Short biography: Phillip Strydom Professor: Department of Animal Sciences, Faculty of Agrisciences, Stellenbosch University Dr. Phillip Strydom is the Professor of Meat Science at Department of Animal Sciences, Stellenbosch University, South Africa. He was formerly the head of the Meat Science Centre at the Animal Production Campus of the Agricultural Research Council at Pretoria, South Africa. Over the past three decades, his research focused on innovative strategies in management and optimization of yield and quality of red meat (beef, pork, and sheep) along the value chain, with particular emphasis on the harvest processes. Dr. Strydom has supervised 43 graduate students and have published 65 peer-reviewed journal articles. His research outputs were critical to the classification and grading systems of pork, sheep, and beef in South Africa and aim to improve the current systems or adopt new systems suitable for the South African Red Meat Industry. Dr. Strydom served as a co-editor of South African Journal of Animal Science and serves on the editorial board of Meat Science.