Brendan Niemira Named Chief Science & Technology Officer at IFT
Brendan Niemira, former lead scientist and research microbiologist at the Agricultural Research Service of the USDA (USDA-ARS), joins the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) as chief science and technology officer.
In all, he spent more than 25 years at USDA-ARS, which serves as the Agriculture Dept.’s chief scientific in-house research agency. At IFT, Niemira replaces Bryan Hitchcock.
At USDA-ARS, Niemira led a team of more than 30 scientists, engineers, technicians, postdocs and students in developing tools to kill human pathogens on produce, meats, poultry, shellfish, and other foods. His research focused on the development and validation of cold plasma, high-intensity monochromatic light, irradiation and other non-thermal food safety treatments for fresh and fresh-cut fruits and vegetables. He’s published more than 200 peer-reviewed research articles, book chapters and critical reviews.
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Dave Fusaro
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Dave Fusaro has served as editor in chief of Food Processing magazine since 2003. Dave has 30 years experience in food & beverage industry journalism and has won several national ASBPE writing awards for his Food Processing stories. Dave has been interviewed on CNN, quoted in national newspapers and he authored a 200-page market research report on the milk industry. Formerly an award-winning newspaper reporter who specialized in business writing, he holds a BA in journalism from Marquette University. Prior to joining Food Processing, Dave was Editor-In-Chief of Dairy Foods and was Managing Editor of Prepared Foods.