Dr. Lucia Vannini is an assistant professor in Food Microbiology at the Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Food Science, Bologna University. She completed her PhD studies in Food Biotechnology at the University of Bologna and has been awarded a research scholarship at the University of Bologna to develop research within the EC-funded project FAIR CT98-4083 "Development, verification and validation of predictive models for food spoilage". She has been involved in the project financed by the EU, coordinated by M. E. Guerzoni, on "HighQ RTE - Innovative non-thermal processing technologies to improve the quality and safety of ready-to-eat (RTE) meals” (FOOD-CT-2006-023140). Moreover, she took part into the EU projects “RESCAPE - Reducing egg susceptibility to contaminants in avian production in Europe” (FOOD-CT-2006-036018) and “AgriFoodResults - European initiative for a better use of the results of agri-food research" (GA 226927). Currently, she is a member of the Academic Board of the PhD Programme "Agricultural, Environmental and Food Science and Technology". She is also actively involved in the research activities of the Inter-Departmental Centre for Industrial Agri-Food Research, specifically devoted to the technology transfer to food industries and partially financed by the EU (POR-FESR).