Frank Devlieghere is a leading scientist in the field of food preservation with high experience in the microbial aspects of food packaging and packaging atmospheres, mild inactivation treatments, chemical preservation, food spoilage mechanisms and translating this in an quantitative approach through among others predictive models.
He received a MSc degree in Bioscience Engineering in 1991 from Ghent University in Belgium and obtained his PhD, entitled 'Predictive Modelling of the spoilage and the microbial food safety of modified atmosphere packaged cooked meat products' in 2000.
In 2003 he became Professor in the field of Food Microbiology and Preservation. Since 2008 he is leading the Laboratory of Food Microbiology and Food Preservation together with Prof. Mieke Uyttendaele as a tandem where he is responsible for the research in food preservation, predictive microbiology and food spoilage.
Frank Devlieghere always made large efforts to translate the scientific research to practical application of this knowledge. He is realizing this through different systems:
He runs a service laboratory at Ghent University where bilateral experiments are performed for the food industry and its suppliers aiding them to develop new products and processes and to establish microbiological safe food products with a required shelf life.
He is co-founder of Pack4Food vzw, a spin-off organization that was founded in 2006 guiding the food, packaging and machine industry in innovation through food packaging.
He is co-founder of CPFM² (Flemish Cluster of Predictive Microbiology of Foods), an organization that provides services for the food industry and its suppliers in the field of predictive microbiology of foods.
He has been initiating many cooperative projects where a group of companies are brought together and establish together with Ghent University and often some other knowledge centers a cooperation to find solutions for problems that are common for the participating companies.
Moreover, he was strongly involved in the foundation of Food2Know in 2006. Food2Know groups all laboratories of Ghent University, Free University of Brussels, the University of Antwerp and ILVO active in the field of food, feed and health. In 2008, he became the chairman of this organization for a period of 8 years.
