Luis Carlos Alonso started as a plant breeder at Koipesol Semillas in 1976 to become general manager in 1993. He joined Syngenta in 1999 and has been global Oilseed Expert and Business Development Lead till 2022; He has supported the introduction of HO sunflowers in most countries building IP supply chains along with different oil industries. Luis Carlos studied agronomy and biology in the University Columbia (Missouri, USA) and Sevilla (Spain, EU). Presently, he is leading his own consulting company, Bioalazor Innovaciones S.L.
Miguel Angel Bootello obtained his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Sevilla (Spain). He has published more than twenty peer-reviewed papers and book chapters, and has been granted 2 patents. From 2017 to 2024, Dr. Bootello worked as Confectionery Innovation Manager and Lipid Scientist within Bunge Loders Croklaan in the Netherlands and Spain. He joined LIPSA in 2025 as Senior R&D Manager, supporting Confectionery category and focusing on the development of new products.
Frédéric Destaillats holds the position of Vice-President at Checkerspot, a biotechnology firm specializing in new fats and oils derived from microbial fermentation. Renowned for his expertise in human nutrition, Frédéric earned his PhD from the University Laval in Québec, Canada. With more than 20 years of experience in translational research within the industry, he has made significant contributions, evident in his extensive publication record comprising approximately 100 peer-reviewed scientific papers and over 50 patents.
Eduardo Dubinsky is an international consultant in edible oils and fats. Eduardo has served on many committees of professional societies and was for four years President of the International Society for Fats Research (ISF) (2023-2025), Founder and first President of Argentine Association of Fats and Oils (ASAGA). He is Editor-in-Chief of the A&G magazine. Eduardo is currently Professor of Chemistry and Oils & Fats Technology at the National Technological University (UTN).
Issa Faye is a plant breeder, working with the Senegalese Agricultural Research Institute (ISRA) as a peanut breeder since 2010. His peanut breeding program has been working to develop varieties for five market segments for which High Oleic is a key quality trait. Issa is finalizing selection, registration and release of High Oleic peanut varieties in collaboration with several private companies for the local and international market.
Maxime Menvielle is the Market Development Manager for sunflower crop at Lidea Seeds, the merger between Euralis Semences and Caussades Semences Group. Son of a farmer active in the South West of France, Maxime is graduated from the School of Agriculture in Angers, France. Maxime joined Lidea Seeds in 2017 as a commercial engineer; He is now building and deploying Lidea’ sunflower strategy in Europe and CIS.
Soon-Bin Neoh was trained as a scientist with a PhD in Chemistry from University College London and he completed a post doctorate research fellowship at The University of Chicago. Currently he is the Managing Director of the Soon Soon Group of Companies, an integrated grain, oilseed, feed and oil processing business based in Malaysia.
Janila Pasupuleti is the Cluster Leader of Crop Breeding & Principal Scientist (Groundnut breeding) at the International Crop Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) in India. Janila has twenty two years of work and leadership experience in establishing and managing demand-led crop breeding programs for dryland crops. Her current work focus is optimizing and deploying Genomic Prediction in the breeding pipelines of dryland crops including peanuts. Janila has a doctorate in Plant Genetics.
Matt Rodeheffer is Professor of Comparative Medicine and Physiology, Yale School of Medicine, since 2009. Matt identified adipocyte progenitor cells in mice and humans, and developed tools for the study of adipose biology in physiologic contexts. He discovered that the increase in adipocytes in obesity is driven by mechanisms that are distinct from developmental adipogenesis, and that oleic acid is a critical driver of obesogenic adipogenesis.
Iwona Rudkowska is Registered Dietitian and Full Professor at the Department of Kinesiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Laval, Canada. Dr. Rudkowska’s research program aims to investigate novel nutrition strategies to reduce the risks of type 2 diabetes. Her laboratory integrates traditional research methods with innovative experimental research methods (such as metabolomics, proteomics, machine learning) to confirm the benefits and mechanisms of action of various nutrition strategies or nutrients.
Maria Teresa Sanz Taberner is a Scientific Researcher in the Physical and Sensory Properties Lab in the Institute of Agro chemistry and Food Technology (IATA-CSIC) in Valencia, Spain, since 2007. She has worked on new healthy alternatives to reduce saturated fat during the past ten years. Maria Teresa has published over 100 scientific articles excluding abstracts, 2 patents and 1 utility model, and she contributed to prestigious International Conferences.
Fabrice Turon has over 30 years’ experience in the oils & fats. He began his career with Danone group. Later at Bertin, Fabrice managed the lipid products portfolio development. As oil trait lead for Syngenta Seeds Company, Fabrice investigated various quality oil projects and he assembled a strategic output traits portfolio for oilseeds. Since 2010, he is leading the Research activities at FAT & Associés, the specialized consultancy for the lipids, oils and fats industry.
Burak Ugur is the Sunflower Product and Corn Technical Manager at MAY Seed since 2014. In this role, he is responsible for planning and managing marketing strategies and technical activities for both domestic and international markets. Burak is graduated from Uludağ University, Faculty of Agriculture. He earned a Master’s degree in Agricultural Economics from Akdeniz University, obtaining the title of Agricultural Engineer (MSc.) and completed an MBA program at Dumlupınar University.
Andriy Voronov works in Coatings and Polymeric Materials Department at North Dakota State University (NSU), Fargo, North Dakota, USA. He gained gaining PhD in Polymer Chemistry from Lviv Polytechnic National University. Voronov’s list of publication includes more than 130 peer-reviewed journal articles, 12 book chapters, 2 US patents issued on bio-based monomers and polymers. While at NDSU, he was involved in about 50 research projects funded by federal and local agencies.
Gabe Williams is Director of Marketing at Frites Street, a Scottsdale-based company specializing in premium Belgian-style fries now using seedless High Oleic oils. Based in Tempe, Arizona, Gabe speaks on culinary innovation, clean oil sourcing, and brand storytelling for foodservice. He began his career building buzz for tech icons like GoDaddy and Uber. From scaling apps to scaling fries, Gabe’s journey has always been about helping great ideas and great ingredients.
Xuebing Xu is the Chief Scientist at Wilmar China/Yihai Kerry. He was former General Manager of Wilmar (Shanghai) Biotechnology R&D Center Ltd., and he is a Past-Professor at Aarhus University, Denmark. Xuebing received a list of awards including European Lipid Technology Award from the European Federation of Lipids; Honored AOCS Fellow, AOCS Stephen Chang Award from the American Oil Chemists’ Society, International Award for Rice Bran Oil Research, Lifetime Achievement Award and CCOA Excellence Awards.