DuPont names new biotechnology advisory panel members
DuPont names new biotechnology advisory panel members
DuPont has announced three new members of its external advisory panel. The current panel has seven members who bring important and diverse viewpoints to the broad area of biotechnology and its application in agriculture, food and bio-based materials.
In September 1999, DuPont Chairman and CEO, Holliday, stated the DuPont commitment to establish an independent panel "to guide our actions, help us create positions on important issues, and guide and challenge us in the development, testing and commercialization of new products based on biotechnology."
The three new panel members are:
Dr Pablo Eyzaguirre, a specialist in social and ecological anthropology,tropical farming systems and agrarian institutions, is a senior scientist for anthropology and socio-economics in the Genetic Resources Science and Technology group of the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI), which is based in Rome. Previously he worked as senior officer in the International Service for National Agricultural Research (ISNAR) in The Hague, where he managed a global project on research institutions for agricultural development and natural resource management in 50 small developing countries. He also has conducted intensive field research in west and central Africa.
Carol Tucker Foreman, a well-known and respected consumer advocate, is a distinguished fellow and director of the consumer federation of America's Food Policy Institute, and has had a major impact on diet and health in the United States over the last 25 years. She served as CFA executive director from 1973 to 1977 and returned to the organization in March 1999. As assistant secretary for food and consumer services in the US Department of Agriculture from 1977 to 1981, she oversaw the development of the US government's first dietary guidelines for Americans and also had responsibility for the nation's food assistance programs, food stamps, school lunch and WIC – the women,infants and children supplemental feeding program – as well as meat,poultry and egg inspection and the food grading system.
Dr V. Prakash, internationally known for his work in sustainable food and nutrition security, is director of the Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) in Mysore, India. CFTRI is highly regarded as a networking R&D Institute in Food Science and Technology, which works to build sustainability into the technologies of post-harvest agricultural practices of large producers and growers as well as small entrepreneurs. He is a fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences, the Association of Food Scientists and Technologists in India and the International Union of Food Science and Technology. As a scientist in the area of biotechnology, Dr Prakash has won a large number of awards and is a member of several international committees.
"We are honoured that these distinguished individuals have agreed to join our biotechnology advisory panel and we look forward to receiving their advice and counsel," Holliday said. "We provide the advisory panel full access to our biotechnology efforts so that we will benefit from their knowledge and breadth of perspective."
The panel held its first meeting in February 1999 and meets about every 6 months. The work of the panel is facilitated by the Keystone Centre, a non-profit organization based in Keystone, Colo. The panel issued earlier this fall its first public report on its activities. This report is available at http://www.dupont.com/biotech
