Thursday, October 12, 2023 | 9:00am ET
The Bio of New Polymers:
Biobased, Biodegradable, and Biosustainable
The fifth ACS/FDA colloquium “The Bio of New Polymers: Biobased, Biodegradable, and Biosustainable” was held virtually on Thursday, October 12, 2023. This colloquium focused on the development of biopolymers for various food and cosmetic applications as well as offers an international perspective of these polymers.
The US FDA Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) and the American Chemical Society (ACS) have partnered to provide a chemistry colloquium series being offered virtually. The series focuses on aspects related to food including additives, ingredients, packaging, and safety, and is intended to broaden the knowledge base of food science professionals and the public.
Meet the Experts
Marc Hillmyer
University of Minnesota & Editor in Chief of ACS Macromolecules
Marc Hillmyer received his B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Florida in 1989 and his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the California Institute of Technology in 1994. He is currently the McKnight Presidential Endowed Chair in Chemistry and leads a research group focused on the synthesis and self-assembly of multifunctional polymers. In addition to his teaching and research responsibilities, Marc served as an associate editor for the ACS journal Macromolecules from 2008-2017 and is currently the editor-in-chief of Macromolecules. He is also the director of the Center for Sustainable Polymers headquartered at the University of Minnesota, a National Science Foundation Center for Chemical Innovation.
Yael Vodovotz
The Ohio State University
Yael Vodovotz received her Ph.D. degree from the University of Massachusetts in food science followed by a postdoctoral position at NASA where she worked on various aspects of the Advanced Life Support food system as well as teaching at the University of Houston. Yael has been working on physico-chemical and molecular properties of foods and bioplastics and has over 100 publications. She has been working with an interdisciplinary team of researchers from Horticulture and Plant Science and Chemical and Biomplecular Engineering to advance the field of bioplastics for packaging applications and is team lead of Alternative Matters.
Jun Wang
Colgate-Palmolive Company
Jun Wang currently works as a senior Manager in Packaging Innovation, Global Design and Packaging group, Colgate-Palmolive Company. Wang owns a Ph.D. in Polymer Chemistry and has over 30 years experience on polymers. Between 2014-2020, he led the development of the first-of-its-kind recyclable plastic tube, which received recognitions from the recycling industry, including the APR (Association of Plastic Recyclers in NA) and PRE (Plastic Recyclers Europe). Currently, Wang from Colgate, together with Dow and ACS Green Chemistry Institute, is initiating an industry-academia-NGO consortium on the natural polymers, NPC, to seek an alternative solution to curb the plastic pollution from the underexplored area of natural polymers. Outside his Colgate role, Wang is a co-founder of Asia-Pacific Sustainable Plastics Alliance (ASPA), registered in Singapore. ASPA is to promote the plastic circular economy in APAC and the world.
Part of a colloquium series brought to you by the US FDA Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition and the American Chemical Society.
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