A full day free e-summit to look to the future of beauty. This event happened on December 1st from 8am-4pm ET. Catch the replay here!

While this event is free of charge, our attempt is to make all of our summits top tier, competing with the highest quality conferences. From our experience, these conferences are generally very expensive and inaccessible to many independent professionals. Our free e-conference initiative is our attempt to democratize accurate information in cosmetics to anyone who wants it. Interested in supporting what we’re doing? Please share!

Agenda Topics

The Future of Skincare, Presented by Paul Lawrence PhD

The Future of Haircare, Presented by Crystal Porter PhD

The Future of Beauty Advertising, Presented by Avril Love

The Future of Sunscreen, Presented by Alexandra Kowcz from PCPC

The Future of Ingredients, Presented by Nick Ouzounov PhD, Sabrina Behnke PhD and Neil Burns

The Future of Animal Testing, Presented by Robert Landsiedel PhD from BASF and Erin Hill from ICCS (International Collaboration on Cosmetics Safety)

The Future of AI in Beauty, Presented by Hejab Malik

The Future of Product Stewardship, Presented by Scott Belanger PhD

The Future of Beauty Packaging, Presented by Akemi Ooka PhD, Tim Bohlke and Allison Kent-Gunn.

Speaker Bios

Dr. Akemi Ooka, Ph.D is the Head of Supply Chain and Sustainability Resources at the Independent Beauty Association. With over 20 years of CPG experience, from Fortune 500 companies to small startups, Akemi’s experience ranges from product development to sourcing and supply chain transformation.  Akemi has worked at The Clorox Company, method, and was most recently VP of Product at J.R. Watkins, overseeing development, quality, regulatory compliance, claim support, and third-party manufacturing oversight for hand care, personal care, home care, and OTC remedies. She now heads up the Independent Beauty Association’s (IBA) global supply chain and sustainability programming, supporting small to medium-sized businesses in the beauty and personal care sector. Akemi holds a B.A. in Chemistry from Rutgers University and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of California at Los Angeles.

Dr. Scott Belanger PhD is a retired Research Fellow from Procter & Gamble where he was the senior environmental scientist in the Global Product Stewardship Capability Organization. He was in charge of P&G’s overall environmental toxicology function on the Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability Department and co-led P&G’s Corporate Safety Innovation Research Programs for both human and environmental safety.  His own research focused on responses of aquatic life to single chemicals to  complex mixtures including classical ecotoxicological endpoints and bioaccumulation. Dr. Belanger remains deeply involved in strategy and method development in 3R’s implementation for fish alternatives at the international level.  He is the founder and first Chair of the HESI (Health and Environmental Sciences Institute) Project Committee on Animal Alternative Needs in Environmental Risk Assessment and SETAC’s animal alternatives interest groups, a consortium of over 100 academic, industry, regulatory, and NGO scientists.  Dr. Belanger has been a member of several past and on-going OECD working groups involving environmental endpoints and represented US industry on international panels for new test guideline and methods development particularly with regards to non-animal test methods including successful adoption of embryo and fish gill cytotoxicity test models at the international level.  Belanger recently served as an expert on the National Academies of Science panel on UV filters in the environment which recommended further action by US EPA.  He is presently a member of ISSC’s Science Advisory Panel and a Dow Chemical’s Sustainability Expert Advisory Committee.  Scott was named a Fellow of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry in 2017 and has authored nearly 200 technical articles and 4 books in the peer reviewed literature with nearly 10,000 citations in others’ works.

Dr. Crystal E. Porter PhD is a hair scientist and owner of Mane Insights, Inc., where she conducts research studying the hair and scalp of people of African descent. Dr. Porter is passionate about debunking myths and empowering others to properly care for their hair. As a former cosmetic scientist with Unilever and L’Oréal, USA, Dr. Porter was able to conduct research and study the biophysical characteristics of hair in pigmented populations. Not only has she studied, but also contributed to the scientific community by authoring scientific papers, book chapters and delivering presentations regarding ethnic hair. Dr. Porter earned a bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry from Chicago State University and her Doctorate degree from Missouri University of Science and Technology in Physical Polymer Chemistry. Armed with extensive knowledge and experience, she has created a patented process that helps professionals understand their client’s hair so that they can provide customized hair care solutions. In addition to her professional work, Dr. Porter’s personal passion is educating and mentoring underrepresented youth about STEM opportunities. Part of her work with the Chicago State University Center for STEM Education and Research allows her to use her talents and training to expose students to culturally relevant research; helping them understand how STEM impacts their everyday lives.

Dr. Paul Lawrence is the Executive Director of Research and Discovery at Biocogent, LLC. Dr. Lawrence received his doctorate in molecular microbiology from Stony Brook University and before that obtained his Bachelor of Science degree in molecular biology from the University of New Mexico. During his career, he has conducted biological research in academia, industry, and for the United States government. He has executed anti-viral therapeutic and vaccine research at Brookhaven National Laboratory and the Plum Island Animal  Disease Center. In industry, he has participated in contract biopharmaceutical projects for the former Collaborative Bioalliance and Dow Chemical. Dr. Lawrence was also the Director of DNA Production for the anti-counterfeiting biotechnology company, Applied DNA Sciences. Currently, he is the Executive Director of Research and Discovery for Biocogent. In his scarce spare time, he is also an adjunct professor teaching microbiology to future nurses and doctors. Over the course of his career, Dr. Lawrence has published more than 30 research manuscripts and review articles, more than 25 online science digests, and has authored a textbook chapter on the molecular pathogenesis of one of the world’s most infectious viruses.

Avril Love is counsel at K&L Gates’ Los Angeles office, where she is a member of the Commercial Disputes practice group.After spending years defending medical device and pharmaceutical manufacturers, particularly in the context of recalls, Avril has considerable knowledge of FDA’s regulatory regime and enforcement activities. She has defended companies in numerous industries facing consumer and e-commerce claims based on products liability, advertising, marketing practices, website accessibility, consumer contracts, data security, and privacy issues. She also has defended clients facing regulatory enforcement over quality and import/export issues, as well as business-to-business disputes involving antitrust, fraud, trade secrets, and other torts. Avril has developed significant expertise serving personal care and consumer product companies facing these very issues. She acts as both a coach and a line of defense, observing clients’ field position to anticipate and identify risks, training internal teams to independently navigate legal and reputational risks in their daily decision-making, and proactively developing regulatory compliance and risk mitigation strategies that position clients to defend lawsuits long before they reach the courtroom.

Dr. Robert Landsiedel PhD is Vice President of special toxicology at BASF SE in Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Germany. He previously worked for BASF in development, regulatory and management roles in the USA and in Japan. He is an associate professor (Privatdozent) at the Free University of Berlin and the current president of the German Society of experimental and clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology (DGPT). His team at BASF is performing more than 500 regulatory toxicological studies per year under GLP, GIVIMP and ISO17020 as well as screenings for product development. In addition, they are developing and validating new toxicological methods and testing strategies.

Erin Hill has been a leader in animal-free safety assessment for over 30 years. She was a co-founder of the Institute for In Vitro Sciences (IIVS) where she collaborated with industry, animal protection organizations, and regulatory agencies to advance the use of animal- free approaches for multiple industries. In 2023, Erin became the inaugural CEO of the International Collaboration for Cosmetics Safety (ICCS) — a global organization which unites top cosmetic companies, ingredient suppliers, research and trade associations, and animal protection groups. With a mission to advance the global acceptance of animal-free safety testing for cosmetics and their ingredients, ICCS prioritizes both human and environmental health. Erin serves on numerous boards and committees and is a co-founder of the American Society for Cellular and Computation Toxicology (ASCCT).

Allison Kent-Gun has over 7 years of behind the scenes experience, where she  has collaborated with beauty brands from ranging from indie to international, taking their product packaging from ideation to successful mass production. Allison works as a Sales Director at Berlin|Jansy, specializing in beauty packaging, however her passion extends beyond her 9 to 5. She offers independent consulting to emerging brands and leverages her social media presence to educate beauty consumers as well as industry professionals on the nuances of sustainable packaging

Dr. Nick Ouzounov PhD is the Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer at Geltor, a pioneering biodesign company leading the development and manufacturing of animal-free, sustainable, and bioactive protein ingredients. Holding a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from Princeton University, he possesses deep expertise in protein design, molecular biology, and biophysics. At Geltor, he has spearheaded the advancement of proprietary AI-driven protein design and fermentation-based technology platforms, enabling the creation of high-performance, ethically sourced proteins for use in cosmetics, nutraceuticals, and other consumer industries. Under his technical leadership, Geltor has achieved major commercial milestones, driving its mission to revolutionize the global protein supply chain through sustainable innovation.

Hejab Malik, is the co-founder at Potion AI, a San Francisco-based technology start-up streamlining beauty product development. Potion's team initially set out to create a sustainable skincare brand. However, when they began working with a chemist to actually make their formulas in a lab, they discovered that R&D in cosmetics was riddled with inefficiencies - from scattered ingredient documentation and complex regulations to numerous formula iterations and stability challenges. After struggling for over a year to finish the development of their brand's first product, they realized that the entire process could have been greatly streamlined had there been modern software tools available to help.
Now, Hejab and the team at Potion have been working in the beauty industry for over 6 years and have recently launched a free platform which democratizes access to cutting-edge AI tools and is used by thousands of beauty R&D professionals worldwide. 

Alexandra Kowcz is chief scientist for PCPC. She previously served as vice president of U.S. Research & Development at Beiersdorf, Inc., managing U.S. product development, medical and scientific affairs, clinical testing, product safety testing, analytical testing, microbiology, regulatory, claims substantiation, chemical processing and new technology research. She has held a number of R&D positions at Procter & Gamble, Bristol Myers International, Richardson-Vicks, Clairol, Inc., Centerchem, Rhone-Poulenc Rorer and Bristol-Myers Squibb. Kowcz is the author and co-author of numerous patents, publications, chapters and scientific poster presentations. She holds degrees in biology and chemistry from Fairfield University, completed graduate projects at Boston College and received her M.B.A. from the University of Connecticut. She is an active member of the Society of Cosmetic Chemists and the American Academy of Dermatology.

Tim Bohlke serves as the Director of Sustainability at Resource Label Group. Based out of Franklin, TN, they are a full-service label company providing custom label and flexible packaging design, printing, and RFID solutions for a wide range of industries, including beauty. He leads a sustainability champions team at over 30 locations in North America where he is responsible for all sustainability programs. Prior to Resource Label Group he worked for the Avery Dennison corporation as the Head of Brand Owner education and value chain relationships. He has worked for various CPG companies over his tenure to include companies such as The Dial Corporation and P&G. Tim also sits on the Association of Plastic recyclers committee for the Communications and Public Affairs committee and is the Co-chair for Sustainability at the label manufacturers institute (TLMI). He holds a BA in Business Administration and Marketing Communications from the University of Akron.

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