**About the Editors**

#### **Arabela Elena Untea**

Arabela Elena Untea (Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry Sciences, University of Bucharest, Romania, 2013) is currently a senior researcher and the head of the Feed and Food Quality Department at the National Research and Development Institute for Animal Nutrition and Biology. Her research activity is mainly focused on feeds and animal-origin food with functional characteristics designed using nutritional approaches; bio-efficiency assessments of feed additives through laboratory experiments; studies addressing reductions in oxidative processes at the animal tissue level through nutrition; and in vitro studies on the bio-accessibility of some nutrients in the gastrointestinal tract of monogastric animals. She is the author and co-author of more than 120 papers published in peer-viewed international journals, two book chapters and two national patents. She has also participated in several EU-funded projects and acted as a scientific coordinator in 5 national projects and as a scientific team member in another 30 projects.

#### **Mihaela Saracila**

Mihaela Saracila is currently working as a postdoctoral researcher at the National Research and Development Institute for Animal Nutrition and Biology, within the Feed and Food Quality Department. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Bucharest focusing on the development of innovative nutritional solutions to ensure the performance and health of the digestive tract of broiler chickens reared under high-heat-stress conditions. In recent years, she has mainly focused on mitigating heat-stress-related oxidative stress in monogastric animals and maintaining their gastrointestinal health; improving the nutritional composition and oxidative stability of animal products using natural dietary sources of antioxidants; the development and/or optimization of analytical methods for the extraction of polyphenols; and the determination of hydrophilic compounds and antioxidant capacity. She is currently the project leader of a national project and has participated in more than 28 scientific projects. She has published a laboratory book dedicated to students (collaborator), a book chapter, one patent, eight national patent applications, and over 60 peer-reviewed scientific papers. In addition, she has won multiple awards at different scientific events.

#### **Petru Alexandru Vlaicu**

Petru Alexandru Vlaicu currently holds the position of postdoctoral researcher at the National Research and Development Institute for Animal Nutrition and Biology, in the Feed and Food Quality Department. He holds a Ph.D. focusing on the attainment of functional foods of animal origin via the use of different dietary feeding ingredients in livestock nutrition, which he obtained at the University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Bucharest. His research interests include, but are not limited to, assessing the nutritional quality of food and developing feeding strategies for monogastric animals, especially poultry. In addition, the recovery of co- and by-products or waste from the agro food sector in order to recover valuable bioactive compounds and nutrients, from the perspective of a sustainable and circular economy, is among his research interests. He has published more than 80 scientific papers in domestic and international peer-reviewed scientific journals. He has also obtained three national patent applications out of the ten deposited. His commitment to advancing knowledge in animal nutrition and food quality has been recognized through multiple awards obtained at different national and international events.
