Lacto…WHAT…cillus? What happened to my Lactobacillus probiotics?

On June 22, 2020, IPA will host a free webinar titled: Lacto…WHAT…cillus? What happened to my Lactobacillus probiotics?

By 2019, there were over 255 species of the genus Lactobacillus that had been named for the same common property of lactic acid production from sugars.

Today the nomenclature of the genus Lactobacillus, together with some other related taxa has been revisited. The single genus has been split into 25 genera. This second webinar in the IPA 2020 series will deal with the reclassification of the Lactobacillus genus and its implications to the industry. Specific strategies your company can implement to facilitate the change will also be discussed.

Dr. Bruno Pot, food microbiologist at Vrije Universiteit in Brussels, Belgium penned an introduction on the updated taxonomy that appeared on IPA’s website on April 15, 2020. In the article, he explains the importance of taxonomy in communicating about living things in biology. When a team of experts took a closer look at new genetic information of bacteria, they found huge misclassifications. As a result, the “species” names of the old genus Lactobacillus have not been changed but the genus name Lactobacillus has now been blessed with 23 additional names. Dr. Pot revealed the results as well as his colleagues on the Taxonomic Subcommittee who did the important work.

Dr. Pot is a member of the Taxonomic Subcommittee and will be presenting at the webinar.

Please join us at 11:00 AM EDT on June 22, 2020 for this 60-minute free presentation by five experts in the field.

Webinar Speakers

Dr. Bruno Pot

Member of the Taxonomic Subcommittee for Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium

Dr. Pot graduated from the University of Gent, Belgium. In subsequent postdocs he performed research on lactic acid bacteria. In 1997 he joined the company Yakult as science manager Benelux. Between 2001–2016 he worked as Research Director at the Institut Pasteur in Lille, as Director of Business Development at the bioinformatics company Applied Maths NV. Presently, he is a Guest Professor at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. Since 2016, Pot is back with Yakult as Science Director Europe. He is a member of the Taxonomic Subcommittee for Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium, President of the Pharmabiotic Research Institute, and board member of ILSI-EU and the LABIP.

Dr. Cara Welch

Deputy Director, Office of Dietary Supplement Programs
Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition

Cara is currently the Deputy Director for the Office of Dietary Supplement Programs (ODSP) in FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN). In this role, Dr. Welch leads the development of new policies and programs involving regulatory compliance and provides scientific expertise for emerging issues affecting the dietary supplement industry. She is also responsible for prioritization and execution of ODSP’s research portfolio. Prior to returning to ODSP, she was on detail as a Special Assistant to the Deputy Commissioner for Policy, Legislation, and International Affairs in the Office of the Commissioner. In this role, she provided expertise on agency level food policy issues. Prior to joining FDA, Welch was the Senior Vice President of Scientific and Regulatory Affairs at the Natural Products Association. Welch earned her Ph.D. in Medicinal Chemistry from Rutgers University working with traditional medicinal African plants.

Amy Summers

President
Pitch Publicity

Amy Summers launched Pitch Publicity in 2003, in the face of a rapidly changing climate for communication and media relations. She has 20 years’ experience in securing publicity and developing communication strategies for influential experts in natural health and medicine, science, tech and finance for both international corporations and non-profit organizations. Summers’ campaigns have resulted in billions of media impressions worldwide and she’s credited as the first to strategize live media interviews at both the deepest and highest points of the planet (scientific laboratory Aquarius, 63 feet beneath the sea; and Mount Everest summit, 21,000 feet above sea level). She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Public Relations, with minor in Health Science Education, from the University of Florida; serves on UF Alumni Association national board of directors and UF College of Journalism and Communications Public Relations Advisory Council. Summers produces one of the most highly ranked communications flash briefing called, “The Pitch with Amy Summers,” heard on Amazon’s Alexa and Google Home, and is the first published smart voice course available through her educational communications company, INICIVOX, designed to inspire and strengthen soft skill learning.

Solange Henoud

Global Regulatory Affairs Director
Lallemand Health Solutions

Solange Henoud leads regulatory affairs at the global level at Lallemand Health Solutions, actively represents the company in trade associations and is chair of the regulatory affairs committee at the International Probiotics Association (IPA). Henoud has been involved in many successful company and industry initiatives advocating probiotics to Health authorities such as Health Canada, the US Food and Drug Administration, the Brazilian Agência Nacional de Vigilância Sanitària, the Argentinian Legislation and Standarization of National Food Institute, Europe, Asia and other regulatory bodies over the globe. The achievements she is mostly proud of with her team are the specific health claims in various indications approved for Lallemand products and the footprint Lallemand products have in more than 54 countries under different regulatory categories including supplements, foods, food for special purposes and drugs. She has worked at Lallemand for 12 years after entering the regulatory affairs arena when immigrated to Canada from her native Lebanon where she studied science, architecture and ran her own practice.

Richard Cleland

Assistant Director
FTC Division of Advertising Practices, Bureau of Consumer Protection

Mr. Cleland joined the Federal Trade Commission’s Division of Advertising Practices in 1991. In 1996, Mr. Cleland was appointed Assistant to the Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection and in 1998 he was appointed Assistant Director of the Division of Service Industry Practices. He currently serves as Assistant Director of the Division of Advertising Practices. His primary area of expertise is the advertising and marketing of health-related products and services. He also supervises many of the Commission’s health fraud and weight-loss product and service law enforcement initiatives. Mr. Cleland supervised the FTC’s review of the Endorsement and Testimonial Guides. He recently supervised the revision of the FTC’s guidance on making effective disclosures on the Internet and other digital platforms (.com Disclosures). Prior to joining the Federal Trade Commission, Mr. Cleland served as Special Assistant Attorney General and Director of the Division of Consumer Protection in the Iowa Attorney General’s Office.

This webinar is a free service produced and funded by the International Probiotics Association and provided to you by William Reed Business Media Ltd.