Bioactive materials of varying morphologies and compositions present opportunities in medicine, diagnostics, bioprocessing, and food & agriculture.  Effective design of new bioactive materials demands bridging innovation and pragmatism to enable synthesis of new material chemistries and bioactivities while addressing complexities of end-use applications (e.g. pH extremes, regulatory requirements, durability).  The Goddard lab has developed antimicrobial, antioxidant, and biocatalytic materials with demonstrated application in inactivating pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms, preventing transition metal and free radical mediated oxidative degradation, and waste stream reutilization.  In this seminar, examples of synthesis and application of bioactive materials in food systems will be presented.  Discussion will be presented on how proof-of-principle demonstration of activity by materials prepared by multi-step processes (e.g. ozone mediated graft polymerization with subsequent bioconjugation chemistry) led to development of more translatable synthetic routes (e.g. emulsion polymerization, reactive extrusion).  Finally, case studies of how characterization of interfacial properties can enable targeting end use applications will be described.