2013 Lifetime Achievement and Young Scientist Excellence Awards

The Lifetime Achievement Award honours Dr. Prakash for his pre-eminence in and contributions to the field of food science and technology over his career. Recipients of this award make significant contributions to scientific knowledge with impact in areas such as food safety; food quality; human nutrition; product, process, and package innovation; food security (availability, accessibility, affordability); consumer acceptability; communication of food science and technology and regulations, or a combination of them.  

Dr. Prakash was nominated by Professor M. S. Swaminathan, recognized as a leader in the Green Revolution and a recipient of the World Food Prize, who observed that Dr. Prakash's "contribution in the field of Food Science and Food Technology is globally recognized by one and all". He has received numerous awards and has over 200 publications and 50 patents under his name. Dr. Prakash developed many processes to produce nutritious food based on locally available raw materials, which were protected by patents to allow small companies access to the process technologies. Also of note is the impact of his activities through the boards of many international food-related organisations on the lives and nutrition of people in areas where healthy food is scarce.  

While the Lifetime Achievement Award acknowledges a body of work that influenced the world of Food Science and Technology over the course of a career, the Young Scientist Award puts the spotlight on the initial phases of a career in Food Science and Technology. It recognizes the recipient's potential to make outstanding scientific contributions to the field of food science and technology and the potential for future scientific leadership.  

2013 Young Scientist award-winner Dr. Gabriel is an educator, researcher and community worker whose extensive work has contributed substantially to the development of food science and technology in the Philippines. His advocacy and leadership in promoting Food Defense and Security, particularly in many underdeveloped communities in the Philippines, exemplifies how Food Science can address many issues, limitations and challenges, especially in developing countries.

Dr. Gabriel has been recognized for his outstanding work on microbial growth and inactivation modeling for food safety and quality. His work on pathogen stress responses, adaptation, and inactivation in understanding microbial behaviors in food and food processing ecologies has had significant impact. He is also noted for his works in Precision Food processing dealing with the determination of alternative and unique process schedules for foods based on intrinsic food properties, extrinsic food process conditions, implicit food-borne microbial characteristics, and their interactions.

IUFoST congratulates both Dr. Prakash and Dr. Gabriel on their outstanding achievements.