSA Undergraduate Research Competition. Xinyue Fan placed 1st in the International Division, and Harmeen Prasher placed 2nd in the Nutraceutical & Functional Foods Division graduate student competition. Also showcasing their research with a poster were graduate students Joey Bogdanovitch, Haona Bao, Manpreet Kaur, Veeramani Karuppuchamy, and Yunyang Qi. IFT also celebrated the career of the late Dr. Dennis Heldman with a special recognition from IFT President Dr. Chris Daubert during the graduate student division awards program.
International Association for Food Protection (IAFP) Annual Meeting – Dr. Bala Balasubramaniam gave a technical talk titled “Impact of Shear Valve Geometry and Fluid Viscosity on Bacterial Spore Inactivation in Ultra-Shear Technology.” Emily Marrison, OSU Extension Family and Consumer Sciences Educator, was part of a symposia discussing food safety education. Her presentation was titled “Agriculture and Natural Resources Education.” During the meeting, Dr. Valente Alvarez and Dr. Ahmed Yousef were recognized as 30-year members and Dr. Bala Balasubramaniam as a 20-year member of the organization.
Pangborn Sensory Science Symposium – Post Doc researcher Dr. Aishwarya Badiger won the European Sensory Network Early Career Researcher Poster Award. Others presenting research posters included Kai Chang, Matthiew Haines, Audrey Kuei, Ran Tao, and Ying Yang. Dr. Chris Simons presented a talk entitled “Engaging the Senses: Multisensory and Contextual Influences on Food Preference and Intake “ a day earlier at the International Society of Neurogastronomy Symposium. - Congratulations to the Ohio State University–Buckeye Chapter of Phi Tau Sigma on being recognized as a Chapter of Excellence!
- This past summer, the department hosted over 100+ Columbus City School teachers as part of OSU’s STEAMM Rising Summer Institute. Led by Dr. Mary Kay Pohlschneider, the team provided engaging activities that included product development, microbial testing, sensory, and data analysis.
- Dr. Luis Rodriguez-Saona is part of a team that has received a 2025 Sustainability Institute research grant award. The proposal is to use sensor technology solutions to optimize production of sustainable, edible insect-based food products.
- Dr. Yael Vodovotz was a recent recipient of a $30,500 Sustainability Proposal Development Grant to lead an interdisciplinary team pursuing the National Science Foundation (NSF) Regional Innovation Engines funding opportunity through the National Science Foundation TIP Directorate. In support of the proposal titled “Sustainability Hub for an Alternative Packaging Ecosystem (SHAPE),” the team will use the award to conduct preliminary research and stakeholder engagement aimed at developing a regional innovation ecosystem centered on sustainable packaging solutions.
- Earlier this summer, the Food Industries Center offered the FSPCA Preventive Controls for Human Food Participant Course (Version 2.0), led by Dr. Valente Alvarez and Steven Simmons. This updated course marked the Center’s first offering of Version 2.0, reflecting the latest FDA guidance under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). Participants included FST staff, graduate students, and food industry professionals. The training provided comprehensive instruction on developing and applying risk-based preventive controls to ensure the safety of human food. Successful completion of the course fulfills the FDA’s requirements for a “Preventive Controls Qualified Individual” (PCQI) and supports compliance with federal food safety regulations.
- On August 5–7, 2025, Dr. Lynn Knipe held an industry short course on Thermal Processing of Ready-to-Eat (RTE) Meat Products as part of Meat Science Extension. This course covered all of the technical and regulatory aspects of cooking, chilling, and post-package handling of ready-to-eat meat products, presented by industry, regulatory, and academic experts.
- Dr. Melvin Pascall, in collaboration with BetterCans and the Food Industries Center, organized A Young Packaging for Future Generations, an industry seminar held on August 13–14, 2025. The event featured experts from across the aluminum beverage packaging industry, highlighting innovations in materials, processes, and regulations. It attracted a national audience of professionals, offering technical insights and regulatory guidance to support innovation and compliance in ready-to-drink (RTD) beverage can production.
- The department's 2025 Autumn Seminar Series schedule can be found here. The seminars take place on Wednesday’s from 4:00 -5:00 pm in the Parker Food Science and Technology Building room 118 each week and are open to the public. Any questions can be directed to the seminar host instructors at belury.1@osu.edu or jimenez-flores.1@osu.edu.
Upcoming Events
September 3 FST Department Seminar
Dr. Rafael Jimenez-Flores, J.T. 'Stubby' Parker Endowed Chair in Dairy Foods
4-5 pm Parker Food Science Room 118
September 10 FST Department Seminar
Dr. Constance Gewa, Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR)
4-5 Parker Food Science Room 118
September 17 FST Department Seminar
Dr.’s Jelmer Poelstra, Wirat Pipatpongpinyo, Sunny Park, and Vismaya Dhanashree; Core Facilities in CFAES Analytical Resources
4-5 pm Parker Food Science Room 118
September 24 FST Department Seminar
Dr. Hillary Schiff, Assistant Professor, OSU College of Dentistry
4-5 pm Parker Food Science Room 118
October 1 FST Department Seminar
Dr. Paul Singh, Distinguished Professor and Engineer Emeritus, UC Davis
4-5 pm Parker Food Science Room 118
October 8 FST Department Seminar
Dr. Robert Ward, Associate Professor | Director of Food Science Program, Utah State University
4-5 pm Parker Food Science Room 118
October 15 No Department Seminar
October 16-17 Ohio State Autumn Break
October 21-23 Cleaning and Sanitation Basics + Advanced CIP
Learn more and Register: https://go.osu.edu/cleaning
October 22 FST Department Seminar
Sherri vonHahmann, Vice President of Sales at ZoomEssence, Inc
4-5 pm Parker Food Science Room 118
October 24 FST Hall of Distinction
5:30 – 7 pm Parker Food Science Lobby
Register to attend
