Dr. Nihan Marun, DVM, PhD Microbiology
Expert Scientific Services
Scientific Expert Support for Pet Food, Feed, Contamination, Biotics and Regulatory Disputes
Independent science for animal-health product disputes. Available to attorneys, insurers, and companies, plaintiff or defense.
DVM + PhD in Microbiology | Biotechnology & Animal Health Scientist | Peer Reviewer Published Author | Microbiome & Probiotics Expert
Who I Work With
For attorneys, insurers, manufacturers, and animal-health companies that need independent scientific interpretation of complex product, microbiology, labeling, contamination, probiotic, microbiome, safety, or regulatory-context issues.
 Legal TeamsScientific and regulatory-context support for disputes involving pet food, feed, supplements, probiotics, microbiome products, ingredients, claims, QA/QC, and safety. |  Insurers ClaimsIndependent scientific review of contamination, product liability, adverse event, recall, probiotics cfu, manufacturing, labeling, or formulation-related claims. |  Animal CompaniesScientific and regulatory-context support for disputes involving pet food, feed, supplements, probiotics, microbiome products, ingredients, claims, QA/QC, and safety. |
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 Scientific Due DiligenceScientific due diligence, product evidence review, claims substantiation, formulation-risk assessment, and microbiome, probiotic and postbiotic feasibility analysis. |
Scientific Areas & Dispute
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Pet Food, Feed
and Product Contamination
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Salmonella, Listeria, E. coli, mycotoxins, aflatoxin, heavy metals, vitamin/mineral toxicity
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Contamination pathways, adulteration, traceability, and recall-related questions
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Microbiological and toxicological analysis of product-related animal illness or death
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Review of testing records, ingredient sources, QA/QC data, and manufacturing controls
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Animal Health Product Liability
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Pet food, animal health, feed, supplement, probiotics and microbiome products
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Product defect, failure-to-warn, mislabeling, contamination, adverse event, safety disputes
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Scientific review of product performance, ingredient function, safety evidence, and claim support
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Plaintiff, defense, insurer, or company-side scientific analysis
3
Manufacturing, Formulation and Quality Failures
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Formulation errors, ingredient incompatibility, mixing - dosing failures, stability problems
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GMP/CGMP, HACCP, FSMA, preventive controls, QA/QC, and batch record review
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Shelf-life, packaging, bottling, storage, transport, and live-culture viability failures
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Supplier qualification, ingredient traceability, and product consistency issues
Labeling, Claims and Regulatory Context Review
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FDA-CVM, AAFCO, USDA, FTC, regulatory context for animal health products
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Labeling, marketing and efficacy claims of animal products
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Claims substantiation and scientific support for pet food, feed, and supplements
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Scientific review of warning letters, enforcement context, import/export disputes, and product classification questions
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Veterinary Nutrition Ingredients and Formulation Science
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Ingredient function, nutritional adequacy, formulation logic
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Animal food and feed additive product evaluation
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Nutrient imbalance, vitamin/mineral excess or deficiency, palatability, digestibility, and adverse response questions
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Review of formulation rationale, ingredient claims, feeding directions, and product evidence
Probiotics, Biotics, Microbiome Product Science
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Probiotic, prebiotic, postbiotic, synbiotic, and microbiome-related product claims
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CFU counts, strain identity, stability, viability, shelf-life, and label representation
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Gut health, dysbiosis, immune, digestive, skin, oral, and performance-related claims
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Antimicrobial resistance, antibiogram interpretation, and microbial safety questions
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Why This Expertise Is Different
Most veterinary experts come from clinical practice.
Most regulatory consultants come from compliance.
And most microbiologists stay in the lab.
My work sits where those worlds collide: animal health products, microbiology, formulation, labeling claims, manufacturing evidence, probiotic science, and regulatory context.
That intersection matters when a dispute is not only about what happened to an animal, but also about what a product claimed, how it was made, how it was tested, and whether the science supports the story being told.
How Engagements Are Structured
Every matter begins with a conflict check and scope review. From there, the engagement may be structured as an independent assessment, scientific litigation consulting, or expert witness support depending on the matter, timeline, and needs of counsel or the company*
1
Initial Case Review
You share a brief case summary, product background, key scientific questions, and available document types. I determine whether the matter falls within my expertise and whether I can provide an objective, well-supported scientific opinion with an initial suitability and conflict review
2
Scope Selection
The engagement is defined before document review begins. Common structures include:
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independent scientific and regulatory-context assessment
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non-testifying scientific litigation consulting
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expert witness report, rebuttal, deposition, or trial testimony
3
Scientific Analysis
I review relevant materials such as product labels, claims, test results, batch records, QA/QC documents, regulatory correspondence, scientific literature, adverse event information, formulation records, and microbiological or toxicological data
4
Expert Support
Depending on the scope, the work may result in an assessment memo, evidence map, literature review, scientific opinion letter, expert report, rebuttal analysis, consulting support for counsel, deposition testimony, or trial testimony
*Legal strategy, procedural decisions, pleadings, deadlines, liability opinions, and legal advice remain with licensed counsel.
Scientific Questions I Help Evaluate
I support matters that require scientirfic, microbiological, product-development or regulatory-context interpretation
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Was the contamination pathway scientifically plausible?
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Did the product label, marketing claim, or microbiome claim have adequate scientific support?
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Were CFU counts, strain identity, viability, or stability data consistent with the product representation?
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Did manufacturing, formulation, storage, supplier quality, or QA/QC failures contribute to the alleged problem?
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Was the adverse event biologically plausible based on the product, species, dose, timing, and available evidence?
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Were product claims, testing records, or regulatory-context documents scientifically consistent?
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What evidence supports or weakens the causal theory?
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What scientific information is missing, overstated, misinterpreted, or unreliable?
What You Receive
Depending on the scope of engagement, deliverables include*:
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Independent scientific and regulatory-context assessment memo
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Product, label, claim, or formulation review
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Literature review and evidence table
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Microbiology, probiotic, microbiome, CFU, strain, stability, or safety analysis
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Review of testing records, batch records, QA/QC documentation, or supplier records
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Scientific issue map for counsel
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Consulting support for deposition preparation or opposing expert review
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Expert report or rebuttal report
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Declaration or affidavit when appropriate deposition, arbitration, or trial testimony
*Limited-scope preliminary screening may be available for small document sets after conflict check and suitability review.
Selected Qualifications
Dr. Nihan Marun brings a rare combination of veterinary medical training, doctoral-level microbiology expertise, animal health product-development experience, and regulatory-context knowledge.
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Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, DVM
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PhD in Microbiology
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20+ years in veterinary microbiology, probiotics, microbiome science, animal health, and product development
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20+ animal health, feed, food, beverage, and microbial products commercialized globally
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150+ scientific consulting projects completed
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1000+ scientific, regulatory, technical, and product documents authored or reviewed
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Experience with FDA-CVM, USDA, AAFCO, EU, and APAC product documentation and regulatory context
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Peer reviewer for scientific journals, including Frontiers in Microbiology
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Published author, scientific writer, lecturer, and industry consultant
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is the difference between independent assessment, litigation consulting, and expert witness services? A: Independent assessments are used to evaluate scientific, microbiological, product, labeling, claim, or regulatory-context questions before or outside formal testimony. Scientific litigation consulting supports attorneys behind the scenes with scientific issue mapping, evidence review, literature analysis, technical questions, and review of opposing opinions. Expert witness services involve formal disclosed opinions, expert reports, rebuttals, deposition, arbitration, or trial testimony.
Q: Do you provide legal advice during your services? A: No. I provide scientific and regulatory-context analysis only. Legal advice, litigation strategy, procedural decisions, claim evaluation, deadlines, pleadings, and liability opinions must be handled by licensed counsel.
Q: What are your fees? Do you have a standard fee structure? A: Fees depend on scope, timeline, volume of materials, and whether the work is consulting-only or testifying expert work. A written fee structure is provided after conflict check and scope review.
Q: Do you work remotely or nationally? Do you have a limitation for any country? A: Yes. Most assessment and consulting work can be handled remotely. Deposition, arbitration, trial, or in-person work can be discussed based on location, timing, and case needs.
Q: What types of matters are the strongest fit? A: The strongest fit includes animal health product disputes involving pet food, animal feed, probiotics, microbiome products, microbial contamination, labeling and claims, CFU/stability disputes, manufacturing or formulation failures, product safety, adverse events, recall-related questions, and regulatory-context interpretation.
Q: Can you review a matter before we decide whether a full expert engagement is needed? A: Yes. After conflict check and suitability review, limited-scope preliminary scientific screening may be available for small document sets.
Q: What materials are helpful for initial review? B: A short case summary, product name/category, jurisdiction if relevant, key allegations or questions, labels/marketing materials, test results, adverse event records, batch or QA/QC records, regulatory correspondence, expert reports, and any important deadlines.
Q: Are you available for deposition and/or trial testimony? A: Yes, when retained as a testifying expert and when the opinions fall within my expertise. I am available for reports, rebuttal analysis, deposition, arbitration, and trial testimony.
Retain an Expert Who Knows the Science Inside Out
If your case involves animal health & diseases, probiotics, microbiome, veterinary microbiology, or regulatory compliance, I’d welcome a conversation about
how I can help.
BOUNDARIES / NOT LEGAL ADVICE My role is limited to independent scientific, microbiological, product-development, and regulatory-context analysis within my area of expertise. I do not provide legal advice, legal strategy, legal representation, legal claim evaluation, pleading preparation, deadline interpretation, damages calculations, or opinions on legal liability. Those matters must be handled by licensed counsel. All work requires conflict check, scope review, and written engagement before document review or opinion work begins.