Dr. Francis Boero is an academically certified, scientific technology, business specialist returning to food science after over 30-years in healthcare and research. After an early career in hospitality services and commissary operations, his interest in research led him to earn degrees in Information Science as well as a Ph.D. in Physics at the University of Southern California. Post-graduation, Dr. Boero led R&D operations, and later commercial divisions for scientific and analytic instrument businesses. Transitioning to healthcare with Johnson & Johnson, Francis continued his education with microbiology and process validation at the University of Minnesota, as well as an International Business Certificate from the Theseus Institute in France. During his 21-years with J&J, he successively led international business divisions in infection prevention, surgical products, and laboratory analytics. Concurrent with international positions at J&J, Francis returned to an interest in food science by offering pro-bono process validation services to start-up food processors in Puerto Rico, Panama, and the US. This rekindled his interest in foods and led him to qualifying as a CFS (Certified Food Scientist). Returning to the US, Dr. Boero served in specialist management roles in acquisitions and divestitures for the Carlyle Group. Most recently, he is the general manager of Anthea LLC, a specialty firm providing product integrity, B2C communications, and anti-fraud services to US and Canadian cannabis processors. Dr. Boero currently serves as the group leader for IFT’s (Institute of Food Technologists) Legalized Cannabis and Hemp Edibles working group. He has recently been nominated to IFT’s Cannabis Review Panel. In both IFT roles he has both presented at and organized technical sessions and training courses for the food industry professionals entering the cannabis market.