Frank Yiannas, M.P.H., is a food safety leader and food system futurist, author, professor, and former food safety executive at global brands. He also served as the Deputy Commissioner of Food Policy and Response at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from 2018 to February 2023. While at FDA, he was instrumental in creating the New Era for Smarter Food Safety blueprint and many other initiatives related to the implementation of FSMA. He has also held food safety leadership roles with Walmart and the Walt Disney Company. Additionally, he advanced global thinking on food safety culture with his pivotal 2008 book, Food Safety Culture: Creating a Behavior-Based Food Safety Management System. Mr. Yiannas has long been recognized for his role in elevating food safety standards and building food safety management systems based on science and risk.

Sean Leighton is currently Vice President of Food Safety, Quality & Regulatory for Cargill based in Wayzata, Minnesota. Prior to joining Cargill, Sean worked for over 13 years at The Coca-Cola Company in various roles across Quality, Food Safety and Environmental Sustainability, working in the US, Canada and Europe. Sean has a BS in Bacteriology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, an MS in Food Science from the University of Minnesota and an MBA from Emory University. Sean sits on the advisory board of many organizations including, but not limited to, IAFP’s Journal of Food Protection, The Center for Food Safety (UGA), GMA’s Science & Education Foundation and the Food Fraud Think Tank (MSU).

Bob Ferguson is President of Strategic Consulting, Inc., a company that since 1996 has been the leading resource for market information in industrial diagnostics, focused on global microbiology markets in food and beverage safety. Bob has more than 30 years of experience in microbiology and laboratory businesses. Prior to joining Strategic Consulting, Bob was Vice President and General Manager for Becton Dickinson’s (BD) Industrial Microbiology and Microbiological Media Business. Bob serves as a member of the Food Safety Magazine editorial advisory board and is the contributing author of the Food Safety Insights column.