Advisory Board

Denise McLaverty is the president of the British Society of Perfumers. Her mission is to build on the existing foundations of the Society for the benefit of its members.

After studying for an MSc in Chemical Research at Imperial College, London, her early career started in the fragrance industry as an applications chemist for IFF and subsequently as a consultant at Robertet.

Since then, McLaverty has gained broad experience in business, science education, and membership organizations such as the Society of Cosmetic Scientists and the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts. She is also an independent consultant, working creatively and collaboratively to establish robust and effective partnership relationships.

Andrea Albertino obtained his Ph.D. in Chemistry in 2010 and joined the flavor industry the same year with Kerry Italy (former know as San Giorgio Flavours), working mainly on flavor encapsulation and research projects. He continued his flavorist career with Kerry in Ireland until 2017 when he moved to Esarom-Austria and he became senior flavorist in 2022, developing liquid and powder flavors for the sweet and beverage industries. He started to be involved with British Society of Flavourists (BSF) in 2020 joining the Council and actively organizing online and in-person events, and took the role of Honorary President in 2023 following Trevor Groome.

Mark Knitowski has been quite active already on the P&F+ site giving insight into various segments in the fragrance industry including speaking at the World Perfumery Congress 2022 and 2024, joining the Two Sense Podcast to discuss consumers' perspectives on synthetic ingredients in fragrance, fragrance marketing and understanding consumer perception, perfumers weigh in on their thoughts about the evolution of artificial intelligence and curator’s PoV on fragrance development.

Farah K. Ahmed is the president & CEO of Fragrance Creators Association. Previously, she served as chair, of Strategic Industry Categories, for the Personal Care Products Council, and was appointed convenor of the Cosmetic Marketing Group by the Organization for International Standardization (ISO). She also served as assistant general counsel in the Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Chief Counsel. She earned a law degree from the University of Virginia and a Bachelor’s Degree in biochemistry from Niagara University. @farahkahmed on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

Cyndie Lipka is a principal flavorist at Bell Flavors and Fragrances. She has been in the flavor industry for 28 years. Lipka has been an active industry member beginning with the Chemical Sources Association(CSA). She has held the presidency twice for this organization. She then joined the Society of Flavor Chemists board. Lipka has served on the Women in Flavor and Fragrances Board (WFFC)Chicago Chapter. She finds herself back on the CSA Board currently. Awards include the OF Stambaugh Chemistry Alumni award from Elizabethtown College in 2014 which is a Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2017 she received the WFFC Flavorist of the Year Award.

Scott Chaplin manages SCMC Consulting, which is a privately managed consulting firm that focuses on business support to the flavor, fragrance and AP ingredient industry with emphasis on the F&F and FMCG companies in the food, beverage, confection, dairy, pharma, nutraceutical, cosmetic and biotechnology industries. SCMC specializes in driving revenue, profits, new product introductions, category and distribution expansion, operational efficiencies with defined strategies.

Alison Freedman is a senior flavorist with dsm-firmenich supporting Savory, Sweet and Beverage business units. She currently serves as the Society of Flavor Chemists Media Communications Chairperson. Freedman is passionate about her client-facing experience creating winning tastes, developing innovative products and advancing health-focused impacts for global food and beverage clients. She is committed to combining strategy, innovation, product development and technologies to sustainably benefit the greater good. A piece of her heart will always be in Blacksburg as a Virginia Tech grad and forever Hokie. In her free time she loves to appreciate and study wine; she is also a Level 3 certified sommelier in pursuit of Level 4 certification.  

Darryl was born and raised in New York City and is a professional perfumer working for his family-owned business Delbia Do Fragrances. Delbia Do was established in 1968 as a fragrance and flavor creator located in the Bronx. He specializes in creating fragrances for niche brands and manufactures perfumes for many global brands as well. He speaks globally on cosmetics regulatory and USDA Organic compliance. Darryl has taught martial arts, Kenpo karate in NYC and perfumery at FIT and Kent State. He is a member of the American Society of Perfumers, WFFC, Cosmetic IndustryBuyers & Suppliers, Fashion Group International