Speakers

Matt is Argenta’s Chief Executive Officer, bringing global leadership experience across the pharmaceutical, biotech, CDMO, and CRO sectors. Previously CEO of Abzena, he has also held senior roles at Hospira, Novartis, GlaxoSmithKline, and Merck, with a strong track record in operational transformation, commercial excellence, and building resilient, growth-oriented organisations. 

Dr. Klaus Hellmann, DVM, is Head of Europe CRO at Argenta, with extensive experience in animal health product development and regulatory approvals. He studied veterinary medicine at the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover and began his career at Pfizer Germany. In 1997, he founded Klifovet, leading it as CEO until its acquisition by Argenta in 2022, where he helped establish it as Europe’s leading animal health CRO. Klaus is actively involved in several veterinary and animal health organisations, including AVC, AAVP, AAVPT, and WAAVP.

Laura Payo Lewis has over 15 years of experience in regulatory affairs, specialising in food and feed regulations across the EU and global markets. As Group Leader of Regulatory Affairs at Argenta, she leads regulatory strategy and supports market access for innovative products in animal and human nutrition. She has extensive experience guiding companies through complex approval processes for food ingredients and feed additives. Laura holds a degree in Biotechnology from the University of Salamanca and has research experience from Ghent University.

 Dr. Cornelia Hüttinger is a veterinarian with over 10 years’ experience in the animal health industry. She heads the EU Regulatory Affairs Department at Argenta and advises companies on regulatory strategies to obtain marketing authorisations for animal health and nutrition products. 

Jan Mousing, DVM, PhD, combines experience from public food and veterinary administration with entrepreneurship in life sciences. He has served as Denmark’s Chief Veterinary Officer, CEO of SEGES, Executive Director at the Danish Agriculture & Food Council, and member of the European Food Safety Authority’s Management Board. He is Co-founder and Senior Advisor Operations at Mmimetika ApS, where he has led preparation of the Novel Food dossier for LaKe, the company’s lead ingredient. This dual perspective - regulator and applicant - gives him particularly valuable practical insight into EFSA expectations, dossier development, and the challenges faced by innovative food startups navigating Europe’s regulatory landscape.

Joan Martí Carreras holds a Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences from KU Leuven (Belgium). His specialties are virology (mainly human pathogens), bioinformatics, and epidemic/pandemic control. Joan has extensive experience in Illumina and Oxford Nanopore sequencing to obtain viral genomes and analyze their variation in a functional, phylogenetic and epidemiological context.

Prof.Derek Stewart is Director of the Advanced Plant Growth Centre, a regional development project hosted at the James Hutton Institute, and Co-Director of the National Alternative Protein Innovation Centre (NAPIC). For over 35 years, he has worked at the industry–academia interface and led major national and international multi-partner projects worth more than £330 million. His research focuses on the innovation pipeline from feedstocks to food, with current projects in alternative protein, controlled environment agriculture, and the crop-to-food journey. He also holds advisory and board roles across the crop, food, and innovation sectors.

Raymond Ng (Msc, BA) is a Regulatory Affairs Consultant at Reach24h and has extensive knowledge on Pharmaceutical, Chemical Cosmetics, Food and agrochemical import & export regulations. His research specialises in market access policy and standards and the impact it has on international businesses. He has vast insight and practical experience in dealing with Chinese market access requirements and has accumulated a successful track record with supporting international companies with market entry in to China.

Dr. Elisavet Kyriakou is a regulatory toxicologist at Charles River Laboratories, with experience in toxicological evaluation, REACH registration, read-across, (Q)SARs, DNEL/PDE derivation, and classification and labelling. She holds a Neuroscience degree from the University of Edinburgh and a PhD in behavioural neuroscience from Radboud University.

Joerg Seifert is Secretary General of FEFANA, the EU association representing specialty feed ingredients and their mixtures. He leads the association’s management, represents members’ interests towards EU institutions and stakeholders, and supports the industry across feed additives, functional ingredients, and premixes. He holds a Food Science and Technology degree from the Technical University of Berlin and an MBA from Henley Management College.

Almudena Rodríguez is a veterinarian with extensive experience in food technology, animal nutrition legislation, and public affairs. She has held senior roles at the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, the European Commission, the Spanish Embassy in Washington DC, and CONXEMAR, and currently works in the area of animal nutrition legislation at the European Commission.

Philippe Becquet is an animal nutritonist (agronomist) and has been active in the feed industry, in various positions (marketing and sales, technical support, team management and regulatory affairs in the EU and globally) since more than 40 years. He has been nominated as ICCF Secretary in 2019, where he is managing experts working groups, for the development of guidance document for the assessment of feed ingredients.

Dr. Kristi Smedley assists clients with submissions such as GRAS, animal and human food additives, feed ingredients and dietary supplements. Her specialties include study development and conduct of animal research. She is a former Chief, Petitions and Regulations Staff, Division of Compliance at FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine and has a Ph.D. in Philosophy in Animal Nutrition and Forage Science: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Steven Barbosa is Secretary General at IPIFF, bringing almost 20 years’ experience working with and around EU institutions. He has a strong background in EU affairs, advocacy, and international relations, with over a decade of experience shaping EU policy across the European Parliament, Council of the EU, and European Commission.

Dr. Lisa Conboy-Schmidt is a Global Regulatory and Scientific Affairs Expert at Nestlé Purina R&D, where she leads regulatory approvals for new probiotic ingredients. She holds a BSc in Pharmacology and a PhD in Neuropharmacology from University College Dublin and brings over 15 years’ experience in the pet food sector. 

Justin McCarthy is CEO of GlasPort Bio, bringing over 20 years of senior leadership experience in the agricultural sector. He previously served as CEO and Editor of the Irish Farmers Journal Group and has a strong track record in driving innovation, shaping industry thinking, and delivering science-based solutions for farmers, the agri-food sector, and policymakers.

Owen is the CEO of Meatly, the first company in Europe to ever sell cultivated meat. He was previously a consultant and Bain and Company, and ran one of the first insect-protein facilities globally.

Eliana is an Agricultural Engineer with a PhD in Agricultural and Food Science and Technology and over 10 years of experience in the animal production industry. She combines a strong scientific background with extensive expertise in regulatory affairs, specializing in feed and feed additive registrations, EFSA-compliant studies, EU/UK authorizations, dealing with regulatory authorities and trade associations, regulatory strategic advice, scientific & technical writing, personalized trainings, customer service, and sales. 

Giuseppe Luca Capodieci is Technical Director at FEDIAF, the European Pet Food Industry Federation, where he leads the association’s technical, scientific and regulatory work. A food technologist by training, he holds a PhD in Agri-Food Economics and has almost 20 years of experience in EU food and feed policy, regulatory affairs and stakeholder engagement. Prior to joining FEDIAF, he served as Technical & Regulatory Manager at FEFANA, the EU Association of Specialty Feed Ingredients and their Mixtures, and as Senior Advisor for Food Policy & Sustainability at UECBV. Earlier in his career, he worked at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE). Throughout his career, he has worked closely with EU institutions, EFSA, industry and scientific experts on feed law, risk assessment, sustainability, trade and innovation across the food and feed chain. 

Maria Devant Guillé is a Researcher at IRTA with over 20 years of experience in beef cattle production research, specialising in calves from dairy farms. Throughout her career, she has worked on areas including animal management, nutrition, weaning programmes, and meat quality, as well as strategies to improve animal welfare, reduce environmental impact, and limit antibiotic use. She has also led research and innovation networks at both Catalan and international level, and holds scientific coordination responsibilities within IRTA.

Dejan Cvejić is currently the Head of EU CRO Business Development and Project Management at Argenta, where they focus on expanding the company's presence in the market. Previously, Dejan worked at KLIFOVET AG from 2009 to 2021, serving as Project Manager and Scientific Group Leader for Livestock Animals, as well as Head of Pre-Clinical Studies. Dejan earned a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Ludwig-Maximilians Universität München between 2004 and 2009.