Participants

Hilde Tuhafeni Amputu
Senior Biosafety Inspector, National Commission on Research, Science and Technology
Namibia
Highly accomplished and results-driven professional Scientist with extensive academic achievements, including a master’s degree in Business Administration (coursework completed, thesis submitted). Honors degree in Microbiology and Chemistry, and a postgraduate diploma in Business Administration. With over 10 years of experience, Ms. Amputu has a proven track record in regulatory affairs, policy development such as the National Bioeconomy strategy 2024-2028, and policy implementation within the public and private sectors. She possesses a solid background in biosafety administration, risk assessment, and decision-making processes, bolstered by firsthand exposure to regulatory frameworks across various AU member states. Additionally, she has received specialized training in Agriculture Biotechnology and biosafety from esteemed institutions such as Missouri State University and Michigan State University.

Dr. Renato de Lima Santos
Professor, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais
Brazil
DVM and master’s degree from the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), PhD (Texas A&M University). Visiting Professor at the University of California – Davis (2006-2007 and 2022-2023). “Livre-docente” from Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Co-author of more than 350 peer-reviewed papers. Research focuses on Infectious and zoonotic diseases. Research Fellow of the National Research Council (CNPq). Member of the National Technique Commission of Biosafety (CTNBIO) since 2020. Former president of the Brazilian Veterinary Pathology Association (2009-2011), Dean of Research at UFMG (2010-2014), and Dean of the UFMG Vet School (2014-2018). Full professor at the UFMG Veterinary School.

Ricardo Melo
Head of the Biosafety of New Technologies and Phytosanitary Supplies, Agricultura- National Agroalimentary Health, Safety and Quality Service
Mexico
Ricardo Melo Herrera completed a bachelor´s degree as an Agricultural Engineer at Chapingo University in 2009. He also has a master´s degree in Plant Protection from Chapingo University.
He began to work at National Agroalimentary Health, Safety and Quality Service (SENASICA) of the Mexican Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food (SAGARPA) as a Field Inspector of Genetically Modified Organisms in 2010.
He is the Head of the Biosafety of New Technologies and Phytosanitary Supplies Department at the Directorate of Supplies and New Technologies, developing the strategic planning and execution of the surveillance of compliance activities regarding GMO environmental release permits and monitoring programs.

Speakers

Adrian Percy, NC State PSI
Adrian is the inaugural Executive Director of the NC Plant Sciences Initiative (NC PSI) at North Carolina State University as of November 1, 2021. The NC PSI aims to exploit inter-disciplinary science and technology through public private partnerships to advance the plant sciences to the benefit of growers, consumers, and other food chain stakeholders.
He also is a Venture Partner at Finistere Ventures LLC, a technology and life sciences venture capital investor, focused on transforming the food value chain. Adrian serves on the board of directors of BioLumic, HiFidelity Genetics, and Evogene. He is a member of the science and technology boards of Oerth Bio, Terramera, Biotalys and Rothamsted Research and hosts the AgTech360 podcast on behalf of NC State’s Center for Excellence in Regulatory Science in Agriculture (CERSA).
Prior to joining NC State, Adrian served as the Chief Technology Officer of UPL Ltd a major crop protection company that is a leader in global food systems. He was also the Head of Research and Development for the Crop Science division of Bayer and part of their executive committee. In that role, he had responsibility for internal and open innovation activities in the areas of crop protection chemistry and biologicals, as well as seeds and traits. During his 25-year tenure at Bayer and its legacy companies, he also held numerous positions in agricultural research and development in France, Germany, and the United States.
Born and raised in the United Kingdom, Adrian earned a bachelor’s degree in pharmacology at the University of Liverpool, as well as a master’s degree in toxicology and a doctorate in biochemistry at the University of Birmingham. He now resides in the Research Triangle area of North Carolina, USA, with his wife and two children.

Chris Peterson, USDA FAS
Dr Peterson is an entomologist currently serving as a Science Advisor for the USDA-Foreign Agricultural Service, New Technologies and Production Methods Division. In this role he coordinates international discussions on scientific aspects of agricultural biotechnology, and the impact of policy on trade in biotechnology products. He comes from a 20-year research background in pest management at Iowa State University and the USDA-Forest Service, before becoming involved in international work with Peace Corps and joining the Foreign Agricultural Service in 2016 to work on food security and capacity building in Africa. Chris has been in his current role as a Science Advisor since 2019, and focuses on Africa, the Western Hemisphere, the Middle East, and South Asia.

Subray Hedge (USDA-BRS)
Subray Hegde holds the position of Director of Biotechnology Risk Analysis Programs (BRAP) within the Biotechnology Regulatory Services of APHIS USDA. His responsibilities include granting permits for the introduction of modified organisms such as plants, insects, and microorganisms through genetic engineering. He also reviews requests for unconfined field release of modified plants, determines whether modified plants need to follow the USDA’s revised regulations, provides feedback to developers on whether their modified plants are eligible for regulatory exemptions, and aids BRS in its international capacity building activities. He holds a PhD in Plant Genetics.

Jason Dietz, FDA CFSAN
Jason Dietz coordinates 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 and media and scientific communication. Most recently, he has served as a technical consultant to FDA’s “Feed Your Mind” consumer education initiative on food biotechnology. Jason is also the US focal point for the FAO GM Foods Platform. Jason has been with the FDA for more than 20 years.

Amanda Pierce, EPA OPP
Amanda Pierce is a Senior Advisor in the Emerging Technologies Branch in the Office of Pesticide Programs at EPA where she evaluates and ensures the safety of novel applications of recent discoveries in genetics and molecular biology to real world pest control problems – e.g., genetically engineered animals for pest population control and plant-incorporated protectants. At EPA, she focuses on advancing ecological risk assessment and policy initiatives for these biotechnologies within the United States government and internationally.

Dan Jenkins, Pairwise
Dan Jenkins has 25 years’ experience working in the food and agriculture industry and serves as the Vice President of Regulatory and Government Affairs for Pairwise. Prior to this Dan was the Managing Director and Chief of Staff of the Agricultural Section of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) trade association in Washington DC. Dan also led Monsanto’s Regulatory team in Washington DC overseeing all domestic chemistry and biotech crop approvals across FDA, EPA and USDA. At the beginning of his career, Dan worked in pesticide commercial sales, as well as R&D, for Dow AgroSciences. Dan is a past member of the American Chemistry Society’s editorial board for the Agricultural Science and Technology journal and currently serves as the Chair of the American Seed Trade Association’s Innovation and Policy Committee and participates in the ASTA Advisory Council to the Board. Dan has recently published in Nature Plants on the topic of global plant gene editing policy, earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, a Master of Science degree in Entomology and Applied Ecology from the University of Delaware and his Juris Doctor from Loyola Law School.

Clara Rubinstein
Clara obtained her Biology MS and PhD degree in Bacterial Genetics from the University of Buenos Aires (Argentina) and completed her scientific training in Argentina and abroad, at Michigan State University (US) and the Pasteur Institute in France. Clara continued her career as a staff Research Scientist for the National Research Council (CONICET) where she conducted research on molecular biology and the genetics of Bacillus thuringiensis.
From 2002 to 2023, she led the Scientific Affairs area in the Latin American South region, first for Monsanto Argentina and later on for Bayer Cropscience for the entire Latam region. Clara specialized in the science based Risk Assessment of GMOs, publishes on the topic and has organized numerous capacity building programs in several countries of the Latam region, in partnership with governmental and non governmental organizations. Clara was part of the Scientific Advisory Committee for GMOs at the Argentine AgriFood Quality Service (SENASA) for over 10 years . Currently Co-Directs a Graduate Certificate at the Univ. of Buenos Aires on Risk Analysis for the Agrifood Sector and is an Associate Editor for the Frontiers in Biotechnology and Bioengineering Journal.
Clara is currently the Chair of the Board at the Institute for Scientific Cooperation in Health and the Environment (ICCAS) in Argentina, a non profit institution based on the tripartite collaborative model, focusing on the Life Sciences.

Ray Dobert
Dr. Raymond Dobert is Senior Regulatory Policy Manager and a Senior Science Fellow at Bayer CropScience in St. Louis, Missouri. Ray has held a variety of biotech policy and management roles within the company and the Monsanto Regulatory organization over the past 26 years. He previously worked at the US Department of Agriculture (USDA-APHIS) as a Biotechnology policy specialist and served as the Coordinator of USDA’s Biotechnology Information Center. Ray received his Ph.D. in Agronomy-Crop Physiology at the University of Missouri. He was also a Congressional Science Fellow for the American Society of Plant Physiologists working in the US Senate. A native of New York, he received his undergraduate degree from St. Lawrence University.

Sarah Lukie, CropLife International
Sarah Lukie currently serves as the Vice President for Trade and International affairs based at CropLife International (CLI) in Washington, DC. In this role, Sarah works on the development of CLI’s positions and activities on regulatory and multilateral policy issues impacting the global agricultural biotechnology sector. She has particular expertise representing the biotechnology industry in negotiation and implementation of various multilateral environmental agreements, such as the Cartagena Protocol on Biotechnology, the Nagoya-Kuala Lumpur Supplementary Protocol on Liability and Redress, the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Codex Alimentarius. Additionally, Sarah leads a multi-country advocacy team supporting timely, transparent approvals systems in targeted major import markets in China, South Korea, and Mexico. She also serves a leadership role with CropLife International network partners in Latin America.

Dr. Ali (Alejandra) Scott, VP Global Regulatory Affairs Seeds, BASF
Ali served for 10 years in the Science and Regulatory Committee of the Food and Ag section at the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO). She was treasurer and Vice Chair of the Agricultural Biotechnology Stewardship Technical Committee (ABSTC) for 8 years, a team that deals with Insect Resistance Management in genetically modified crops. She has been part of the Regulatory Committee of the Plant Biotechnology Section at CropLife International since 2011 and the Chair of the Global Alliance for Ag Biotech Trade (GAABT). Ali also serves as industry representative at the US-China Agricultural Biotechnology Safety Administration Cooperation Program, a US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA)/US Department of Agriculture (USDA) collaboration program with MARA, the China Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. Since last year, Ali is also a Board Member of the College of Sciences at NC State University.

Keith Edmisten, NC State Cotton Extension Specialist
Dr. Edmisten is a Professor of Crop and Soil Sciences and serves as the Extension Cotton Specialist for the NCSU Crop Science & Soil Sciences Department. Keith received his BS from NCSU in Agronomy, MS from NCSU in Crop Science and PhD from Virginia Tech in Crop Physiology in 1987. He served on the faculty at Mississippi State University and Auburn University prior to joining the Crop Science faculty here at NCSU in 1992. He conducts applied cotton and industrial hemp agronomic research and cotton germplasm evaluation to include evaluation of new events, traits and elite varieties. He teaches CS224 Seeds, Biotechnology and Society, CS 216 Southern Row Crop Production, CS418/528 Intro to Regulatory Science in Agriculture and CS428/528 Advanced Regulatory Science in Agriculture. He also advises the Plant and Soil Science biotechnology concentration undergraduate students. He was selected as the Extension Cotton Specialist of the year in 1997 and the Cotton Physiologist of the year in 2015.

Jennifer Rowland, USDA
Dr. Jen Rowland serves as the Biotechnology Coordinator for USDA, facilitating cross-departmental and interagency engagement, and serving as a point of contact for stakeholders. Previously, Dr. Rowland was a science advisor in Foreign Agricultural Service New Technologies and Production Methods division, working to maintain and expand global market access for products of agricultural biotechnology. Dr. Rowland earned a PhD in microbiology in 2014 from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and pursued postdoctoral research at the University of British Columbia. After many years at the lab bench Dr. Rowland turned to a career in science policy, as a Science and Technology Policy Fellow sponsored by AAAS at the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service in the Pests, Pathogens and Biocontrol Permits unit.

Jory Weintraub, NC State Director for Science Communication
Jory Weintraub is a biologist who has focused his career on science communication, science outreach, and diversity/equity/inclusion (DEI) in STEM. He is currently Director of Science Engagement and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Communication at North Carolina State University, where he oversees STEM outreach for the university and teaches courses in science communication. Prior to that, he was a faculty member and Science Communication Director with Duke University’s Initiative for Science & Society, Director of Professional Development for the Center for Advancing Research Impact in Society, and Director of Education & Outreach at the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center. He has a Bachelors of Science in Biochemistry/Cell Biology from Univ. of California at San Diego and a PhD in Immunology from the Univ. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and received an NSF postdoctoral fellowship to study STEM outreach and DEI.

Rodolphe Barrangou, NC State
Rodolphe Barrangou Ph.D. is the T. R. Klaenhammer Distinguished Professor at North Carolina State University, leading the CRISPR Lab. Rodolphe spent 9 years at Danisco and DuPont, and has been at
NC State since 2013. For his CRISPR work, Rodolphe received several international awards, notably the Canada Gairdner International Award, and was elected into the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the National Academy of Inventors. Dr. Barrangou is a co-founder of Intellia Therapeutics, Locus Biosciences, TreeCo, Ancilia Biosciences and CRISPR Biotechnologies, an advisor to Inari and the IGI, and editor-in-chief of the CRISPR Journal.