Donald W. Schaffner is Extension Specialist in Food Science and Professor at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.
His research interests include quantitative microbial risk assessment and predictive food microbiology. Dr. Schaffner has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed publications, book chapters and abstracts. He has educated thousands of Food Industry professionals through numerous short courses and workshops in the United States and more than a dozen countries around the world.
Dr. Schaffner was recently a member of a US National Academy of Sciences expert committee reviewing the use of scientific criteria and performance standards for safe food. He chaired two World Health Organization/Food and Agriculture Organization expert workshops on the development of exposure assessment and risk characterization guidelines for microbiological hazards in food in 2001 and 2003. He is currently a member of Institute of Food Technologists Expert Panel developing a quantitative risk ranking framework for the Food and Drug Administration.
He has most recently been appointed as member of a FAO/WHO sponsored consultative process on a “review of the provision of scientific advice to FAO/WHO”, where his specific charge is to draft guidelines on means for accessing best data and ensuring effective data management.
Dr. Schaffner is active in several scientific associations including the International Association for Food Protection, the Institute of Food Technologists, the Society for Risk Analysis, and the American Society for Microbiology. He holds a B.S. in Food Science from Cornell University and a M.S. and Ph.D. in Food Science and Technology from the University of Georgia.