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This week, The Hot Slice Podcast continues its Special Pizza Expo Series exploring how pizza stretches beyond the pizzeria.  

First up, we chat with Chef Dr. Junnie Lai, MBA, PhD (Natural Medicine), founder of Global Cuisine Consulting. Chef Junnie Lai is an internationally recognized Research & Development Chef and product innovation consultant. With more than two decades of experience leading culinary innovation for global brands and emerging startups, she is celebrated for her ability to bridge authentic international flavors with modern pizza and pasta applications. Chef Lai develops menus with marketing strategy and costing in mind—creating concepts that are not only delicious and trend-forward, but also operationally practical and commercially successful. 

At Pizza Expo, Chef Lai shared insights on emerging global flavor trends and demonstrate how regional cuisines can inspire the next generation of pizza innovation. 

Next, we spoke with Dawn Zachman with the National Pediatric Cancer Foundation (NPCF), who attended her first Pizza Expo. She explored how the philanthropic pizza community could join forces with the NPCF to raise awareness and funding campaigns for pediatric cancer research.  

This is the last episode in our Special Pizza Expo Series. Look for more live interviews in October from Pizza Expo Columbus.