Mary Ellen Sanders, Ph.D. Home

An internationally recognized consultant in the area of probiotic microbiology, who for 25 years has helped numerous food and supplement companies develop and communicate about probiotic products
Specializes in technical support for enhancing existing probiotic product lines
Offers perspective on paths to scientific substantiation of probiotic product label claims
Accomplished communicator on probiotics, with numerous written, oral and video pieces
Over 90 peer-reviewed, scientific publications on efficacy substantiation, microbiology and regulatory issues pertaining to probiotics
Over 150 public lectures delivered

Accomplishments
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Member of the American Gastroenterological Association Scientific Advisory Board for the initiative AGA Center for Gut Microbiome Research and Education
Participated in the working group convened by the FAO/WHO, and co-author of Guidelines for the Evaluation of Probiotics in Food.
Guest Editor, ILSI Europe Concise Monograph on prebiotics and probiotics.
Scientific organizing committee for: Probiotics, Prebiotics, and the Host Microbiome:The Science of Translation, sponsored by The New York Academy of Sciences, Sackler Institute of Nutrition Sciences and International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics, New York City, June 12-14, 2013.
Co-authored online continuing education courses:

Probiotics for GI Health in 2012: Issues and Updates (CME-certified, targeted for primary care physicians). Free.

Probiotic Supplementation: What Nurse Practitioners Need to Know to Recommend

Safe and Effective Formulations. (CE-certified, targeted for nurse practioners.) Free.
Scientific organizing committee for: United States Pharmacopeia’s Probiotics Workshop. Objective: to discuss the challenges and opportunities for the development of standards for the quality, identity and authenticity of probiotics.
Served on Scientific Organizing Committee, as Consensus Panel Moderator and as author of resulting paper for “Defining a Healthy Gut Microbiome.” This project was sponsored by the ILSI-North America Committee on Gut Microbes and Health.
Served on GRAS determination panels.
Served on the World Gastroenterology Organisation Guidelines Committee preparing guidelines for the use of probiotics and prebiotics for gastroenterologists. WGO Practice Guideline - Probiotics and Prebiotics
Served on the Product Integrity Working Group of the NIH National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Served as Science Communicator for the Institute for Food Technologists
Participated in an NIH project titled “Federal Regulation of Probiotics: An Analysis of the Existing Regulatory Framework and Recommendations for Alternative Frameworks,” being coordinated at the University of Maryland School of Law
Served on the World Gastroenterology Organisation Guidelines Committee preparing guidelines for the use of probiotics and prebiotics for gastroenterologists
Served on the Product Integrity Working Group of the NIH National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Served as Science Communicator for the Institute for Food Technologists
Participates in an NIH project titled “Federal Regulation of Probiotics: An Analysis of the Existing Regulatory Framework and Recommendations for Alternative Frameworks,” being coordinated at the University of Maryland School of Law
Served on the scientific organizing committees for several conferences exploring different aspects of scientific and regulatory issues for probiotics, including ones organized by New York Academy of Sciences and Federation of Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB)
Participates in committee to develop monograph on “Live Microbial Microbial Food Cultures” for Food Chemical Codex. The monograph is intended to appear in the Food Chemicals Codex (FCC provides a compendium of internationally recognized standards for the purity and identity of food ingredients) to assist industry, academics, and other interested stakeholders.

Dairy & Food Culture Technologies

Consulting in the science of probiotics

Highlighted Activities

Video: "Germs with a Positive Attitude," developed by Council for Agricultural Science and Technology.

Video Documentary: "Microwarriors: The Power of Probiotics"

Podcast: "Science & The City" podcast about probiotics. Free podcast ("More Than a Yogurt Cup") available at New York Academy of Sciences website and on iTunes (search "Science & The City")

Free reprint: “How do we know when something called “probiotic” is really a probiotic? A guideline for consumers and healthcare professionals,” published in Functional Food Rev. Download free.

Free reprint: “Guide to designing, conducting, publishing and communicating results of clinical studies involving probiotic applications in human participants” published in Gut Microbes. Download free.

Free reprint: “Assessment of probiotic safety for human use” published in Gut Microbes. Download free.

Free reprint: “Food formats for effective delivery of probiotics” published in Ann. Rev. Food Sci. Technol. Download free.

Free reprint: "Probiotics: their potential to impact human health". Comprehensive white paper co-authored by Sanders, Gibson, Guarner, Gill. 2007. Download free.

Webcast presentations: