- The Department of Food Science and Technology announced that Dr. Monica Giusti has assumed the role of associate chair. This is a new position to the department and duties and responsibilities will include: assuming authority for administrative activities when requested by the chair, or when the chair is not available, assist the chair with program and facility planning, budgeting, and with annual evaluations of faculty and staff members, represent the department at meetings at the request of the chair, and work cooperatively with the chair to oversee undergraduate academic programs. Throughout her time as a faculty member in the department, Dr. Giusti has served in several capacities including her 9 years of service as the Graduate Studies Chair.
- A $3.2 million NIH award from the National Institutes of Health will allow for scientists in the Colleges of Food, Agriculture, and Environmental Sciences, Public Health, and Medicine as well as Ohio University to test precision nutrition to reverse the loss of muscle strength and mass in older men and women. Dr. Martha Belury is co-leading a team of scientists with multi-PI, Dr. Brian Clark (Professor, Ohio University) in multiple colleges to test whether dietary unsaturated oils impact muscle size, strength, and structure of muscle cells in older adults. The project is a five-year randomized controlled trial utilizing functional foods and dietary supplements to deliver the test oils.
- As the chairperson of the joint IFT-EFFoST workshop committee, Dr. Bala Balasubramaniam co-organized the 2023 International Nonthermal Processing Workshop and Short Course along with colleagues from the University of Minnesota. OSU was well-represented in the meeting with presentations from Dr. Balasubramaniam, Dr. Dennis Heldman, Dr. Sudhir Sastry, and Dr. Ahmed Yousef. Graduate students Liz Astorga Oquendo (FST) and Hetian Hu (FABE), were each awarded a $500 travel scholarship and Hetian Hu received 2nd place in the graduate student presentation competition.
- Dr. Mary Kay Pohlschneider talks about the department’s one-credit courses in a story in the OSU LANTERN. Click here to read the story.
- Dr. Rafael Jimenez Flores and the American Dairy Association Mideast recently hosted a dinner to bring together dairy processors, students enrolled in FDSCTE 5420 Dairy Processing, and students engaged in dairy research. The purpose of the dinner was to showcase student research in dairy and give students a chance to network and hear about career opportunities in the dairy industry.
- Dairy Digressions, a podcast of the American Dairy Science Association, released an episode featuring the winners of ADSA’s Graduate Student Division awards which included FST graduate student Erica Kosmerl. Episode 8 touches on the art of scientific presentations, the power of mentoring, and the bright future of dairy. Click here to access.
- The Foods for Health (FFH) Research Initiative held an inaugural summit on sensory nutrition and ingestive behaviors. They hosted over 38 participants and 10 student posters (people’s choice winners from FST include Irene Wang and Thomas Reis). The program was chaired by Dr. Chris Simons and the full day event featured Dr. Alan Spector from Florida State University as the keynote speaker and presentations from FFH Faculty Director Dr. Devin Peterson, Dr. Chris Simons and faculty in Neuroscience, Dentistry Biosciences, Biological Chemistry and Pharmacology, and Medical Dietetics.
- On October 4 – 6, the Food Industries Center conducted a virtual Better Process Control School for Abbott Laboratories in Mexico. Lead instructor, Dr. Valente Alvarez, and expert industry collaborators trained employees in thermal processing of low-acid foods.
- The Food Industries Center recently held the Cleaning and Sanitation Basics + Advanced CIP Workshop, which included multiple hands-on sessions to increase technical knowledge through applied training. Instructors from the department included Dr. Valente Alvarez, Dr. V.M. Balasubramaniam, Dr. Dennis Heldman, Dr. Ahmed Yousef, Gary Wenneker, Brianda Gonzalez Orozco, Sai Guduru, and Shruthy Seshadrinathan, in addition to expert speakers from industry and academia.
The department's revised 2023 Autumn Seminar Series schedule can be found here. The seminars take place from 4:00 -5:00 pm in the Parker Food Science and Technology Building room 118 each week and are open to the public.
Upcoming Events
November 8 FST Department Seminar
Dr. Heather Allen, Dow Professor, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, OSU
November 15 FST Department Seminar
Dr. Federico Harte, Professor, Department of Food Science, Penn State University
November 29 FST Department Seminar
Dr. Silvia de Lamo, Post Doctoral Researcher, Department Food Science and Technology, Ohio State
December 6 FST Department Seminar
Jessica Badour, Workforce & Communications Coordinator, Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO)
