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The Department of Food Science and Nutrition at ������̳ presents its fall 2025 seminar series featuring guest speaker Angela Anandappa, chief executive officer and president of the Alliance for Advanced Sanitation and president of Cerulean Sky Corporation, who will present “Beyond Compliance: Shaping the Future of Food Safety Through Innovation and Integrity.” This seminar will take place on Thursday, September 25, 2025, from 12:45–1:45 p.m. in room 104 of the Stuart Building.

Abstract

This talk invites emerging professionals to reimagine food safety not as a checklist of regulatory obligations, but as a dynamic field where science, technology, and ethical responsibility converge. Drawing from historical lessons and current industry challenges, we’ll explore how changes in the funding and regulatory landscape, advances in artificial intelligence, biosensing, and interdisciplinary collaboration are transforming food safety and consumer trust. Through real-world examples and visionary thinking, students will gain insights into how their skills can drive public health, influence policy, and create meaningful impact—not only within regulatory frameworks but far beyond them.

Biography

Angela Anandappa is currently the chief executive officer and president of the Alliance for Advanced Sanitation and president of Cerulean Sky Corporation. Her work involves providing scientific leadership, conducting research, as well as providing training and mentorship to companies in the areas of product development, food safety, and sustainability consulting services. Through her work at Cerulean Sky Corporation, she and her team of engineers, life scientists, and mathematicians provide data analytical services to manufacturers that improves risk assessment science, conducts genomic and metagenomic analyses, and solves many other problems using advanced data analytical methods. She is depended upon by numerous food manufacturers and life science innovators in delivering safe, wholesome, nutritious products to millions of consumers. She has been a part of both industry and academia, having served as a faculty member at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in Lincoln, Nebraska; an instructor at Northeastern University in Boston; as section manger for supply chain food safety at Kraft Foods and Kraft Heinz; led the Food Systems Innovation Center at the University of Kentucky; founded Vector Biotechnologies, in Huntsville, Alabama; represented Agilent Technologies’ Genomics division; worked at Operon Biotechnologies (part of Eurofins); and worked at and with many other organizations. Anandappa is the current chairperson of the Food Fraud Prevention PDG at the International Association for Food Protection (IAFP), has previously served as a vice chair and chairperson of the Food Chemical Hazards and Food Allergy PDG from 2018–2022 at IAFP, is currently serving on the editorial board of Supply Side Food and Beverage Journal, on the management committee for IAFP’s Food Protection Trends magazine, and on the editorial board of Food Safety Magazine. She is also a member of the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), the National Environmental Health Association (NEHA), Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), and the Institute for Thermal Processing Specialists (IFTPS). She earned her B.S. in biology with a focus on microbiology, M.S. in animal science specializing in antimicrobials to preserve the safety of fresh produce, and Ph.D. in systems science for food safety systems from the University of Kentucky. Anandappa earned credentials in ESG from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and in lean manufacturing from Toyota-UK Engineering.