HESI Workshop – Safety assessment of newly expressed proteins in foods: need for evolution?

Speaker Biographies

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  William Chen, PhD

  Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

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  William Chen, PhD, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

  William Chen is the Michael Fam Endowed Professor in Food Science and Technology (FST) at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Director of the University’s FST Programme, and Director of the Singapore Future Ready Food Safety Hub (FRESH). He is also an Advisor to the Singapore Food Agency (SFA), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO), and the World Health Organization (WHO).

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  Maria Lucia Zaidan Dagli, DVM, MSc, PhD

  University of São Paulo

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  Maria Lucia Zaidan Dagli, DVM, MSc, PhD, Full Professor, University of São Paulo, Brazil

  Dr. Maria Lucia Zaidan Dagli is a professor of General and Animal Pathology at the Department of Pathology, School of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science of the University of São Paulo, Brazil. Dr. Dagli received her professional degrees (DVM, Residence in Anatomic Pathology, MSc and PhD) from the University of São Paulo, and did her post-doctorate training at the International Agency for Research on Cancer, IARC, Lyon, France. She has been member (2006- 2012) and vice president (2014- 2020) of the National Technical Committee on Biosafety (CTNBio), of the Ministry of Science and Technology, Brazil. She is currently (since April 2022) the alternate representative of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation of Brazil at the CTNBio. She served as coordinator of the Interunit Graduate Program on Biotechnology of the University of São Paulo from 2012 to 2019. She is also member of the Veterinary and Agronomy Area Coordination at the Sao Paulo Research Foundation, FAPESP. Since 2009, she is a member of the Expert Panel for Fragrance Safety of the Research Institute for Fragrance Materials, RIFM, USA. Member of the “International Ad-hoc Expert Group at the Health and Environmental Sciences Institute – HESI”. Member of the Executive Board of the International Union of Toxicology, IUTox, since September 2022. Dr. Dagli has supervised 24 MSc dissertations, 20 PhD thesis and 10 post docs. She has authored or co-authored more than 1000 publications, and delivered over 300 oral and poster presentations and lectures.

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  Jason Dietz

  U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

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  Jason Dietz, Biotechnology Coordinator, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

  Mr. Jason Dietz is the lead for cross-cutting biotechnology-related activities in FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN). In this role, he regularly provides technical and policy input to CFSAN and its interagency partners on food biotechnology issues related to food safety and regulation, food labeling, genome editing, international trade, and media and scientific communication. Currently, he is leading FDA’s efforts related to food safety issues associated with molecular farming. Mr. Dietz has more than 20 years of experience with the regulation of food ingredients, innovative foods, and food biotechnology products.

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  Pascale Delzenne

  Bayer CropScience

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  Pascale Delzenne, Ir., Bayer CropScience

  Ir. Pascale Delzenne is the Regulatory Affairs Manager, Traits, for the Europe, Middle East, and Africa region at Bayer CropScience. She has been working in the risk assessment of genetically modified crops for more than 20 years. Pascale graduated in agricultural engineering from the Catholic University of Louvain-La-Neuve (Belgium), with a specialty in tropical and subtropical areas. Prior to Bayer, Pascale worked in fungicides research at Monsanto, taught in high schools, and worked in the development of horticultural production for the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Gabon and Senegal. She now ensures regulatory approvals for Bayer CropScience’s traits products in accordance with the respective EMEA legislations while maintaining approvals for existing ones. Pascale also represents Bayer in CropLife Europe (CLE) and is the chair of the CLE EU Biotech Applications Expert Group.

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  Antonio Fernandez Dumont, PhD

  European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)

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  Antonio Fernandez Dumont, PhD, European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)

  Dr. Antonio Fernandez Dumont is working at the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). He joined EFSA long ago and is currently working as a scientific officer in the NIF Unit, dealing with the safety assessment of innovative products. He is a member of the Food and Feed Risk Assessment Team and specializes in protein safety assessment, in particular allergenicity assessment and other adverse immune reactions. He achieved a BSc in Veterinary Science at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain. During his PhD and subsequent post-docs, he worked at the Institute of Food Research, Norwich, UK. His initial research aimed at investigating different approaches to address gastrointestinal tract diseases, allergic and intolerance reactions using natural microorganisms. Subsequently, he was mainly interested in applying recombinant bacteria secreting cytokines for the treatment of food allergy disease, covering two key areas: molecular biology and food allergy.

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  Gabriele Gadermaier, PhD

  Paris Lodron University Salzburg, Austria

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  Gabriele Gadermaier, PhD, Paris Lodron University Salzburg, Austria

  Gabriele Gadermaier is a molecular biologist and immunologist with a focus on molecular allergology at the Paris Lodron University Salzburg, Austria. She has identified and produced several novel molecules and derivatives for allergy diagnosis and therapy. She is also a member of the Food Enzyme Panel at EFSA.

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  Kazunari Kondo

  National Institute of Health Sciences, Ministry of Health (Japan)

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  Kazunari Kondo, National Institute of Health Sciences, Ministry of Health (Japan)

  My name is Kazunari Kondo. I have contributed to research on the safety assessment of genetically modified foods, as well as to the development of regulatory frameworks in the fields of biochemistry and bioinformatics, while working at the National Institute of Health Sciences under the Ministry of Health. My academic background spans from organic chemistry to biological sciences, and I am currently pursuing studies in computer science.

  Recently, I have transitioned to a university, where I continue my previous research with greater freedom. I am also exploring a wide range of new topics, particularly focusing on the application of artificial intelligence in various fields.

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  Elizabeth Lipscomb, PhD, DABT

  BASF

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  Elizabeth Lipscomb, PhD, DABT, BASF

  Elizabeth Lipscomb is a Board-Certified Toxicologist. She received her PhD in Toxicology from the University of Rochester (Rochester, NY). Dr. Lipscomb studied as a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Cancer Biology and Angiogenesis at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School (Boston, MA). Prior to joining BASF, Dr. Lipscomb worked as a Toxicologist for a contract research organization. She has been with BASF since 2013 as a Regulatory Toxicologist, where she has played a critical role in the safety assessments of several genetically modified crops. Currently, she is also Chair of the Crop Life International Protein Safety Expert Group.

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  Matthew Merrell, PhD

  Corteva Agrisciences

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  Matthew Merrell, PhD, Corteva Agrisciences

  Matthew Merrell received his PhD in Pharmacology and Toxicology from the University of Arizona. Following a postdoctoral fellowship at Emory University, he worked as a Study Director, Project Manager, Senior Scientist, and Principal Investigator at two contract research labs in the US. Following 5 years of experience in contract research (General Toxicology, Developmental and Reproductive Toxicology), Matt joined Corteva Agrisciences in 2020 as a Senior Regulatory Toxicologist, and currently serves as a Subject Matter Expert for toxicology supporting several regulatory teams, including Seeds and Traits. In that role, he is involved globally in the preparation of regulatory submissions for GM traits and has been involved for the last few years in Corteva’s efforts to develop in vitro NAMs to support protein safety assessments. He currently serves as a member of the Corteva Animal Care and Use Committee and is involved in Corteva’s efforts to reduce the use of in vivo toxicology studies for regulatory submissions.

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  Clare Mills

  University of Surrey, UK

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  Clare Mills, The University of Surrey, UK

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  Anne Muia, MSc

  National Biosafety Authority (NBA), Kenya

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  Anne Muia, MSc, National Biosafety Authority (NBA), Kenya

  Anne Muia is a Senior Biosafety Officer working with the National Biosafety Authority (NBA), Kenya. NBA is a state corporation mandated to ensure the safety of human and animal health and to provide adequate protection of the environment from harmful effects that may result from genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

  Anne holds a Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry, a Master’s degree in Biotechnology from Kenyatta University, and is pursuing a doctorate in Biotechnology. At NBA’s Biosafety Risk Evaluation Department, where Anne is placed, her primary work responsibilities include coordination of risk assessment activities of received GMO applications. She also participates in the development of regulatory documents for ensuring and assuring biosafety relating to modern biotechnology in Kenya. She has previously worked as a research student at KEMRI-CDC and at BecA-ILRI Hub. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, interacting with nature, and learning new things. She speaks three languages: English, Swahili, and Kamba.

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  Johnathan A. Napier, PhD, DSc

  Rothamsted Research

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  Johnathan A. Napier, PhD, DSc, Science Director, Rothamsted Research

  Originally from County Down, Northern Ireland, Johnathan obtained his BSc in Agricultural Sciences from the University of Nottingham, followed by a PhD in plant biochemistry from King’s College, London. He carried out post-doctoral research at the University of Cambridge before taking up a position at Long Ashton Research Station in Bristol. His research group relocated to Rothamsted Research in 2003, where he is currently Science Director. Johnathan is also an Affiliated Lecturer at the University of Cambridge and an Honorary Professor at the Institute of Aquaculture, University of Stirling. He has published over 200 peer-reviewed papers and is the inventor on multiple granted patents relating to the biotechnology of plant oils. He was awarded his DSc from the University of Nottingham in 2006 for outstanding contributions to the field of plant lipid research. He is passionate about the importance of public engagement in gaining social license for new technologies and is a regular contributor to discussions about GM food and agriculture. Johnathan is currently Editor-in-Chief of Plant Biotechnology Journal.

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  Lucie Pařenicová, PhD

  BioXact B.V.

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  Lucie Pařenicová, PhD, Founder, BioXact B.V.

  Lucie Pařenicová was born in Czechoslovakia a few years after the Prague Spring and obtained an MSc in Biochemistry at Comenius University in Bratislava. Between 1994-2000, Lucie completed a PhD at Wageningen Agricultural University, the Netherlands, in the laboratory of Dr. Jaap Visser, focusing on pectinases of the filamentous fungus Aspergillus niger. She pursued her scientific career with a Marie Curie Postdoctoral study on plants (Arabidopsis thaliana) at the Università degli Studi di Milano, Italy.

  Between 2003-2017, Lucie worked at DSM Food Specialties in Delft, the Netherlands, starting with a 2-year Industrial Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship and later as a (Senior) Scientist and Group Lead in various R&D departments and business divisions. Lucie has extensive experience in the development and use of production organisms and food ingredients.

  In 2018, Lucie founded the biotechnology consultancy BioXact B.V. She supports various start-ups and scale-ups, including The Protein Brewery, as well as established food (ingredient) producing companies. She helps define and execute R&D strategies, troubleshoot production processes, provide BioIT support, and develop regulatory approval strategies for innovative food products. This work has resulted in several patents, publications, and products on the market.

  More information can be found on:

  https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucie-parenicova-3914aa4/

  https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Lucie-Parenicova

  https://orcid.org/my-orcid?orcid=0000-0003-1535-0380

  https://www.bioxact.eu/about

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  Ritu Tomer

  IIIT-Delhi

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  Ritu Tomer, PhD Candidate, IIIT-Delhi

  Ritu Tomer is a Senior Research Fellow under the prestigious DST INSPIRE Fellowship. She is a PhD candidate in Computational Biology at Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology, Delhi (IIIT-Delhi), under the mentorship of Prof. Gajendra Pal Singh Raghava, a renowned expert in the field.

  Her PhD research spans bioinformatics and computational biology, with a key focus on developing web repositories and prediction tools for immunogenic peptides and motifs in proteins, particularly those associated with autoimmune disorders. She has made significant contributions by designing a method to predict disease-causing regions in proteins linked to Celiac disease and developing a comprehensive web repository for Mucormycosis data. She is currently working on other projects, including autoimmune disorders, cancer therapeutics, and database development.

  She holds a prestigious Gold Medal and Visishta Yogyta Certificate for achieving 1st rank in her MSc in Bioinformatics from Chaudhary Charan Singh University, Meerut. During her Master’s thesis at CSIR-IGIB, Delhi, Ritu explored nucleotide methyltransferases in the mycobacterium genome using computational approaches, under the guidance of Dr. Bhupesh Taneja. She also conducted a mini-project with Dr. Debasisa Mohanty at the National Institute of Immunology (NII), Delhi, focusing on domain-domain interactions in Plasmodium falciparum and protein-protein interaction inhibitors.

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  Rong Wang

  Bayer CropScience

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  Rong Wang, Science Fellow, Bayer CropScience

  Rong Wang is a Science Fellow at Bayer CropScience, specializing in protein safety assessment. With 15 years of experience at the company as a trained protein biochemist, she has held various roles, including protein production, characterization, and safety assessment. Additionally, she serves as a co-chair for the Characterization and Intractable Protein Working Stream of the AEIC and is the lead author of six publications resulting from collaborations both across industries and within Bayer CropScience.

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  Yong Yin, PhD

  Bayer CropScience

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  Yong Yin, PhD, Bayer CropScience

  Dr. Yong Yin is a Global Regulatory Affairs Manager at Bayer CropScience. He received his PhD in Developmental Biology and Postdoctoral training in Genomics at Washington University in St. Louis. Dr. Yin has been in the industry since joining Monsanto in 2009, gained extensive experience and expertise in leading the discovery and early development of 4th generation corn rootworm-protection transgenic corn. Currently, Dr. Yin is responsible for developing regulatory strategy for Bayer’s insect protection trait pipeline across all crops.