Philip Junior Yeboah is a Ph.D. student in Food Science at the University of Florida, where he conducts research under the mentorship of Dr. Katherine Witrick and Dr. Boce Zhang. His research focuses on microbial food safety and fermentation, with particular emphasis on microbial interactions and pathogen survival during fermentation. Philip holds an M.S. in Food and Nutritional Sciences from North Carolina A&T State University and a B.S. in Food Science and Technology from KNUST, Ghana. He has authored and co-authored peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and conference abstracts addressing lactic acid bacteria, fermentation systems, and microbial food safety. Over the past years, Philip has attended and presented at several conferences, including IFT, ASM, and ASB, and plans to present at this year's IAFP. Philip has received several awards recognizing his academic and research excellence, including the Ron Schmidt Award from the Florida Association of Food Protection and the Florida IFT Future Star Award. He recently worked as an R&D Scientist at the Coca-Cola Company during his summer 2025 internship in Atlanta. His career goal is to become a research scientist in food microbiology and safety, advancing microbial food safety and fermentation science while translating research into practical, industry-relevant solutions.