Dr. Leontina Grigore-Gurgu is currently working as a Lecturer at the Faculty of Food Science and Engineering at Dunarea de Jos University of Galati, Romania. She obtained her doctorate in Industrial Engineering (2011) from the Faculty of Food Science and Engineering, Dunarea de Jos University of Galati, and her Master's degree in Molecular Genetics from the Biology Faculty, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi (2022). From 2017–2021, she was a team member in a project funded by the European Commission for the “Development of a novel industrial process for safe, sustainable and higher foods, using biotechnology and cybernetic approach, SafeFood”. From 2012–2013, she received a grant from UEFISCDI for working on the “Induction of cellulolytic activity in yeast strains of genus Saccharomyces sp. by genomic studies”. Her research topics mainly include enzymes, Listeria monocytogenes, antimicrobial activity, SDS-PAGE, and genetic engineering.

Dr. Florentina Ionela Bucur is a Principal investigator, who graduated as a food technologist in 2014 from the Faculty of Food Science and Engineering at Dunărea de Jos University of Galati, Romania, and obtained a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering (2021). Her research experience was gained by contributing as a research assistant to the implementation of two international projects, namely, SafeFood (Development of a novel industrial process for safe, sustainable, and higher quality foods, using biotechnology and cybernetic approach; ERA-IB-16-014) and SafeConsume (Safer food through changed consumer behavior: effective tools and products, information strategies, education, and a food safety policy reducing health burden from foodborne illnesses; Horizon 2020). She is currently a postdoctoral researcher. Her research is focused on assessing the incidence of human pathogens in food products and food-related environments and their death/survival when exposed to stress conditions, either traditional or alternative ones.

Dr. Octavian Augustin Mihalache is currently working as a Marie-Curie Postdoctoral Fellow at the Department of Food and Drug, University of Parma, Parma Italy. From 2022–2023, he served as a Postdoc Researcher at the University of Parma. From 2021–2022, he was a Fellow of the European Food Risk Assessment Fellowship Programme (EU-FORA) at the University of Parma, Food and Drug Department. From 2019–2022, he was also a Researcher at the Department of Food Science and Engineering, Dunarea de Jos University of Galati, Romania. He holds a Ph.D. in Food Science and Engineering from Dunarea de Jos University of Galati, Romania, in 2021. His research topics mainly include chemical risk assessment, risk–benefit assessment, dietary exposure, food safety, food hygiene, qualitative data analysis, and quantitative data analysis.

Dr. Anca Ioana Nicolau graduated as an Engineer in Food Technology (1985) and obtained her Ph.D. in Biotechnology (1999). She is currently working as a Professor of Food Microbiology, Rapid Methods, and Automation in Microbiology and Hygiene for Food Business Operators at the Faculty of Food Science and Engineering at the Dunarea de Jos University of Galati, Romania. She is the president of the Galati Branch of the General Association of Romanian Engineers (AGIR). Her current research is related to the detection of pathogens in food and food processing environments and to the destruction of microorganisms using alternative technologies. She acted as the institutional responsible for several European projects such as Biotracer (FP6), Promise (FP7), Foodseg (FP7), Food Zoonosis (COST Action 920), BacFoodNet (COST FA Action 2012), SafeFood (ERA IB2), and SafeConsume (Horizon 2020).