Abichou Mounir
Institute of olive tree, Currently head of research unit at the olive tree institute, Research Full Professor in Agronomy Science Thesis: Struggle against the desertification and natural resource management. : Agronomic National institute INAT 2001-2003: Agronomic National institute (INAT): Obtaining of the Master Option: struggle against the desertification and lasting management of resources in arid environment (Mention: very well) 1990-1991: Post-Academic survey: Institute of formation for the peasant settings and agriculture food and for the management of the farm business in France 1984-1987: Superior school of agriculture of the Kef (Obtaining of the diploma I.T.E Option Agronomy 1983 - 1984: Superior school of agriculture of Mograne (Preparatory Year) 1982-1983: Obtaining of the Math-Science to the technical High school of Zarzis 
Agusti Romero
Researcher at IRTA, Leader of the Olive & Oil research team Has a PhD on Food Technology by University of Lleida (Spain). With 33 years of experience as researcher at IRTA, he is the leader of the Olive & Oil research team. His work focuses on developing sensorial analysis utilities to improve olive oil quality through several programs supported by the Catalan Government. He published more than 100 SCI articles, averages 40 cites per year, contributed to several technical books and holds one patent related to plant material (ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5932-7719). Currently, he is involved in two EU projects on olive oil (SUSTAINOLIVE; NOVATERRA). Furthermore, he is an expert assistant of IOC and the United States Pharmacopea. Lecturer in several master courses: “International Expert on Olive Oil Tasting” UJA; “Food Industry Innovation and Management” UdL and “Wintour master” URV. Lecturer of “School of tourism, hospitality and gastronomy” (UB) for olive oil subject. Taster and trainer of the official tasting panel of Catalonia. He trained tasting panels in Argentina, Chile, China, Germany, Japan, Morocco, Spain, Turkey and USA. Jury member of several international competitions (Argentina, Australia, Berlin, London, Los Angeles, New Zealand, Shanghai and Tokyo) 
Alessandro Leone
Professor in Mechanics and agricultural mechanization and, Food Processing Plants, at the Department of Agricultural and Environmental Science (DiSAAT), University of Bari Aldo Moro Alessandro Leone was graduated in Agricultural Science from the University of Bari, Italy. Currently he is Full Professor in Mechanics and agricultural mechanization and, Food Processing Plants, at the Department of Agricultural and Environmental Science (DiSAAT), University of Bari Aldo Moro. The research activity has been developed mainly by carrying out theoretical and practical topics relating to agricultural machinery (i.e. precision farming machines), food plants and their safe use in the workplace The research developed have been the result of the interaction with with research institutes and manufacturers companies of machinery for the agro-industry, which allowed enabled the development of many pre-competitive prototypes. He deals with the study and evaluation in the mill of machines for oil extraction with particular reference to the most recent technological innovations such as heat exchangers and microwave, ultrasounds, and pulsed electric fields systems. He has participated and currently operates in international cooperation programs with Egypt, Iraq, Palestine and Pakistan, to the development of sustainable agriculture models, improvement of mechanization in agriculture and improvement of agricultural production chains. He is the author of over 100 scientific publications published in national and international journals and conferences. 
Antonia Tamborrino
Assistant professor at the Department of Agricultural and Environmental Science, University of Bari, Italy She earned her Ph.D. in Agro-Food Industry Plant, graduating with highest honors in Agriculturae Science in 2000. Her research focused on the machines and plant for agro-food production, in particular deals with the innovation and optimization of agro-food industry equipment and plant, design of the food pilot plant and their implementation in the industrial environmental; management and verifying of industrial plant. Her interests include also planning of system for recycling of the agro industrial by-products, harvesting mechanization system and harvesting machine. Antonia currently teaches courses in Machine and plant for agrofood industry and in Mechanization for the sustainable management of land. She has co-authored over 75 peer-reviewed scientific articles and several book chapters on innovation in olive oil extraction process. For her skills and contributions to the research in olive oil at the UCDavis, she received the Honorary Citizen of the City of Davis, (CA), USA. She has been invited to speak about olive oil extraction process and plant innovation at a number of national and international meetings, and has organized for special symposia at the national and international meetings. She has received different engagement as International Expert on Agricultural mechanics and Agro-food equipment and plant and has been involved in International Cooperation for Technological Development Activities to support vulnerable communities in the Middle East. 
Ben Giora
Research scientist at the Institute of plant sciences, ARO, The Volcani Center, Israel, Head of the department of fruit tree sciences at the plant sciences institute Since 2009, Dr. Giora Ben-Ari is a research scientist at the Institute of plant sciences, ARO, The Volcani Center, Israel. Currently, Dr. Ben-Ari is the head of the department of fruit tree sciences at the plant sciences institute. He published about 50 papers/book chapters, mainly regarding olive research. During the last decade, Dr. Ben-Ari responsible for the Israeli olive breeding program. In addition, a broad research on various issues concerning olive agriculture is also studies with Dr. Ben-Ari team. Among them are using DNA markers in order to identify genetic variation between olive cultivars as well as cultivar identification and paternity analysis in olives. Also, Dr. Ben-Ari group is working on compatibility between olive cultivars and table olive harvesting. In the last several years, Dr. Ben-Ari started to study the effect of climate change on olive productivity. We found that the effects of a high temperature environment are genotype dependent and in general, high temperatures during fruit development affected three important traits: fruit weight, oil concentration and oil quality. None of the tested cultivars exhibited complete heat stress tolerance. High temperature was also found to effect fruit set by various mechanisms. All these issues are currently in study in Dr. Ben-Ari lab. 
Domenico Praticò
Professor of Pharmacology, Microbiology and Immunology at Temple University Domenico Praticò received his MD from the University of Rome “La Sapienza”, School of Medicine. After completing a residency program in Internal Medicine, he continued his post-graduation training at University College Dublin, then at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was appointed as Assistant Professor. In 2007 he joined Temple University, where is currently Professor of Pharmacology, Microbiology and Immunology. In 2018, he was named the Scott Richards North Star Chair in Alzheimer’s research, and Director of the Alzheimer’s Center at Temple. His main area of investigation is the study of cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in brain health, and pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease. A major goal of his work is the translation of basic neurobiology findings into new neurotherapeutics by implementing a comprehensive approach which combines in vitro and in vivo models. Dr. Praticò has authored over 270 original articles, and more than 25 chapters in thematic books. He has served and serves as PI in several Foundations and NIH research grants. During his career, he received many awards for his accomplishments including the Zenith Award from the Alzheimer’s Association, Dorothy Dillon Eweson Lectureship from the American Federation for Aging Research, and the Paul W. Eberman Faculty Research Award. 
Eric Veláquez
The Robert W. Berliner Professor of Medicine (Cardiology) at Yale University Globally recognized as an authority in heart failure, cardiovascular clinical trials, and cardiac imaging. Dr. Velazquez came to Yale in June 2018, when he was appointed chief of the Section of Cardiovascular Medicine in the Department of Internal Medicine, chief of cardiovascular medicine at Yale New Haven Hospital, and physician-in-chief of the Heart and Vascular Center for the Yale-New Haven Health System. Prior to those appointments, he served as professor of medicine in the Division of Cardiology at Duke University and held appointments at the Duke Clinical Research Institute and Duke Global Health Institute. Dr. Velazquez is a clinician-investigator whose major contributions to science include the design, development, and implementation of landmark, randomized clinical trials (VALIANT, ACCOMPLISH, STICH, PIONEER HF among others) that have altered international guidelines and the treatment of patients with chronic heart failure, particularly those with concomitant coronary artery disease. Currently, as the Principal Investigator of the NHLBl-funded TRANSFORM-HF he is partnering with multi-institutional collaborative on this pragmatic randomized clinical trial seeking to advance the evidence based approach for diuretic strategies in managing post-hospitalization acute heart failure. 
Estefanía Toledo
Professor at the Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health at the University of Navarra Dr. Toledo is Professor in the Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health at the University of Navarra since 2015. She graduated in Medicine in 2005 from the University of Navarra and completed her specialty in Preventive Medicine and Public Health in 2010. In 2008 he obtained his PhD degree with extraordinary award at the University of Navarra. Between 2011 and 2014 he had a "Río Hortega" research training contract grant. She completed a postdoc stay in 2008 at the Department of Community Health at Brown University (Providence, RI, USA) and two stays as a visiting researcher at Harvard University School of Public Health, one in 2012 (6 months) and one in 2014 (1 month). 
Georgios Koubouris
Researcher at the Hellenic Agricultural Organization ELGO DIMITRA He has been elected a Researcher at the Hellenic Agricultural Organization ELGO DIMITRA with the subject "Olive Growing". Agronomist, MSc in tree propagation and PhD in cross-breeding mechanism and olive physiology in relation to abiotic stresses. He is currently the lead researcher at the Olive Laboratory. He has published 56 papers in ISI Journal Citation Reports. He has participated in over 35 research projects and managed grants for over 2M€. Scientific leader of the project Oliveclima that was awarded as best project for climate action in Europe - European Commission, LIFE, 2019. He is a member of the editorial board of the international scientific journals "Plants-MDPI", "Sustainability-MDPI", "Vegetos - Springer Nature" and "International Journal of Plant Biology PAGEPRESS, Italy" and the period 2016-2018 at "Experimental Agriculture, Cambridge University Press, UK». He has been invited as an expert by the European Commission, the National Forest Academy of China and the International Olive Council, and is a member of expert committees of the Ministry of Rural Development & Food. He chaired a session on "Management of tree crops to tackle climate change" at the international conference ELS2014 and was the president of the international conference "Climate Change and Agriculture" in 2017. 
Klaus G. Grunert
Professor of Marketing at Aarhus University, and is the founder of the MAPP Research Center Klaus G. Grunert is Professor of Marketing at Aarhus University, and is the founder of the MAPP Research Center. He has done extensive research in the area of consumer behaviour, mostly with regard to food, and in making consumer insight useful in areas like new product development, market communication and public policy campaigns aimed at healthy eating or other socially desirable behaviours. In particular, he has done research on quality perception and food choice, healthy eating, product development processes in food producing companies, and on competence development in the food industry. Having an h-index of 85, he is the author of 12 books and more than 200 academic papers in international refereed journals. 
Jaime Lillo
Deputy Executive Director of the International Olive Council (IOC) His career has developed among Spanish administration, European Union (EU) and International Organizations, in the areas of agriculture, rural development, fisheries and food. He has also provided professional expertise to NGOs in development projects in Latin America, Africa and Asia. In 2004 and 2005, he worked as an official of the European Commission Directorate-General for Agriculture, with responsibilities in the areas of bilateral international relations and trade agreements. In 2006 and 2007, he was appointed to the cabinet of the Minister of Agriculture as an advisor on EU and international affairs. From 2007 to 2010 he held the post of Deputy Director General of the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture for the coordination of agricultural and rural development policies with the EU and other international partners. From September 2010 to June 2016 he was the Chief Advisor on Agriculture, Fisheries and Food at the Permanent Representation of Spain to the EU in Brussels. He directed the Ministry Office in Brussels, representing Spain at EU institutions, taking part in negotiations relating to agricultural policy and international trade, and acting as an adviser at meetings of EU ministers of agriculture. Since 1 July 2016, he holds the post of Deputy Executive Director of the International Olive Council (IOC). He is a member of the College of Senior Officials who direct and represent the Executive Secretariat of the IOC and is responsible for the management of operational activities related to chemistry and standardization, promotion, technical cooperation, environment, research, training, statistics, economy and studies on olive oil and table olives. 
Jerónimo Díaz Rivas
Licenciado en Ciencias Químicas por la Universidad de Granada, especializado en la rama de Química Orgánica. Ha desarrollado su vida profesional completa en el sector del aceite de oliva desempeñando puestos de responsabilidad técnica y directiva de empresas industriales del sector. Entre lo más destacado de su curriculum se puede citar lo siguiente: Miembro del Comité Técnico de Aenor de aceites. Responsable desde el punto de vista técnico de la promoción mundial de aceite de oliva desarrollada por el sector privado ASOLIVA y el ICEX durante cinco años en países como Japón, Australia, Taiwán, Canadá, EEUU, Brasil, Unión Europea, etc. Colaborador en promociones y seminarios técnicos y organolépticos con el Consejo Oleícola Internacional (COI) y el Departamento de Comercio Exterior de la Junta de Andalucía (Extenda). Miembro durante un período superior a 10 años de la Comisión Interministerial de Ordenación Alimentaria. Coordinador del Comité Científico de Sector Privado de la industrias de aceite de oliva para las prioridades de investigación, adopción del Reglamento de Comercialización de aceite de oliva de la UE. Asesor técnico y agronómico en el sector del aceite de oliva de compañías internacionales como ITOCHU, AJINOMOTO, UNILEVER y CJ CORPORATION y otras. Miembro del grupo de expertos del subcomité de Química Oleícola del COI, en colaboración con el Ministerio de Agricultura y Comercio de España. Miembro y colaborador de institutos de investigación italianas sobre producción de aceite de oliva. En la actualidad Presidente honorifico, no ejecutivo, de Genosa ID, s.l. 
Joseph R. Profaci
Executive Director of the North American Olive Oil Association He is an experienced food products attorney and business manager, with 25 years of experience in the olive oil category. Prior to joining NAOOA, he served as general counsel for Colavita USA, LLC, a leading importer and distributor of Italian specialty food products. Mr. Profaci has long been an active member of the NAOOA, serving as the organization’s chair from June 2015 – June 2017. Mr. Profaci is a graduate of Harvard College and New York University School of Law. 
Maurizio Servilli
Professor at the Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, University of Perugia Prof. Maurizio Servili graduated in Agricultural Science in 1986 at the University of Perugia, Italy. He acquired domestic and international experience as doctoral fellow at the Istituto di industrie Agrarie (1986-1990) University of Perugia, Italy and The Food Science Laboratories, Dept. Bioscience and Biotechnology of Strathclyde University, Glasgow, Scotland. Prof. Servili started his academic career as Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Perugia (1990-1998). He was for sixteen years Associate Professor (University of Molise and University of Perugia). Now he is Full Professor at the Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, University of Perugia. The main research topics concern: 1) Study of phenolic and volatile compounds of several foods (table olive, virgin olive oil, wine and tomato derivatives) and their variability and role during the ripening, the processing and the shelf-life; 2) Processing of virgin olive oil and wine 3) Characterization and valorisation of by-products 4) Development of instrumental methods of the food quality analysis; 5) Study of possible modification induced by processing, packaging and storage on olive oil major and minor components 6) Development of prediction models for the quality deterioration of olive oil; 7) Study of health-promoting effects of olive oil phenolic compounds. 
Pablo Juliano
Leader of the Food Processing and Supply Chains group leader at CSIRO, Australia His research includes the areas of edible oil extraction, food loss minimisation and transformation. He has a PhD in Food Engineering is from Washington State University and an MBA from Deakin University in Australia. His has worked in managing positions at Nestlé Uruguay and Uruguay’s major dairy exporter Conaprole. He has received several awards and recognition for research and industrial innovation from the USA Institute of Food Technologists and the American Oil Chemists Society. 
Pete Smith
Professor of Soils and Global Change at the Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences at the University of Aberdeen (Scotland, UK) and Science Director of the Scottish Climate Change Centre of Expertise (ClimateXChange) Pete Smith is Professor of Soils and Global Change at the Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences at the University of Aberdeen (Scotland, UK) and Science Director of the Scottish Climate Change Centre of Expertise (ClimateXChange). His interests include climate change mitigation, soils, agriculture, food systems, ecosystem services and modelling. He has been an author on many reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and led its work of climate change mitigation in agriculture, forestry and land for its 4th and 5th Assessment Reports, and led its work interlinkages between land based mitigation options for the IPCC Special Report on Climate Change and Land. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology, a Fellow of the Institute of Soil Scientists, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, a Foreign Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy, a Fellow of the European Science Academy, and a Fellow of the Royal Society (London). 
Ralf Bender
Senior Editor of Lebensmittel Zeitung, the leading B2B-publication for the food industry and trade in Germany Born 1963 in the rural area of Rheinland-Pfalz, not far from the French border, Ralf Bender studied History and Journalism at Justus-Liebig-University in Giessen and Universidad Complutense in Madrid, followed by the graduation as Magister Artium (M.A.) in 1993. Since 1994 Ralf Bender works for the international desk of Lebensmittel Zeitung. In this time he has specialized on F&B; producers in Mediterranean countries like Spain and Italy, plus the Americas and Asia, conducting more than 4.000 interviews up to now. 
Roberto García Ruiz
Professor on Ecology at the University of Jaén and coordinator of the functional unit of Ecology of the Institute of advance studies in olive groves and olive oil During his career he has developed different research activities focused on the study of different aspects and processes of the biogeochemistry of C, N and P cycles in both disturbed and managed terrestrial (forest ecosystems and agro-ecosystems) and aquatic (reservoirs and rivers) ecosystems. Both the variables and the processes evaluated have been similar although the object of study (lakes, rivers, forest ecosystems and agro-ecosystems), the approach and the problems to solve (N2O emissions under different nitrate loading, N deposition and N saturation in forest, effects agricultural management on soil functionality and C footprint, nutrient balance) were different. I have published 69 indexed articles (> 64 in JCR), mainly in the first or second percentile. I have authored or co-authored 25 national and international books or books chapters and > 100 conferences. I have been the coordinator or member of the research team of 35 competitive research projects at international, european, national, regional and local levels. I have supervised 7 doctoral theses and I am regular evaluator of R&D;&I; projects of ANEP, the Natural Environment Research Council, CORE Organics, H2020 and ICROF. I have been a permanent member (2012-2016) of the EGTOP group of the European Commission in production of the Direcc. Gen. Agr. and Rural Development. 
Rosa Vañó
Founding Partner of Castillo de Canena Olive Juice Degree in Business Administration & Economics Sciences from the Madrid Complutense University, has a long professional career and an extensive experience in management acquired in well recognized multinational companies in different sectors. After holding several positions of responsibility in multinational companies - the last nine years in The Coca-Cola Company as a Business Unit Manager -, in 2003 she founded Castillo de Canena Olive Juice, positioning the brand as a reference of innovation and quality within the Premium olive oil market worldwide in short time. During these years running Castillo de Canena, Rosa María Vañó has managed to consolidate the international expansion of the company, already available in more than 50 countries; a brilliant growth based on the high quality and prestige of its oils, validated with many national and international awards. Member since 2011 of the Georgofilli Florentine Academy, the oldest Agricultural Academy in Europe., is President of the Andalusian Academy of Gastronomy and Tourism, Member of the Royal Academy of Gastronomy. Councilor of the Caja Sur Foundation and member of the Agri-Food Council of IESE Barcelona, of the Editorial Board of the Jaén newspaper , of the Council of Extra Virgin Alliance (USA), of the Advisory Council of the Interprofessional of Olive Oil, and of the Council of Olivar of the Junta de Andalucía. In 2008 she received the Woman of the Year Award of the Year. 
Toshiya Tada
General Director / OLIVE JAPAN International Extra Virgin Olive Oil Competition Chief Professor & Founder / The Olive Oil Sommelier Association of JAPAN Toshiya Tada is a Master Olive Oil Sommelier, Senior Taster and Olive Oil Sensory Panel Leader. He is a regular olive oil judge at the Shodoshima/Japan Municipal Olive Oil Competition, The Australian International Olive Awards and has judged in Israel at Terraolivo. Toshiya is the Chairman and founder of the Olive Oil Sommelier Association of Japan (OSAJ) (oliveoil.or.jp/en/). Since 2012 he has organized and been General Director of annual convention and Olive Oil Competition named "OLIVE JAPAN" (olivejapan.com/en). Toshiya is a founder and Chief Professor of the Olive Oil Sommelier School of Japan which started in Tokyo in 2005. He researched and wrote over 80 hours of course curriculum and the thorough 1,200 page textbooks those cover the history of olives and olive production, olive culture, culinary uses, health benefits and sensory skills. He is a Guest Professor in the Fukuoka University, a commentator, a bestselling book author and writer of monthly magazine articles and newspapers. He regularly appears at conferences, seminars and events. Toshiya has a Bachelor of Arts, International Christian University (ICU) Tokyo JAPAN and a Bachelor of Science, Trinity College Cambridge UK. He is a member of Japan Oil Chemists Society (JOCS) and is also a trained traditional Tea Master with decades of study in the art and appreciation of tea. Toshiya speaks English, German, Latin and Japanese.
Zecharia Madar
Full Professor of Biochemistry and Nutrition;-Hebrew University Jerusalén, Israel Main Research Interests: Dietary manipulations and their effects on transcription factors, protein activity and expression. Effect of antioxidants and phytochemical rich plant extracts in diabetes. Effect of olive oil on breast cancer development in mothers and offspring. Lipotoxicity and redox balance in the liver. Fatty liver. Diet manipulations effect on gut microbiome. Professional Employment-Universities and Research Institutes Overseas: Post doctorate, Yale University, Medical School; Associate Research Endocrinologist, University of California, UCSD; visiting Prof.- Karolinska Hospital. Sweden . Scientific Consultant, Amylin Company, San Diego, California. Visiting professor. Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Honors and Awards: Lady Davis Fellow; The Karl Bach Chair in Agricultural Biochemistry. Awarded prize in excellence in sciences Foundation landau pais International Professional Societies and Organizations: Membership in Scientific Societies: EASD, ADA. National Professional Societies: Israeli representative for the WHO; IUNS. Chairperson, Directorate of Airline Food Services. Member, Committee for the Israel Prize Member and Vice Chairmen of National Biotechnology Committee Chief scientist ministry of education Reviewer: GIF; Israeli Ministry of Science; BSF; BARD; Health Research Council of New Zealand For F1000 medicine Publications: 170 peer review papers 1. 4 proceedings 3. 3 books. 4 chapters in books |