William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor, North Carolina State University

Lee-Ann Jaykus, Ph.D., is a William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor in the Department of Food, Bioprocessing, and Nutrition Sciences at North Carolina State University. Her research has focused on food virology and development of quantitative risk assessment models in food safety. Dr. Jaykus has previously served as the scientific director of the USDA-NIFA Food Virology Collaborative (NoroCORE), a 5-year, $25 million project aimed at understanding and controlling foodborne viruses. Her professional activities have included membership on NACMCF, on several Institute of Medicine (IOM)-National Research Council (NRC) food safety committees, and as president of IAFP from 2010-2011. She has authored or co-authored more than 150 publications. Learn more about Lee-Ann here.

Professor and Extension Specialist, North Carolina State University

Ben Chapman, Ph.D., is a Professor and Extension Specialist at North Carolina State University. He’s the university’s director of the Safe Plates food safety extension and research program. With the goal of reducing foodborne illness, his group researches food handling and food safety systems; designs and implements food safety strategies; and, evaluates messages and media from farm-to-fork. Dr. Chapman also provides leadership to the food sector, serving as Project Director for FoodCoVNET, a collective of food safety professionals conducting research and outreach around COVID-19 concerns in the food supply chain. He is also the co-host of the microbial food safety podcasts Food Safety Talk and Risky or Not. Learn more about Ben here.

Leading the discussion is Chip Manuel, Ph.D. Food Safety Science Advisor at GOJO Industries.