Our Speakers

Winefairy

Katie Barratt

Hello, I’m Katie, Winefairy and I love wine.

Hello, I’m Katie, Winefairy and I love wine.

For me wine is so much more than what is in the bottle. It’s the stories beyond the glass, the people, the vineyards, the secrets of the cellar. It’s the culture, the history and the joy that wine brings. It’s the emotion, the beauty and the magnificent scenery. Wine is a magical experience. Well it can be, if you let it.

I’m passionate about demystifying the mysteries of wine and sharing joy, knowledge and laughter with anyone who’s willing to join me. Wine Fairy as a business started in 2009. I’ve dedicated my life to learning about wine and through my studies and over 30 years of experience in hospitality, food and wine, I love to taste, learn and laugh about everything wine, travel and food.

I have a few qualifications too, my knowledge isn’t all from personal experience. I’m certified as a Sensorial Wine Judge and Garagiste winemaker by the University of Stellenbosch, I hold a Diploma in Wine from the Cape Wine Academy, a Diploma in Catering Management from the Technikon Witwatersrand Hotel School, a pre-MBA from Stellenbosch University Executive Business School. I’m a certified Tourist guide in South Africa and have a boutique wine brand, The Catherine Barratt Collection where I produce Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. I’m currently doing my WSET Level 4,
Still learning every day as each glass tasted and shared has something new to offer.

Cheers, clink, clink. 🍷

Katie Barratt

Director - UK Performance Nutrition

Monica Fowler, MS, RD

Fowler developed the nutritional curriculum and fueling program for all 22 athletic teams at UK.

Monica Fowler is entering her 13th year as the Director of the Performance Nutrition Department. Along with her staff, she has developed the nutritional curriculum and fueling program for all 22 athletic teams at UK which includes nutritional assessments & counseling, meal planning & maintaining nutritional supplements. In June 2017, the Performance Nutrition Staff opened the Nutrition Training Lab in the Nutter Training Facility. The Nutrition Training Lab has 5 complete kitchens where the staff trains the athletes in cooking skills that support proper fueling for optimum performance. They also educate the athlete in nutrition self-care for health throughout the lifecycle.
Prior to developing the Nutrition Department at UK, she worked as a clinical dietitian for RD Associates. Monica earned her BS in Dietetics in 2010 and her MS in Dietetics Administration in 2012. She and her husband Shane have two children, a son, Satchel, and a daughter, Rebecca. She is originally from Leitchfield Kentucky.
Assistant Professor in the Department of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Georgia

Ginnefer Cox, PhD, RD, AOS

Dr. Ginnefer Cox's doctoral research is focused on the sensory perception of sodium reduction in model processed food systems.

Dr. Ginnefer Cox is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Georgia. A native of Chicago, IL, Ginnefer spent her childhood in the kitchen, and served as her father’s sous chef for numerous catering events. Spurred by her father’s health issues, she became a Registered Dietitian and completed a culinary arts degree from the Culinary Institute of America at Hyde Park, NY. Her doctoral research in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign focused on the sensory perception of sodium reduction in model processed food systems. At the University of Georgia, her research focus centers on utilizing sensory evaluation methodology, specifically within non-traditional, community-based systems, to increase acceptability and consumption of health-focused food products and recipes. As the Director of the Culinary Science and Nutrition Program, Ginnefer delights in training future sensory scientists, Registered Dietitians, and culinary professionals on the importance of creating flavorful and nutritious food products and recipes to improve health behaviors. Prior to developing the Nutrition Department at UK, she worked as a clinical dietitian for RD Associates. Monica earned her BS in Dietetics in 2010 and her MS in Dietetics Administration in 2012. She and her husband Shane have two children, a son, Satchel, and a daughter, Rebecca. She is originally from Leitchfield Kentucky.
Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior Brown University Alpert Medical School

Rachel Herz, PhD

Dr. Rachel Herz is a world leading expert on the psychological science of smell.

Dr. Rachel Herz is a world leading expert on the psychological science of smell, the author of several critically acclaimed popular science books, including Why You Eat What You Eat: The Science Behind Our Relationship with Food (2018, WW Norton & Co.), and a multiple TEDx speaker. She has been conducting research on the senses, emotion and motivated behavior since 1990, has published over 100 original research papers, is a co-author of the leading college textbook on Sensation & Perception, and on the faculty at Brown University. Dr. Herz is actively engaged in outreach, advocacy, and education on the chemical senses, and is a professional consultant to a range of scent, taste, food and flavor industries.
Professor & Director, Graduate Program in Allied Health Sciences

Valerie Duffy, PhD, RD

Dr. Valerie Duffy offers a wealth of experience in food, nutrition, health promotion, and public health nutrition.

Dr. Valerie Duffy is a Professor and Director of the Graduate Program in the Department of Allied Health Sciences. She offers a wealth of experience in food, nutrition, health promotion, and public health nutrition. Her research program has two main areas fueled by extramural funding. First, her team aims to understand sensory nutrition or the influence of variation in chemosensory perception on food flavor, food preference, and consumption. Recently, her team has translated sensory nutrition into individualized dietary recommendations for children and adults through online survey and tailored nutrition messages. The ultimate goal is to leverage sensory nutrition to encourage consumption of healthy diets that are enjoyable for promotion of health and prevention of disease. Her second major area of research interest involves the formation of interdisciplinary teams to work with community agencies to promote health diets and weights of children and their families, particularly those of economic disadvantage. These efforts incorporate undergraduate and graduate student research and investigate the effectiveness of community-based interventions, mhealth, and social media to improve diet healthiness for obesity prevention. Dr. Duffy and her students have published numerous papers and have presented at national and international meetings. She has received several awards for excellence in teaching, research, and service. Students who have trained in her lab are advancing health promotion through research, practice, and leadership. She has served as major advisor to complete fifty-one Master’s students, four PhD students, and numerous undergraduates completing research experiences and honor thesis.

Dr. Duffy teaches at the undergraduate and graduate levels and currently mentors students at the undergraduate honors (including McNair Scholars), masters (Plan A and B), and doctoral levels. Since 2010, she has served as a mentor for and worked with 17 honors students, 36 masters students, and 3 doctoral students.

Chef

Fred Morin

A graduate from no prestigious cooking school, Fred Morin has long forgotten all about the art of plating good-looking food.

A graduate from no prestigious cooking school, Fred Morin has long forgotten all about the art of plating good-looking food. From the daily task of heading the tiny kitchen at Joe Beef ten years ago he now mostly cooks ingredients that don’t touch one another for three adorable yet very talkative offspring, Henry, Ivan, and Eleanor. He does sometimes cook overly complex and poorly budgeted, ambitious, classic French meals at home for his wife, Allison.
His life is still ruled by brief but intense bouts of diverse endeavors that somehow all come back to restaurants and cooking, be they gardening, trying to fly-fish in Alaska, preparing very large first-aid kits, or building bread ovens. In recent years, he casually alternated between yoga and drinking with an elegance rivaled only by the likes of Beau Brummell and Little Lord Fauntleroy. Today, he is here with us to share a chef’s perspective.
Founding Partner | Co-CEO for Control Point

Trevor J. Morones

Control Point founder, Trevor J. Morones, is a classically culinary trained expert
butcher.

Control Point founder, Trevor J. Morones, is a classically culinary trained expert
butcher. As a craft butcher, he understands first-hand the desire to focus on the craft and
create the best product possible, making throngs of satisfied customers and fulfilling
brand promises of quality, efficiency, and unique value.
As a Lead HACCP Instructor, GFSI auditor, and ANSI Instructor/Proctor, Trevor brings his
brilliant engineering mind and spirit to craft training and solutions to minimize the amount
of time spent with red tape and regulations, eliminating costly mistakes, fines while
creating cultures of operational excellence.
In working with high volume manufacturing facilities and highly acclaimed restaurants
such as B&B Hospitality Group, Good Uncle, and The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, Trevor
has perfected the balance between productivity and compliance. Control Point was
created to guide Chefs, Restaurant Groups, and Food Manufacturers through their food
safety concerns and processes with a high level of excellence.
Control Point is all about results. Trevor’s training and implementation practices have
proven to increase company growth, domestically and internationally, by 66%. Trevor
holds positions on many committees critical to the support of food industry safety and
excellence.
Postdoctoral Fellow at the Monell Chemical Senses Center

Bob Pellegrino, PhD

Dr. Bob Pellegrino focuses on the study of the psychological effects of physical stimuli, especially in relation to the sense of smell.

Dr. Bob Pellegrino is a postdoctoral fellow at the Monell Chemical Senses Center, where he focuses on the study of the psychological effects of physical stimuli, especially in relation to the sense of smell. Bob has a background in food science and psychophysics, with a keen interest in understanding how individuals with both healthy and compromised olfactory systems respond to odors. In addition, he has a Dr. rer. medic by working closely with patients experiencing olfactory and taste loss, aiming to find practical ways to assist them in improving their relationship with food. Bob is a member of the leadership team for Global Consortium of Chemosensory Research (GCCR) and consults for several smell loss advocacy groups. He helped initiate and develop the Arkansas Food Innovation Center (AFIC), a value-added food incubator, and is driven to apply scientific knowledge to discover ways to experience flavor.
Lab Director; Associate Professor of Psychology at Rutgers

John McGann, PhD

I am interested in how the brain understands sensory stimuli from the world around it, and how it adapts its sensory processing based on prior sensory experience.

I am interested in how the brain understands sensory stimuli from the world around it, and how it adapts its sensory processing based on prior sensory experience. In my lab we work primarily in the rodent olfactory (smell) system, where the neural circuits that process odor stimuli are physically and optically accessible and where breakthroughs in molecular biology permit powerful new experimental techniques.

Olfactory receptor neurons in the nose make physical contact with the molecules composing the odor, and they send this information back to a large structure called the olfactory bulb. We use optical imaging techniques to literally see the unique pattern of neural activity that each odor causes in the olfactory bulb through a surgically-implanted window in the rodent’s skull. By combining this approach with other techniques like behavioral psychophysics (where we watch specially trained rodents’ behavior to infer what an odor smells like to them), immunohistochemistry (where we use antibodies to look at the expression of certain proteins in individual cells), and pharmacology (where we use drugs to change the activity in the circuit), we are able to learn how the brain’s representation and processing of odors relates to the animal’s perception of them.

One ubiquitous feature of mammalian sensory systems is that they constantly adapt to their changing sensory environment. In the olfactory system, circuits in the olfactory bulb constantly change their neurochemistry and neurophysiology in response to the odors encountered. One major direction of our research is to explore the mechanisms of these changes and their utility to the animal.

Our work has been generously supported by grants from the National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), an Institute of the NIH.