2025 Annual Summit Agenda | Oct. 16-17 | Duke Energy Hall

Thursday, October 16

9:15 a.m.	Registration & Continental Breakfast
10:00 a.m. Welcome Remarks	Jim Pfaendtner, Louis Martin-Vega Dean of College of Engineering, NC State
10:15 a.m. Overview of Bezos Center for Sustainable Protein at NC State	Rohan Shirwaiker, Co-Director, Bezos Center at NC State
10:40 a.m. Panel: Future of Food Innovation in North Carolina	Jesse Jur, Deputy Director, NC Department of Commerce Office of Science, Technology & Innovation Kelsey Joseph, Chief Brand Officer, Barvecue Brian Brazeau, Partner, Ferment.Co Katy Parker, Director of Project Management, Economic Development Partnership of NC Moderator: Rohan Shirwaiker, Co-Director, Bezos Center at NC State
11:35 a.m. Panel: Global Bezos Centers Network	Andy Jarvis, Director of Future of Food, Bezos Earth Fund Rodrigo Ledesma Amaro, Director, Bezos Centre at Imperial College London Adam Leman, Principal Scientist – Fermentation, The Good Food Institute Weibiao Zhou, Acting Director, Bezos Centre at National University of Singapore Moderator: Khara Grieger, Associate Director, Bezos Center at NC State
12:30 p.m.	Lunch
1:40 p.m. Bezos Center Research Talks | Plant-based Food	Crop Supply and Side Stream Forecasting Tool for Future Protein Ingredient Demand Maddux Wiersma, Undergraduate Research Assistant in Industrial & Systems Engineering, NC State Air Classification: Leveraging Dry Processing for Protein Concentration Chloe Soliman, Food Scientist, NC Food Innovation Lab Sensory Attributes that Drive Liking for Alternative Meat Crumbles Mileah Liu, Graduate Research Assistant in Food, Bioprocessing & Nutrition Sciences, NC State Life-Cycle Assessment Approaches for Sustainable Proteins Minliang Yang, Assistant Professor in Food, Bioprocessing & Nutrition Sciences, NC State
2:55 p.m. Panel: Sustainable Proteins Scaling Challenges, Innovations and Opportunities	Carrie Lendon, Senior Advisor Food Innovation, Cargill Bianca Lê, Head of Special Projects and External Affairs, Mission Barns Todd Aetherwyn, Senior Director Enterprise Intelligence & Operations, UPSIDE Foods Thierry Duvanel, Director of Innovation, Bühler Group Moderator: Julie Mann, Director, NC Food Innovation Lab
3:45 p.m.	Coffee Break
4:00 p.m. Bezos Center Research Talks | Cell-based Food	Multiproduct Fermentations for Improving Return on Food Protein Manufacture Kurt Selle, Director of Operations at the Biomanufacturing Training and Education Center, NC State Engineering Microbial Nanocellulose for Sustainable Protein Biomanufacturing Michael Daniele, Professor in Electrical & Computer Engineering and Biomedical Engineering, NC State Towards First Principle Design of Cell Culture Media Balaji Rao, Professor in Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, NC State Facility Design and Technoeconomic Analysis of an Industrial-Scale Microalgae-based Circular Production System for Cultivated Meat Corbin Goodwin, Research Associate, Bezos Center at NC State
5:15 p.m.	Networking Reception & Poster Session

Friday, October 17

8:30 a.m.	Continental Breakfast
9:00 a.m. Keynote	Future of Food: Importance of Complementary Approaches & Innovations Andy Jarvis, Director of Future of Food, Bezos Earth Fund
9:35 a.m. Overview of Bezos Center Programs	Khara Grieger, Associate Director of Outreach + Engagement, Bezos Center at NC State Michelle Schroeder-Moreno, Associate Director of Workforce Development, Bezos Center at NC State Tim Martin, Associate Director of Innovation + Commercialization, Bezos Center at NC State
10:35 a.m. Panel: Sustainable Proteins Policy and Regulations	Deepti Kulkarni, Partner, Covington & Burling LLP Jo Anne Shatkin, President, Vireo Advisors Madeline Cohen, Associate Director of Regulatory Affairs, The Good Food Institute Moderator: Norbert Wilson, Director of the World Food Policy Center, Duke University
11:25 a.m. Panel: Charting the Future of Sustainable Proteins	B. Pam Ismail, Director of Plant Protein Innovation Center, University of Minnesota David Block, Director of Integrative Center for Alternative Meat and Protein, UC Davis David Kaplan, Director of Tufts University Center for Cellular Agriculture Moderator: Rachel Lichte, Vice-President of Impact, The Good Food Institute
12:10 p.m. Closing Remarks	Genevieve Garland, Senior Associate Vice Chancellor for Research Development and Operations, NC State

Last Reviewed On: 10/14/2025