AIMS Meeting Book_MYM2023

Erin Crowley, Chief Scientific Officer, Q Laboratories Erin Crowley is the Chief Scientific Officer at Q Laboratories, Inc in Cincinnati, Ohio. Erin and her R&D team serve the industry as an Expert Laboratory with a primary focus on providing high quality method validation for microbiological rapid detection methods. These validations include Independent laboratory evaluations for pathogen detection, qualitative methods and confirmatory assays for AOAC Official Methods of Analysis, AOAC Research Institute Performance Tested Methods Program, MicroVal and AFNOR NF Certification Programs. Erin

frequently presents technical symposia globally on Method Validation, Method Verification, Harmonization and ISO standards development often representing the perspective of the third-party laboratory. In addition to being an active member of the International Association of Food Protection (IAFP) and AOAC, Erin currently serves as Immediate Past-President of the AOAC International Board of Directors, Past-Chair of the AOAC Official Methods Board, a member of the MicroVal Technical Committee (MVTC), ISO TC34/SC9/WG 3 Committee on Method Validation and Chair-elect of the JIFSAN Advisory Council. Erin earned a B.S. from the University of Cincinnati and an M.A. from Tufts University.

Morgan Wallace, Ph.D. After obtaining a PhD in Food Science and Human Nutrition from the University of Florida, Morgan worked as a PI for the USDA Agricultural Research Service in both Pre- and Post-Harvest areas of food microbiology. He worked in the molecular diagnostics industry for more than 20 years in the design and validation of rapid methods for the detection and typing of

foodborne pathogens. He is currently an independent consultant specializing in food safety.

Dr. Alexandre da Silva. MSc., Ph.D., FDA Dr. Alexandre da Silva has initiated his career at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as a Junior Parasitologists in 1992. At CDC he built a parasitology diagnostic program based on molecular and parasitological methods, as well as telediagnosis. Through this program, a robust network for diagnostic response in parasitic diseases was implemented at health departments in the US states and territories. During this period, he developed and implemented several molecular and parasitological methods for

diagnosis of parasitic diseases caused by Microsporidia, Plasmodium (etiologic agent of malaria), Leishmania , the life-threating free-living ameba Naegleria fowleri , Trypanosoma cruzi , Cryptosporidium , Angiostrongylus cantonensis and Cyclospora cayetanensis . He discovered three new species of Cyclospora , isolated from simians originated from Ethiopia and initiated the genomics program on