Administrator
LEROY Frédéric

LEROY Frédéric graduated as a Bioengineer (Ghent University, 1998) and obtained a PhD in Applied Biological Sciences at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB, 2002), where he now holds a professorship in food science and (bio)technology. His research deals with animal source foods, food processing, fermentation, nutrition, and interdisciplinary 'food studies'. He is a member of academic non-profit societies, i.e., the Belgian Association of Meat Science and Technology (BAMST, president), Belgian Society for Food Microbiology (BSFM, president), and Belgian Nutrition Society (BNS). On a non-remunerated basis, he also serves on the Scientific Board of the World Farmers' Organization (WFO) and FAO/COAG Sub-Committee on Livestock. Leroy is one of the founders of the 2022 Dublin Declaration of the Societal Role of Livestock, and the 2024 Denver Call for Action. He was the recipient of the yearly award of the European Federation of Animal Science (EAAP) in 2022, acknowledging his research activities and international recognition within the animal sciences, and also received the 2025 American Meat Science Association (AMSA) Reciprocal Meat Conference (RMC) International Lectureship Award for his ‘internationally recognized contributions to the field of meat science and technology, and active leadership and promotion of international activities that foster cooperation and open communication, and the dissemination of knowledge for the benefit of society’.
His CoI declaration can be read here.
Biographical details
Academic responsibilities and teaching
Leroy holds a professorship in food science and (bio)technology at the Faculty of Sciences and Bio-engineering Sciences of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel in Belgium. He takes up several academic responsibilities, such as presidency of the Educational Board and the MSc Examination Commission of the Bio-engineering curriculum. Within the same curriculum, he teaches 'Nutrition', ‘Sustainable Agrifood Systems’, Meat and Dairy', ‘Food Chemistry’, and ‘Food Microbiology'.
As a professor, he is also associated on a non-remunerated basis with the PhD course in Animal and Food Science at the University of Padova in Italy.
Publications
Leroy published around 160 articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals, mostly in leading journals of the research field (Q1/Q2), and contributed to around 20 book chapters. This scientific output resulted in 16k+ citations and a h-index of 62 (Google Scholar, as of 14/10/2024), being in the top 0.5% of scholars worldwide (ScholarGPS), as well as a mention in the Stanford University Ranking of most cited scientists.
Conferences, symposia, and other events
Leroy has participated actively as a speaker during many academic conferences as well as industry or policy events, including invited (keynote) lectures, selected scientific presentations, and contributions to round table discussions.
Projects and research funding
Research funding is mostly obtained from university and national research foundations, as well as from the European Commission.