Innovative Uses of Agricultural Products & Byproducts

Michael H. Tunick was a chemist and research chemist at the Eastern Regional Research Center of the U.S. Department of Agriculture for more than three decades. While at ERRC, his work focused on creating new dairy products-such as low-fat mozzarella cheese for the National School Lunch Program-and expanding marketability of existing products, including characterization of Hispanic cheese. He became an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department ofFood and Hospitality Management at Drexel University upon retiring from the USDA in 2017. Tunick has co-authored over 130 publications, co-edited several books, and has co-chaired over 20 symposia in the ACS Division of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. He was named a Fellow of the ACS in 2011 and Oxford UniversityPress published his book The Science of Cheese in 2013.LinShu Liu is Lead Scientist and Research Chemist at the Eastern Regional Research Center of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Liu's research focuses on three areas: (1)controlled release of biologically active substances for biomedical uses and for food protection and preservation; (2) new utilities of agricultural byproducts; and (3) the interplay of diet and human gut microbiota, and the subsequent effects on health and disease. Liu was born in China and obtained his Ms. Sc. In chemistry from South China Normal University in Guangzhou, China in 1982.He earned his Ph.D. in polymer chemistry from Kyoto University in Japan in 1990, and was a PostdoctoralAssociate with Prof. R. Langer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, MA from 1990-1992. Prior to joining the USDA in 2002, Liu worked with pharmaceutical industries in California. He is the author and co-author of 27 patents, 130 research articles in peer-reviewed journals, and 9books.