Bio
Bárbara Socas Rodríguez has participated in several international, national, and regional research projects related to the application of sustainable procedures for the analysis of organic compounds. She carried out her PhD at the University of La Laguna focused on the development of new methodologies for the evaluation of estrogenic compounds in food and environmental samples. After that, she worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Green Technology Group (GTG) in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Lund (Sweden) where she carried out the development of new methodologies for the determination of vitamin D and its metabolites in biological samples using supercritical fluids and mass spectrometry. Then she joined the Laboratory of Foodomics (CIAL, CSIC) centering her research on the safety evaluation of valorized food by-products. Currently she is working as Assistant Professor at the ULL and participates in different projects carrying out the evaluation of pesticides and plastic migrants in food and environmental matrices using green analytical techniques.

Bio
Giovanni D'Orazio, PhD earned an MS degree in Chemistry from Unversity of “La Sapienza” in Rome and a PhD in Analytical Chemistry from the Universidad de La Laguna (ULL) Tenerife, Islas Canarias, Spain. Now, he is permanent full-time contract as researcher at Istituto per i Sistemi Biologici (ISB) of CNR. (Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche), Rome. Relevant scientific experience was gained in the several years, spent in the analytical chemistry field, separation methods developing in the pharmaceutical, biological and agri-food fields by using miniaturized analytical techniques: capillary electrophoresis, electrochromatography and nano/capillary liquid chromatography. His experience is focused on the development of miniaturized electro-spray interfaces to couple miniaturized techniques to mass spectrometry. At the same time, these years were useful to learn wide experience in capillary column (50-300 microns ID) packing procedure of chiral and no chiral stationary phases for electrochromatography and nano/capillary liquid chromatography. At the same time, in these years of research, the research line has expanded toward sustainable extractions techniques in the sample preparation step. Miniaturized extraction procedure such as dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME), hollow fiber liquid phase microextraction (HF-LPME); dispersive solid phase extraction (dSPE) is also combined using new sorbent materials and especially exploring the frontier of recent green deep eutectic solvents. His activity is demonstrated by scientific over 70 papers published on international journals and presented in in international congresses.

Bio
Steven Lehotay develops analytical methods for monitoring chemical contaminants in food for the USDA Agricultural Research Service (USDA ARS). He received his Ph.D. in analytical chemistry in 1992 and landed his first job by responding to an advertisement in Chemical & Engineering News. He has been with the USDA for 22 years. Lehotay focuses on techniques for detecting pesticides, veterinary drugs, and environmental contaminants in foods. "I look at all aspects of the process," he says — anything from sample collection to analyzing the results and streamlining high-throughput processes. He and his former postdoc Michelangelo Anastassiades developed the QuEChERS sample preparation method (Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged, and Safe), which uses salts, solvents, and sorbents to provide final extracts efficiently for analysis of pesticide residues and other food contaminants. Lehotay credits a good high school chemistry teacher with sparking his initial interest in the field. During undergraduate school, he gravitated toward instrumental analysis, an interest he pursued throughout graduate school. He decided to pursue a civil service career out of a desire to "meet real needs for the good of the public." He liked the Washington, DC, area, and so he applied for and got a postdoc with the USDA ARS in Beltsville, MD. The chemical residue regulatory monitoring programs needed improved analytical methods, and Lehotay knew that he had found his problem to solve. In 1999, the food safety program in ARS was restructured and consolidated, and he was transferred to the Eastern Regional Research Center near Philadelphia, PA, where he could lead a larger group with greater resources.