Nutritional Outlook hosted a roundtable discussion asking experts from analytical labs, “Is there enough female representation in analytical testing for nutraceuticals?”
We are presenting this roundtable in association with Women In Nutraceuticals. Women In Nutraceuticals is a nonprofit group spearheaded by global nutraceutical leaders whose mission is to build support for women in the nutraceuticals industry, including 1) helping to increase the percentage of women holding leadership roles in the C-suite and across the dietary supplement industry, 2) increasing funding for female-led businesses, and 3) increasing women’s participation in nutraceuticals research.
For more information about Women In Nutraceuticals, visit https://womeninnutraceuticals.org. We urge everyone to get involved with WIN’s important work.
View the following video excerpts from this roundtable:
Women in Analytical Testing (Part 1): Describe your company and what types of testing it offers.
Women in Analytical Testing (Part 2): How does female and male representation compare in the analytical testing space?
Women in Analytical Testing (Part 3): Are more analytical labs led by males or by females?
Women in Analytical Testing (Part 4): How does female representation compare between in-house and third-party labs?
Women in Analytical Testing (Part 5): What are the biggest obstacles to getting more females to participate in the analytical laboratory industry?
Women in Analytical Testing (Part 6): What can we do to increase the representation of women leaders in the analytical laboratory space?
Meet the Panelists
Katarzyna “Katie” Banaszewski, Senior Director of Quality, NOW Foods
Katie Banaszewski, senior director of quality at NOW Foods, strongly believes great things are never done by one person, but by a team of people. Driven by curiosity and her passion for science, she joined NOW in 2013 with a plan to transform the analytical capabilities of their labs from just being one of the industry’s best to being the most capable in-house testing lab by far. During her tenure at NOW, she has led the development and implementation of a routine pesticide residue–monitoring program, among other achievements. She plays an integral role in continually expanding the company’s analytical capabilities. Katie focuses on recent issues within the dietary supplement industry and ensures NOW remains the industry leader in holding high quality standards. Prior to joining NOW, Katie spent five years at the Institute for Food Safety and Health, working in collaboration with the academia, industry, and the FDA. Katie has authored and co-authored multiple journal articles and is actively involved with the scientific community, learning and sharing her knowledge with others. Katie holds degrees in biotechnology and chemistry from William Paterson University of New Jersey. Katie’s areas of testing expertise are mass spectrometry and elemental analysis.
Sandra Lee is CEO of NJ Labs, a nationally recognized provider and advocate for quality in chemistry and microbiology testing that serves the pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, dietary supplement, cosmetic, and cannabis/CBD industries. As a scientist and one of the few female CEOs in the analytical testing industry, she has a passion for chemistry and microbiology and how it influences multiple aspects of our daily lives. Prior to leading NJ Labs, she held many scientific roles at both Cardinal Health and Pfizer where she recognized the importance of uncompromising quality through chemistry, not only from the company’s perspective but also from the consumer’s perspective of product safety and public health needs, which is a central theme for her “Going Beyond Testing” podcast series.Sandra currently leads NJ Labs, a privately owned, FDA/DEA-registered and -inspected, cGMP-certified, and ISO/IEC 17025:2017-accredited laboratory that has been a mainstay in the testing industry for over 85 years. Sandra continues to expand the expertise of NJ Labs by prioritizing precision and efficiency across a wide range of comprehensive analysis to deliver accurate and reliable results meeting the highest standards of quality with transparency and integrity. She also serves on the board of directors of two organizations: Organic and Natural Health Association and Naturally New York. Sandra is a graduate of the University of Michigan where she holds a bachelor’s of science degree in chemistry.
Élan Sudberg, CEO, Alkemist Labs
Élan M. Sudberg is CEO of Alkemist Labs, a passionately committed contract testing laboratory specializing in plant authentication, botanical ingredient identification, and quantitative analytical services to the food and beverage, nutraceutical, and cosmeceutical industries. He holds a degree in chemistry from California State University Long Beach and has authored numerous articles on phytochemistry and analytical techniques for the natural products and nutraceutical industry. Élan is on the executive committee of the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) board, on the AHPA Education and Research on Botanicals Foundation board, was founding chair of the Hemp and Medical Marijuana committee (now the Cannabis Committee), and chairs the recently inaugurated Psychedelic Plants & Fungi Committee. He has served on the National Animal Supplement Council (NASC) board since 2019, and in 2022 joined the board of directors of the Nutrition Industry Association (NIA-West). Élan received the 2019 NutraIngredients-USA NutraChampion award for advocacy of best testing practices, and the award for Efforts on Behalf of Industry from Nutrition Business Journal (NBJ) in 2022.
