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The Board of Directors of the Research Institute for Fragrance Materials (RIFM) honored Peter Cadby, PhD, now retired but previously Vice President of Corporate Product Safety and Regulatory Affairs at Firmenich, SA, with its 2020 Excellence in Science Award.

The Excellence in Science Award honors those whose contributions meet the highest standards in the industry for excellence and distinction. Award-winners must have conducted original research and published their work in well-regarded, peer-reviewed journals.

Dr. Cadby received the award virtually last month during RIFM’s 54^th Annual Meeting | 2020 FORESIGHT. RIFM’s Vice President, Dr. Anne Marie Api, talked with Dr. Cadby about his lifetime commitment to the safe use of fragranced products in a Q&A session during the event.

Watch a video of Dr. Api’s Q&A with Dr. Cadby

About Dr. Cadby

Dr. Cadby began his career in 1980 when he took on the role of Product Safety Manager at Firmenich, SA.

“I had been at the University of Geneva, just across the river from Firmenich,” Dr. Cadby reminisced, “and I imagined that the job would be a nice, sleepy sinecure.”

But time, he admitted, proved him wrong. Decades later, the Product Safety and Regulatory Affairs group at Firmenich had grown to more than 100 staff members devoted to ensuring that consumers could safely enjoy their favorite fragranced and flavored products.

As a lead safety scientist for the largest privately-owned fragrance and flavor company globally, Dr. Cadby’s contributions to the science supporting fragrance ingredient safety are well-known and highly valued throughout the industry.

Dr. Cadby’s experience and insights have informed several critical peer-reviewed papers. His credits include a 2002 article on estimating consumer exposure and as a co-author of the 2008 QRA paper (and soon to be published 2020 update). These groundbreaking QRA publications outline the quantitative risk assessment of dermal sensitization, or QRA, from which the International Fragrance Association (IFRA) derives its safe use Standards.

When Dr. Api asked Dr. Cadby what he considered his most meaningful contribution to fragrance safety, he pointed to his first draft of what later became the 2015 Criteria Document, which provides RIFM scientists with a detailed roadmap for assessing the safety of fragrance ingredients.

About the RIFM Board of Directors Excellence in Science Award

The RIFM Board of Directors, acknowledging the importance of excellence in science to the fragrance industry’s ongoing commitment to human health and the environment, has established an annual award to recognize individuals worldwide who have shown outstanding dedication to the advancement of fragrance science.

The RIFM Excellence in Fragrance Science Award is intended to provide timely recognition of original and significant contributions to fragrance science and may not be presented every year. A selection subcommittee appointed by the Board of Directors reviews all nominated candidates and recommends a finalist to the full Board of Directors for approval.

Last year, the RIFM Board of Directors presented the first ever Excellence in Science Award to David R. Bickers, MD, Carl Truman Nelson Professor and Chairman, Columbia University Medical Center.