Jasna Kovac is an associate professor in the Department of Food Science at Penn State. Her lab is studying how foodborne pathogens survive, persist, and spread across food systems, and translating these findings into practical tools for surveillance and intervention.

Anna-Lena Feldberg is a Global Product Manager for Automated Solutions at QIAGEN. With a strong passion for advancing scientific workflows, she works closely with cross-functional teams to translate customer needs into impactful product solutions. Anna-Lena holds an M.Sc. in Chemistry and a Ph.D. (Dr. rer. nat.) in Biochemistry from the University of Münster. Her doctoral research focused on protein chemistry, including the investigation of biosynthetic pathways and nonribosomal peptide synthetases. Combining a solid scientific foundation with expertise in product management, she is dedicated to bringing user-focused innovations to laboratories worldwide.

Dominic O’Neil, Director of Microbiome & HID R&D at QIAGEN, discovered his passion for molecular biology and genetics while studying at Northeastern University in Boston and contributing to the Human Genome Project at the MIT/Whitehead Center for Genome Research. When QIAGEN acquired Digene, he joined the former as an R&D scientist, focusing on clinical diagnostics for women’s health. Dominic became part of the company’s growing innovation journey. After relocating to the QIAGEN global headquarters in Hilden, Germany, he took over the team responsible for developing DNA extraction kits. Today, Dominic brings his over two decades of experience in innovation and product development to lead a group of scientists and technicians dedicated to advancing solutions for human identification and microbiome applications, driving forward technologies that help laboratories process even the most difficult samples.

Sukanya has a Bachelor of Science in Molecular Biotechnology and a Master's degree in management, combining her interests in the world of science and business. After her studies, she started as a Marketing Trainee at QIAGEN, working in campaign management, product management, marketing analytics and research, and strategic marketing. Having completed her traineeship, she has taken on the role of Associate Global Product Manager, where she looks forward to helping make improvements in life possible.

Nathan Susnik holds a PhD in molecular biology from Hannover Medical School. After his postdoctoral fellowship, he worked as a medical writer and associate scientific director. He is now a Senior Marketing Content Manger at QIAGEN, and in his free time, a published author of many short stories.