FD&C Track - 2026 Audit Division Conference

By Karina Rodriguez posted 09-04-2026 10:52 PM

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We are excited to bring a whole FD&C Track this year for the ASQ Audit Division Conference. Take a look at all of our wonderful speakers this year:

Loralyn (Lori) Ledenbach is President of Ledenbach Food Safety, LLC, having recently retired as Associate Director for Food Safety at Kraft Heinz North America. During her 43+ years at the company, she has performed multiple supplier audits and provided corporate support during customer and FFSC 22000 audits of Kraft Heinz. She led the Kraft Foods global HACCP team, then Kraft Heinz NA HACCP team. Currently she is a Trainer of Trainers for Preventive Controls for Human Foods in support of the FDA’s Food Safety Modernization Act, and provides training, food safety risk assessment, and HACCP support for companies. She is a Fellow and Honorary Life Member of the International Association for Food Protection.

Jennifer is Regional QAFS Director at F&S Fresh Foods, bringing over 25 years of quality and food safety leadership across diverse sectors. She previously served as Senior Manager, Crisis and Risk Management at RQA, Inc., where the content for this presentation was developed. Her experience includes leadership roles with Diageo, Anthony Marano Company, Glanbia Performance Nutrition and Ingredion. Jennifer holds an MS in Management and Organizational Behavior and a BS in Biology, and maintains multiple advanced industry certifications including CFSQA, PCQI Lead Instructor and FSVP.

Nish Abeysiriwardena, BSEE, MSEE, MBA, PMP, CSSGB, SM IEEE is a MedTech R&D and Quality leader with experience spanning General Electric, Intel, Curtiss-Wright Defence Solutions and GN Group. He has led the development of MedTech, Defencse, Industrial Automation & Embedded computing solutions for 25+ years.

Cathleen Howick has over 30 years of experience in the dietary supplement industry. Her work has included almost all aspects of Quality Control and Quality Assurance, including microbiologist, quality engineer, site compliance lead, and corporate auditor. She has a BS in Biology from Loyola Marymount University and a Master's in Regulatory Science with an emphasis in Food Safety from Arizona State University. Cathleen is a Certified Quality Auditor and Certified HACCP Auditor. She is also an FSPCA lead instructor for Preventive Controls for Human Food, Foreign Supplier Verification Programs, and Intentional Adulteration.

Balazs Bozsik is the Technical Director for the Medical-, Pharma- and Cosmetic audit teams of SGS North America. As mechanical engineer gained industrial experience in manufacturing technology and design engineering in the medical (X-ray diagnostic devices), automotive, and consumer lighting industries. Prior to joining SGS 5 years ago, he worked for another TIC organization for over 14 years, including his roles as global MDSAP Program Manager, certification officer, product specialist focusing on active medical devices and medical software, as well as medical auditor for all major certification schemes

Shelly Blackwell has over 25 years of quality and compliance experience in regulated environments. After starting her career as a Microbiologist, she gained expert knowledge of domestic and international regulations while holding senior leadership positions in the dietary supplement, pharmaceutical, and medical device industries. She has lead FDA and other regulatory inspections throughout her career and is also a lead auditor herself, auditing manufacturers all over the world. Shelly holds certifications from the American Society of Quality and the Institute of Food Technology and has a Biology degree from James Madison University.

Balazs will be presenting twice this year!

Conference registrations are sold out. The FD&C leadership committee is looking forward to seeing everyone who registered. See you there!

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Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Division