Dan C. VODNAR (M), born in 1982, is Professor and Vice-rector for Research at UASVM. His research focuses on fermentations, microencapsulation, and immobilization of microorganisms and bioactive compounds, exposure of food matrices to simulated digestion, determination of bioactivity of natural extracts and chemically synthesized compounds, and development of innovative functional foods. Grants leader: 5 international and 14 national (~5.5 million EUR). Metrics: 194 publications (6 in the top 1% Highly Cited in their domains, H-index 31. The supervision of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows consists of 5 Postdocs; 9 Ph.D.; 22 Master's Students. He is also a Bio-economy Expert for European Commission - Belgium, the Scientific Manager at BIOZOON GMBH, Germany, and moreover the Editor-in-Chief of Bulletins of UASVM, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
At only 39, Dan Cristian Vodnar enjoys a scientific and inventive research activity recognized at the national and international levels. He was included in the top 2% of the world's scientists in the field of Food Science(2020 and 2021). He was awarded a Gold Medal, and a Special Mention for "Probiotic Jelly Composition and Procedure", at the XVIth edition of the International Exhibition of Research, Innovation, and Inventions PRO INVENT, 2018, Cluj Napoca. The year 2018 brought him also the “JCI Ten Outstanding Young Persons” (TOYP) award, in the category: Scientific, and technical. In 2017 he received the Golden Medal at the International Invention Exhibition in Geneva, Switzerland for the invention of "Antimicrobial Biofilm, the process for obtaining and ". Also, during 2016-2017, his results have been sprinkled with countless gold medals and prizes of excellence at the PRO INVENT International Exhibition of Research, Innovation, and Inventions. The international visibility and prestige brought him the Young Scientist Award, Vira International Foundation, India, in 2016. In 2015, he was selected as a semifinalist (along with 29 other semi-finalists) in the European Social Innovation Competition from a total of 1408 applications in Europe. Developed Applied Research has brought the Innovation and Technology Award in the Aspen Leadership Awards in 2015, and the Danubius Young Scientist Award in 2014, Vienna. Also, in 2014, he was nominated for the Top 100 of the "People who move the country in the right direction", conducted by Foreign Policy Romania for research/innovation activities. In total, has over 25 national and international awards, and 5 national patents. He has more than 100 media appearances on television, newspapers, magazines, and radio and as such he has been invited as a speaker at major conferences and events like Forbes Heroes, 27 May 2017; TEDx Cluj-Napoca, 20 Feb 2016;
