A big congratulations to Yoonbin Kim, postdoctoral candidate in Dr. Nitin's lab, for taking 3rd place in the International Association for Food Protection's 2025 J. Mac Goepfert Developing Scientists Award.  

The purpose of the award is to encourage graduate students and recent graduates of M.S. or Ph.D. programs to present their original research at the IAFP Annual Meeting, to foster professionalism through contact with peers and Members of the Association, and encourage participation in the Association and Annual Meeting. 

Yoonbin's awarded poster was titled, "Shelf-Life Extension of Pomegranate Arils Using the Synergistic Combination of Aqueous Olive Pomace Extract (OPE) and Mild Heat". Brief overview: Preserving the microbial quality and shelf life of ready-to-eat pomegranate arils while maintaining their nutritional and sensorial attributes poses a significant challenge. The goal of this study was to develop a sustainable, scalable intervention strategy that can reduce the risk of microbial spoilage of ready-to-eat pomegranate arils using the synergistic combination of aqueous extract obtained from olive byproducts and mild heat.  (Full Abstract) 

Three posters and three technical presentations were recognized in the Developing Scientist Poster Awards Competition with the awards below. 

First Place - $1,500 and an engraved plaque
Second Place - $1,000 and a framed certificate
Third Place - $750 and a framed certificate  

I was honored to receive 3rd place out of more than 600 posters presented. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my advisor, Dr. Nitin Nitin, for his insightful guidance and dedicated support. I would also like to thank Dr. Selina Wang for all the collaborative support. She is also a co-author of the poster. The next step for this work will be to optimize and validate our synergistic treatment on a pilot or industrial scale for real-world applications.  - Yoonbin Kim

Keep up the great work, Yoonbin!