Prof. Dr. Lu Wang received her master’s degree in Food Science and Engineering in 2010 and obtained her doctorate in Chemical Engineering and Technology in 2013, both at the Harbin Institute of Technology. Starting in 2014, she worked as a lecturer in the School of Chemical Engineering and Technology at Yanshan University. Her research areas include extraction, isolation, and biological activity research of natural products and nanoscale preparation of functional food factors.
Prof. Dr. Xiaoyu Li is an Associate Professor at Yanshan University, Qinhuangdao, China. He received his Ph.D. degree from Harbin Institute of Technology. He has published more than 20 science papers in international journals. His research is focused on the isolation and characterization of natural products, food nutrition, and functional food.
Prof. Dr. John Shi is a Research Scientist at the Guelph Research and Development Center, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. He completed his Ph.D. study at the Polytechnic University of Valencia, Spain (Food Process Engineering) and served as a post-doctoral research fellow at North Dakota State University, USA. With good harmonization of the AAFC STB priorities, Dr. Shi’s research has addressed the research priorities of the AAFC to identify economically viable Canadian agro-food products with health-benefiting properties and ascertain their nutritional properties, functional attributes, health benefits, etc. In addition, Dr. Shi received a national award for his work with AAFC’s Visible Minority Network from former Deputy Minister Nada Semaan.
Prof. Dr. Sophia Jun Xue is a Research Assistant at the Guelph Research and Development Center, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. She obtained her master's degree in bioprocessing engineering from the Asian Institute of Technology in 1999 and her Ph.D. in Food Technology and Processing from McGill University in 2006. In addition, she participated in the "Green" Processing Research of the Canola Science Cluster Team and was awarded the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) 2023 Gold Harvest Award.
Prof. Dr. Nazanin Vafaei graduated from Sabzevar University in Food Science and Technology in 2007 and then she joined the National University of Malaysia (UKM) as a Research Assistant in Oleochemistry from 2009 to 2012. She completed her doctorate in Agriculture and Food Science at the University of Manitoba in 2017. Since January 2020, she has worked as a Research Associate at the University of Manitoba. As a researcher, she has been active in fats & oils, supercritical fluids, margarine, shortening, structured lipids, and palm oil substitutes. Her research is focused on using an eco-friendly system such as supercritical carbon dioxide for the production and extraction of nutraceutical and functional foods from natural materials to produce plant-based products such as antioxidants, essential oils, and natural colors.
