Daniela Cîrnațu, MD, PhD, Western University “Vasile Goldiş”, Arad (Romania)
She graduated from UMF Victor Babeș in Timișoara (1999). She is a primary health care physician from 2011, doctor of medicine (2012) with a doctoral thesis in the field of medicine – the topic “Research on the food safety of the use of genetically modified organisms in the feed of broilers”, at the University of West Vasile Goldiș in Arad, specialization in food safety at the University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Bucharest in 2008. Currently, she is the head of the Hygiene discipline at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of West Vasile Goldiș in Arad. Dr. Cîrnațu is also the resident coordinator for the “Hygiene” specialization in the Arad University Center. Since 2020, she has been a primary care physician at the National Institute of Public Health – Timișoara Regional Public Health Center. After 18 years of professional experience in the field of public health and food safety (of which 7 years in the Arad Veterinary Sanitary and Food Safety Directorate, and 8 years in the Arad Public Health Directorate) she is particularly focused on food supplements and foods with added vitamins and minerals. Dr. Cîrnațu is currently a member of the Hygiene Consultative Commission of the Ministry of Health and the secretary of the Hygiene Commission of the Romanian College of Physicians.
Mihai Covaşă, PhD. Professor of Physyology, College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific, Western University of Health Sciences (Pomona, California). Dean of The School of Medicine and Biological Sciences, Ștefan cel Mare University (Suceava, Romania). Vicepresident of The Society for Nutritional Sciences (Romania)
Specialist in Nutrition and Gastrointestinal Physiology and doctor in Physiology and Nutrition, he completed his master’s and doctorate courses at the University of Leeds in the UK.
Dr. Mihai Covaşă attended postdoctoral courses in neuroscience at Washington State University, USA. He worked as a professor and researcher at Washington State University and Pennsylvania State University. He was Director of Research at the Division of Human Nutrition, Institute of Microbiology Micalis, INRA, Paris and Head of the Laboratory of Metagenomics and Physiology. He was PhD supervisor and taught at Sorbonne University and AgroParisTech Paris, France.
He is the author of more than 100 scientific papers in high-impact international journals, more than 150 conference presentations, grant reviewer for research funding agencies in several countries, and editor and reviewer for numerous scientific journals.
He founded the metagenomics laboratory within the Ștefan cel Mare University in Suceava, and his research activity is mainly based on the role of the brain-digestive system-intestinal microbiota axis in eating behavior with implications in obesity and diabetes. He coordinated many research projects, including the role of the intestinal microbiota in the control of type 2 diabetes and the identification of circulating strains of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in Romania.
Currently, he is a professor and dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Biological Sciences, from the “Ștefan cel Mare” University in Suceava, as well as a professor of physiology at the Faculty of Medicine, Western University of Health Sciences, Pomona, California.
Dr. Covaşă is the Vicepresident of The Society for Nutritional Sciences (Romania).
Irina Mateieș, MD, RD, Amethyst Radiotherapy Center Cluj-Napoca (Romania)
Dr. Mateies is a family medicine physician who graduated from UMF Târgu Mureș in 2005. She is also a registered dietitian, having earned her degree in Nutrition and Dietetics from UMF Cluj-Napoca in 2012.
For the past decade, she has been working at Amethyst Radiotherapy Cancer Center in the Department of Oncology Nutrition. Her primary focus is supporting cancer patients in managing the nutritional side effects of oncology treatments, addressing malnutrition, and dispelling the many pervasive myths surrounding cancer nutrition.
In addition to her role at Amethyst Clinic, Dr. Mateies has conducted oncology nutrition courses for healthcare professionals and cancer patients. She has collaborated with non-profit organizations to provide nutritional education to a broader audience of cancer patients and their families. Furthermore, she has developed a blog and a YouTube channel to offer Romanian cancer patients free access to accurate nutritional information in their native language. She is also dedicated to mentoring dietetics students who are interested in pursuing a career in oncology nutrition.
Monica Neagu, Eng, Director, Directorate for Food Safety of Non-Animal Origin, The National Veterinary Sanitary and Food Safety Authority – ANSVSA (Romania)
Food Industry Engineer, Director of the Directorate for Food Safety of Non-Animal Origin within the National Sanitary Veterinary and Food Safety Authority, with over 20 years of experience in central public administration, working in the field of regulating and implementing the European and national legislative framework on food safety. Monica Neagu serves as the National Contact Point for the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF), responsible for coordinating this system at the national level, as well as acting as the contact point for emergencies within the Administrative Assistance and Cooperation System.
She is also the Codex Alimentarius Contact Point for Romania and has coordinated the activities of the working group on food contaminants during the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union (2019), presided over coordination meetings in Brussels for formulating and supporting the EU’s position at international plenary meetings.
Eng. Monica Neagu has been a team member and project manager in various projects funded by the European Commission (EC) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in the areas of crisis management and national food consumption. She is a member of the EFSA Advisory Forum, advising EFSA on scientific matters, activity programs, and their prioritization, particularly regarding the assessment and communication of existing and emerging risks.
Mihai Niculescu, MD, PhD, Advanced Nutrigenomics (U.S.A.). President of The Society for Nutritional Sciences (Romania)
Dr. Mihai Niculescu is an expert in nutrigenetics and nutritional epigenetics. Between 2008 and 2015, having his own laboratory at the Nutrition Research Institute (UNC Chapel Hill), his scientific activity focused on the relationship between nutrients and the genetic and epigenetic terrain, as well as the impact that nutrition has on epigenetic inheritance (epigenetic transgenerational inheritance). In 2015 Dr. Niculescu founded the company Advanced Nutrigenomics. In 2016, he became director of the NUTRIGEN project within UMF Timișoara, financed with 2 million euros from the European Union, through the Romanian government.
His current research activity is focused on the role of genetic variations in nutrition, within the Romanian population, and in the implementation of precision nutrition.
He is the current president of The Society for Nutritional Sciences (Romania).
Anca Ignat-Sâncrăian, RD, Casa Ignat (Romania)
Anca-Ignat Sâncrăian is a registered dietitian from Cluj-Napoca and a member of the first generation of dietitians in Romania. After graduating from The “Iuliu Hațieganu” University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Cluj-Napoca, with a degree in Nutrition and Dietetics (class of 2011), she embarked on an extensive career in the field of nutrition. With over 6,000 hours of nutritional counselling experience, Anca specializes in addressing metabolic, digestive, oncological, and neurological disorders.
In addition to her counselling services, Anca has delivered over 100 conferences and webinars and developed a variety of programs aimed at both individuals and groups. Notable initiatives include the “10-10” (a 10-week group educational weight loss program for overweight and obese patients), “Applied Nutrition” (a one-on-one personalized nutritional therapy program), “Nutrition For All”, formely “Sufletrit” (a free public program that feature Q&As in the field of nutrition). She has also offered internship opportunities for students in the field. In 2016, Anca developed and notified a food supplement called “Brain Proficiency”, aimed at enhancing intellectual capacities.
What sets Anca apart in her practice is her personalized approach, using advanced tools such as nutrigenetic and microbiome testing, combined with a multidisciplinary perspective. As a dedicated professional, she has participated in various congresses and conferences, demonstrating her ongoing commitment to the field of nutrition and ensuring continuous education.
Anca holds certifications from various institutions such as University of Melbourne, Monash University, Biogena, ISNN, The American Nutrition Association, and Advanced Nutrigenomics.
Nicoleta Tupiță, MS, RD, Nestlé (Romania)
She graduated in “Nutrition and Dietetics” at UMF Cluj-Napoca, and obtained her master’s degree in “Sports Nutrition” at the University of Valencia. SHe subsequently followed several specialization courses in sports nutrition and in communication. She believes that nutritional education can save lives and has coordinated several initiatives in the field in Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia and Serbia. With over 10 years of experience in nutrition, Nicoleta Tupiță is the co-author of three nutrition books. Currently, she is the “Nutrition and Internal Communication” manager within Nestlé Romania, Bulgaria and the Adriatic Countries, where she is responsible for the internal coordination of two school nutrition projects (in partnership with the founding NGOs) that have reached over 400,000 children in Romania. Nicoleta also coordinated the development and launch of NutriPortia and VeggiePortia in 4 countries (Romania, Serbia, Bulgaria and Croatia), two guidelines for balanced family meals that in Romania alone reached more than 2 million parents through communication campaigns.
Dan Vodnar, MS, PhD. President of the Senate and professor, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Cluj-Napoca (Romania)
Dan Vodnar has been mostly involved within the fields of fermentation, immobilization of different strains using methods which are able to provide information about strains metabolites into different conditions. The research activity conducted so far resulted in the publication of a total of 161 scientific articles in representative ISI journals in the field, with a Hirsh index of 26 according to the web of science (approx. 2100 citations). More, the project leader received international recognition being awarded in 2014 with “Danubius Young Scientist Award” Vienna, Austria, for his international visibility and scientific achievements. In 2015 Dan Vodnar has been selected as semifinalist at the European Social Innovation Competition (30 semifinalists from 1408 application across Europe). Dan Vodnar is experienced in managing National projects (principal investigator of 4 innovation projects PNII and one Partnership Project PNII) and two academic grants (fermentative bioconversion, microencapsulation), one international project (JPI), scientific manager of the POC project. Dan Vodnar (http://danvodnar.objectis.net/) is the main author of 5 patents awarded with 7 Gold Medals and one bronze Medal at International Exposition of Inventors Proinvent 2013-2016. In 2014 he has been nominated in Top 100 “Romanians peoples”- Foreign Policy România for research activities. In 2015 he was awarded Technology and Innovation Award, by Aspen Institute Romania and also awarded the excellence diploma at “Young Researchers in Science and Technology competition. Professor Vodnar was awarded Gold Medal at the International Exhibition of Invention, Geneva, in 2017. In 2018, professor Dan Vodnar was nominated as one of the “Ten Outstanding Young Persons” from Romania.
Andreea Spiridon (Romania)
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Laura Gavrilaș, PhD, RD
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Oana Lelia Pop, PhD, Eng
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Irina Matran, PhD, Eng, MS
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More speakers will be announced soon.