Dr. Sharon Koh-Fallet is the Branch Chief for the Regulatory Review Branch in the Division of Food Contact Substances (DFCS) in the Office of Food Additive Safety (OFAS) in the U.S. FDA. Dr. Koh-Fallet has worked on a variety of review work within DFCS ranging from premarket industry submissions to post-market safety review projects. Dr. Koh-Fallet received her Bachelor of Science degree as a dual major in Chemistry and Physics from James Madison University in 2002. She received her doctorate in Chemistry from Northwestern University in 2007. Following the completion of her doctorate degree, Dr. Koh-Fallet worked at Milliken & Company for 6.5 years as a Research Chemist. Dr. Koh-Fallet then worked at the Naval Research Laboratory as a postdoctoral fellow, followed by a position as a staff scientist at Strategic Analysis, Inc., where she served as scientific and technical support to various government program managers. Dr. Koh-Fallet joined the FDA in January of 2017. Since 2019, Dr. Koh-Fallet has served as a team lead and was promoted to Branch Chief in July 2022, in the regulatory review branch, where she continues to assist in managing premarket industry submissions, and other projects for both herself and the branch.
Ralph leverages more than four decades of
federal and state regulatory experience to help clients navigate the ever-evolving, complex web of key regulatory issues involving food safety, labeling and packaging.
Ralph regularly assists corporate and individual clients, including food and beverage companies, in a wide variety of matters, including regulatory and legislative proceedings, contracts, and litigation. He helps clients establish compliance with the laws and regulations administered by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), US Department of Agriculture (USDA), the
Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and comparable state authorities.
His clients benefit from his diverse legal insight from having previously served as a senior policy analyst for the FDA. Ralph
has advised countless corporations and trade associations with respect to federal, state and international legal and regulatory
compliance.
Ralph played a leading role in the adoption and implementation of legislation and regulations creating the Food-Contact
Substance Notification process and streamlining the FDA process for approving food packaging while ensuring the safety
of the packaged food. Prior to his work at the FDA, Ralph spent more than 20 years in firm leadership at a law firm in Washington, D.C. There, he led a team of 25 lawyers and food scientists focused on FDA and international regulation of food packaging while also serving as managing partner and on the firm’s management committee.
Joan Baughan practices food and drug law, focusing on US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and comparable international regulation of food contact materials, drugs, cosmetics, and medical devices. With a distinctive legal and scientific background in microbiology and medical technology, Joan helps clients establish regulatory compliance for their products globally, performs compliance audits and training seminars, and represents companies and trade associations before US agencies and their international counterparts.
Joan Baughan also developed substantial experience in Brussels, counselling clients on the regulation of food packaging materials and medicinal products under European Union and Member State legislation.
Joan frequently speaks at international conferences on various FDA and related regulatory topics and is an accomplished writer within the food and drug arena. She was a contributing author and the sole editor of the comprehensive food packaging book "Global Legislation for Food Contact Materials," and has written chapters – such as "Regulation of Nanotechnology in Food Contact Applications in the United States and Canada," and "US Legislation on Food Contact Materials," – for other publications. Joan also has written about drug packaging, including an article titled, "The Latest on Drug Master Files for Packaging Materials in the United States – and a Little History," for Packaging Digest.
Alistair manages the Food Packaging Safety Section within Smithers. This involves advising clients on the safety legislation which applies to food packaging in a wide range of different countries throughout the world and coordinating work programmes to ensure that clients' products meet these requirements. His expertise spans all the EU countries, USA, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Israel, Russia and all the South American countries.
Alistair graduated with a degree and PhD in Chemistry from Birmingham University. After working for BP and the Department of Health, he joined Smithers in 1994, taking up his current position in 1995.
Ashley Elzinga is director of sustainability and outreach for the Foodservice Packaging Institute, the trade association for the North American foodservice packaging industry. At FPI, work primarily focuses around communications, outreach and FPI’s recovery efforts.
Prior to joining the association, Elzinga has worked in different positions within the sustainability and environmental fields. Her most recent position was with Dart Container Corp. where she was the social responsibility and sustainability specialist. Before that position, she acted as the company’s recycling and community outreach specialist.
Elzinga holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Grand Valley State University with a minor in Environmental Studies. When not going on adventures with their corgi, Dutch, Ashley and her husband enjoy working toward their goal to visit all 30 Major League Baseball stadiums — 10 down, 20 still to go.
Aparajita Bhattacharya is a Staff Scientist at Kraton Corporation, in the Research and Technical Services division based in Houston, TX. She has been with Kraton for 10 years and has extensive experience with new block copolymer design, investigating structure-property relationships, and application development in flexible films for packaging and surface protection.
Aparajita holds a Bachelor’s in Chemical Engineering from the University of Mumbai, Institute of Chemical Technology in India, and received her Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana.
Whitney brings her many years of experience in stakeholder engagement, project management, creative problem solving, and policy to the Recyclability Solutions team. She most recently served as Director, Public Policy & Government Affairs for The Partnership and worked to implement policies to protect ocean wildlife at Oceana Inc. Prior to that, she was the Associate Director of Federal Affairs at the University of Pennsylvania and the Legislative Director for Congressman John Murtha.
Why I Care About Recycling
“I see recycling as a win-win: a win for the environment and a win for the economy. Reusing materials not only helps clean up the environment, it also reduces the need to extract more from our planet and keeps those materials supporting a circular economy.”
Personal Passions and Interests
Whitney, her family, and their puppy, Pippa, can usually be found out and about in the Maryland suburbs.
Highlights
Masters Environmental Studies, University of Pennsylvania
Contact
Let Whitney know how you want to engage with public and private stakeholders in the circular economy at wwebber@recyclingpartnership.org
Bio coming soon!
With over 50 years of professional experience as a Chemist, Business Manager and Vice President, Naeem Mady has been the Vice President of Regulatory Market Access at Intertek since 2010, Vice President Regulatory Services at Ciba Expert Services from 1996-2010, and Manager of Analytical regulatory services for Ciba-Geigy from 1983 to 1996. In his early career in the USA, he worked for Booz Allan Hamilton and Philip Morris. As the Vice President of Ciba Expert Services and Intertek, Mr. Mady has been responsible for the FDA and EPA regulatory compliance.
Mr. Mady has published and presented several papers in the field of Analytical Chemistry and Regulatory Compliance. He is the co-author of the Regulatory Aspects Section in the Plastic Additives Handbook and has written numerous articles in Management and Quality Systems newsletters.
On October 19, 2017, Mr. Mady was included in Marquis Who’s Who®, a reference resource for biographical and professional data about individuals of accomplishment. Marquis Who’s Who® June 2018.
Mr. Mady is a 50-year member of the American Chemical Society and served on the Board of Directors of Decernis, a company that offers a comprehensive regulatory management system. He has been the president of the Ocean Club Board of Directors in Boca Raton, FL since 2013.
Bio to be added shortly
Bio Coming Soon!